Description
Teach your students how to identify bias and persuasive appeals in nonfiction texts with this engaging argument analysis lesson. Students will learn how to examine, analyze, and evaluate arguments, building essential skills for critical reading, media literacy, and informational text analysis.
This nonfiction reading and persuasion lesson introduces students to key concepts such as bias, target audience, claims and counterclaims, evidence, and the three methods of persuasion, including emotional appeals, ethical appeals, and logical appeals. A comprehensive PowerPoint lesson clearly explains each term and models how authors use persuasive techniques to influence readers.
Students reinforce their understanding using a student-friendly graphic organizer that supports note-taking and concept mastery. They practice identifying target audience through short nonfiction passages and evaluate arguments by determining whether authors rely on emotional, ethical, or logical persuasion. Additional practice focuses on spotting and rating author bias, helping students become more discerning readers of real-world texts.
The lesson includes a high-interest nonfiction article examining the issue of photoshopping images in social media and advertising. After reading, students respond to after-reading questions that require them to apply all key terms and concepts in context. Answer keys are provided to support efficient grading and lesson implementation.
This resource is ideal for middle school and high school ELA classrooms, nonfiction units, persuasive writing lessons, argument analysis practice, or media literacy instruction for grades 6–10.