Lesson 1: Critical Thinking and Powerful Writing

The students discuss different ways to make their writing more powerful. Also, the students will preview critical reading and how to best consider the audience when writing.

Lesson 2: Logical Fallacies

The students study some common logical fallacies that lead to poor decision-making. The students will learn how to spot these fallacies and how to avoid using them in communication.

Lesson 3: Green Light Meetings

The students learn about Green Light (brainstorming) and Red Light (evaluative) Meetings. Through activity and discussion, the students focus on maximizing Green Light Meeting effectiveness by embracing creativity and outside-the-box thinking.

Lesson 4: Crafting Persuasive Arguments

The students learn about ethos, pathos, and logos and discuss how these can be used to communicate effectively. Next, the students will discuss and / or write short persuasive essays on current topics or policies in school they would like to change or implement.

Lesson 5: Critical Reading Analysis

The students learn and practice methods to become critical readers. The lesson draws on some of the skills discussed in previous lessons (Lesson 1: Critical Thinking and Powerful Writing, Lesson 2: Logical Fallacies, and Lesson 5: Crafting Persuasive Arguments). The students will read, analyze, and discuss writing samples, evaluating those using tactics discussed in the lesson.

Lesson 6: Story Arc and Structure and Character Type

The students discuss the lives and stories of fictional and non-fictional characters and individuals. Then, as a group, the students will choose a book, movie, or other fictional story and discuss what scenes stand out to them and consider why those scenes stand out. Then the students will discuss what they would like to change about the stories and why. Each student will then share their opinion on how to make those changes and suggest ways to further improve the story. The purpose is to understand the concepts behind effective creative writing / storycraft through discussion and reflection.

Lesson 7: Self-Reflection and Growth Statements

The students discuss what they have learned and how they have improved from participating in clubs, classes, activities, and other endeavors. Then the students will discuss how they can write about their growth, create an outline, and start a first draft of an essay about that growth.

Lesson 8: Conversational Tennis: A Guide to Serving and Returning Points

The students will—in preparation for Lesson 10—discuss the concepts behind making strong points, improving listening and note-taking, using critical thinking, and responding to arguments. The students will discuss a number of topics and work together to identify the pros and cons within those topics. Finally, the students will be given a topic to research and read about to prepare for Lesson 10.

Lesson 9: Debate: Winning Words

The students learn about general debate structure and some possible strategies and tactics for a debate. The students will then—as a group—discuss what they learned in their topic research and debate that topic in class. Afterwards, the students will discuss the debate, their performance, and ways to improve. Finally, the students will share their thoughts and opinions on debates and debating and how the skills used in debating could be applied in their studies, future careers, and other areas of life and learning.