Midterm Proposal & Midterm PROJECT - A very High Quality Work Required. 24-26 Hours

I've provided some feedback on the first two lesson plans and realized there is one bit of advice I can give that will drastically improve the entire project for you.

Be more specific. 🙂

Your lesson plans are very ambitious.  Think about the wording you use and what that conveys.  When you said students will understand Plato and then understand Aristotle, you're suggesting they can grasp all they have shared in a single lesson plan.  Our course is a graduate class, and we're still grappling with just a few excerpts of their writings, so you might want to reconsider the material delivered AND the expectations of your students.

I think as a project, this would be a very thorough one as you've provided lesson plans and explanation, but the projected outcomes and aims of the lesson plans are probably too high for what is realistically possible within the time constraints for a class and the level of students you might be working with.

Aim smaller with your goals, keep the outcomes more direct and simple, and provide concrete activities and examples that would foster the outcomes you seek.  The more specific, the better. 

I hope this helps. PLEASE CHECK MY COMMENTS BELOW

Rhetoric

Name

Institution

Date

Daily Instructional Lesson Plan
Content Area(s)/Course/Grade : Insert	Unit: Insert
Lesson Topic: Rhetoric	Date: Insert
Teacher: Insert	School: Insert
Indicator(s)/Sub-Outcome(s)/Expectation(s): 1. Core concepts of classical rhetoric: 2. The three branches of classical rhetoric and the five canons · Purpose – gain in-depth knowledge on classical rhetoric as documented by Aristotle · Materials needed – Aristotle’s books, writing materials , audio/video resources . · In-class activity – role playing acts on persuasion · Link to past and future work – the lesson will expound on prior knowledge of the phenomenon
Student Outcome(s): By the end of the course, students should be able to: · Demonstrate understanding of the impact Plato had on Aristotle as his mentor and how he helped shape Aristotle to become the father of classical rhetoric. · Understand the philosophical work of Aristotle on classical rhetoric . They must also demonstrate knowledge in the concept of persuasion as illustrated by Aristotle in his scholarly materials on the subject. · Describe the significance of Aristotle on the art of persuasion and why he considered the greatest rhetoric theoretician. Also, they should understand how Aristotle changed the world by teaching rhetoric to the likes of Alexander the Great .
Context for Learning
The context of learning lies in the value of gaining knowledge of classical rhetoric. The combination of the three lessons above shall be contextualized to professional fields that significantly rely on rhetoric such as education, politics, marketing, and the likes. The main aim of the lessons is to help students become exceptional at the art of persuasion. In the course, students can learn not to entirely rely on teachers for knowledge and skills but undertake personal initiatives to acquire additional knowledge that would otherwise not be provided in class.
Instructional Delivery
Opening Activities/Motivation: The transfer of knowledge on the stated themes will, in most part, follow the conventional classroom setting with the teacher assuming the role of instructing the students. Both offline and online teaching techniques will be employed.
Procedures: In addition to the traditional teaching model, discussions, learning activities, assignments, and role-playing practical will be applied as strategies for administering knowledge, demonstrating concepts, and transferring skills.
Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)
Tests and assignments touching on various areas of the themes. · Purpose – introduce students to classical rhetoric and its concepts · Materials – textbooks, audio-video materials, · In-class activity – progymnasmata · Link to past and future – expound on rhetoric
Closure: Questions and answers This part is concerned with discovering the avenues Aristotle provided and how they can be applied to a classroom setting.

Daily Instructional Lesson Plan
Content Area(s)/Course/Grade:	Unit:
Lesson Topic: Plato and Aristotle	Date:
Teacher:	School:
Indicator(s)/Sub-Outcome(s)/Expectation(s): 3. Plato’s influence on Aristotle: · Purpose – gain insight into Plato’s effect on Aristotle’s thinking on rhetoric · Materials needed – text books, writing materials, internet. · In-class activity – discussions, role-playing activity · Link to past and future work: helps relate the role of teachers in learning drawn from the experience of Aristotle and Plato.
Student Outcome(s): At the end of the unit, students should be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of classical rhetoric, its core concepts, branches, and canons. Additionally, they should be able to provide illustrations of real-life applications of knowledge gained from the activity. Most importantly, students should be exceptionally great at persuasion.
Context for Learning
The context of learning lies in the value of gaining knowledge of classical rhetoric. The combination of the three lessons above shall be contextualized to professional fields that significantly rely on rhetoric such as education, politics, marketing, and the likes. The main aim of the lessons is to help students become exceptional at the art of persuasion. There are multiple in-class activities but the most appropriate for the lesson and promoting the notion of classic rhetoric is known as “superstitions,” as proposed by Dainville and Sans (2016). According to the rule of the exercise, everyone has a right to be respected by fellow students and teachers. The activity involves refraining from activities one feels terrible about. For example, deciding not to participate in a test.
Instructional Delivery
Opening Activities/Motivation: Teaching classical rhetoric should be unique and yet extremely effective. There are a number of ways teachers have transferred knowledge to students. However, the most effective include progymnasmata will be used.
Procedures: Fable, refutations, discussions, narrative, invective, comparison, characteristics, description, and anecdote.
Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)
Tests, assignments, sequenced exercises. · Purpose – insight into branches and canons of classical rhetoric · Materials – textbooks, audio/visual materials, etc · In-class activity – discussions, progymnasmata · Link to past and future – make students best persuaders · Aristotle’s significance as a rhetoric philosopher:
Closure: Questions and answers Having established this, the objective of the lesson gain insight into how Plato modeled Aristotle’s thinking on rhetoric, also intending to determine an ideal class setting and relationship between teachers and learners that would produce the best version in students. There is a vast amount of lessons to learn from the philosopher’s lifework and experiences – some of which may be applied to the in-class educational setting.

Daily Instructional Lesson Plan
Content Area(s)/Course/Grade:	Unit:
Lesson Topic: Plato	Date:
Teacher:	School:
Indicator(s)/Sub-Outcome(s)/Expectation(s): Modern classical rhetoric: · Purpose – understand the state of rhetoric after 20th century. · Materials – books on modern rhetoric · In-class activity – review noble theorists · Link to past and future – relevance of today’s theorists · Plato’s use of rhetoric · Our own use of rhetoric today
Student Outcome(s): Students should gain knowledge of the manifestation of rhetorical studies and the establishment of rhetoric and speech academic institutions and organizations. Students should also describe the importance of rhetoric today and how it was influenced by the ancient version of the concept. Also, the should illustrate the practical applications of rhetoric and speech in real-life and careers.
Context for Learning
Modern classical rhetoric The relevance of the lesson to the past and future work of the course centers on the experiences of Aristotle, especially as a student. An important lesson to learn from all this is to perfect the art of persuasion with the end goal of the course being every student should be an effective persuader. The institutional structure of rhetoric that Aristotle outlines in his book is sufficient to enable a person to sharpen their persuasive skills. For instance, the canons above illustrate the process of creating perfect rhetoric. In one way or another, we find ourselves in persuasive situations even without our knowledge. This makes persuasion a critical life skill that we must all develop. A classroom activity to help achieve this include conducting discussions and debates on burning social, economic, and political issues that require the participation of everyone.
Instructional Delivery
Opening Activities/Motivation: The conventional classroom setting with teacher in charge of transferring knowledge and giving instructions. Students will also gain knowledge through guided research and discussions.
Procedures: Teaching, discussions, exercises, and debates. Learn how in one way or another, we find ourselves in persuasive situations even without our knowledge. This makes persuasion a critical life skill that we must all develop. A classroom activity to help achieve this include conducting discussions and debates on burning social, economic, and political issues that require the participation of everyone
Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)
Tests and experiments
Closure: Questions and answers Plato’s influence, contribution to classical rhetoric, and his philosophical significance with the expectation that the combination of these lessons provides certain values to students. Rhetoric generally refers to the art of informing, persuading, or motivating an audience into action.

Explanation

 Although the lessons touch on varying aspects of rhetoric and education as a whole, they can be seamlessly integrated into a single and much broader lesson on the subject matter. For instance, the first lesson explores the role of Plato in creating Aristotle which can then be related to the role of teachers in education and particular, this course. The second lesson explores some of the major philosophical works of Aristotle in classical rhetoric. It is here that we understand the concept of rhetoric extensively. This does not only help acquire knowledge on persuasion but it also helps learners acquire essential skills to become tremendously good at persuasion regardless of the prevailing situation.  

The third lesson, which looks into the significance of Aristotle in classical rhetoric, touches on a number of elements. As the discussion shows, it helps learners familiarize themselves by learning about some of the major influences of Aristotle such as gifting the world Alexander the Great. The lesson more so focuses on the role of teachers in a class session. Traditionally, teachers are believed to be the custodians of knowledge that is passed down through teaching. This is an indisputable fact; however, how they transfer the knowledge matters. As shown above, some techniques from Aristotle would help improve teaching.  

On the question of how the lessons are interconnected, they lie within the spectrum of a single broad theme – a distinguished philosopher in the discipline of classical rhetoric. The idea behind the discussion is to offer an all-round analysis of Aristotle and his views on the concept of rhetoric contextualized in the ancient Greek times. Having done so, because rhetoric, which also translates to the art of persuasion, applies to most aspects of everyday life, is understood deeply. Overall, the collective goal of the three lessons is to enable students to become excellent at persuasion at the end of the course and later stages of life. 

The objective of the unit is to communicate to teachers, administrators, and other key players in education about various aspects of classical rhetoric in accordance with Aristotle’s teachings. In specific, the lesson narrows down to the expectations of teachers on improving learning as far as rhetoric is concerned. With the objective having been established, the question of the means of achieving them remains a concern. Not in this case, however. The discussion suggests courses of action educators or even school administrators can adopt to successfully achieve objectives of the unit and improve learning in general. What this means is that lecturers can learn from the most notable Greek philosopher and also a successful teacher. 

Referencing Aristotle to today’s education brings up the subject of what the modes of teaching Aristotle practiced and why they should matter for this particular unit. As Oleg Donskikh  (2019) highlights, as a mentor and tutor of Alexander the Great, Aristotle utilized a multifaceted approach to teaching that incorporated a wide array of aspects including empirical, analysis, observation, and critical. In this method, students employ techniques such as data collection through observations or other methods, categorize and classify such data to come up with generalized principles or theories. Essentially, this is a scientific method, also the backbone of the thinker’s philosophy. 

Typically, a student of Aristotle would independently discover facts and employ critical thinking through inductive and deductive reasoning methods. This is the Aristotelian way, which also forms the strategy he used to construct his unique approach to philosophy. In the end, Aristotle’s student would construct logical arguments, although with the philosopher’s guidance, but without his influence. The approach is precisely what the unit needs to guarantee the accomplishment of the specified objectives. Although the guidance of teachers is crucial, their influence on learners’ capacity to think should be zero or minimal. 

The value to student’s educational experience and beyond is immense. As mentioned earlier, knowledge from the project is invaluable to educators, people in technical professional fields requiring intense communications such as politicians, professional marketers, negotiators, and the likes. The lessons work together to help students with aspirations along those lines achieve them in the future. Studying classical rhetoric helps improve the ability to speak persuasively. Many people struggle to prove a point due to the lack of persuasive skills. The lessons will help practice convincing people through activities such as persuading lecturers or fellow students. The knowledge of the field would help students research a topic, come up with well-organized information, and use them to engage in various areas. In other words, it would help students become better speakers and persuaders. 

Knowledge of classic rhetoric does not only help an individual become better at persuasion, but it also protects one from manipulation. Therefore, the unit will place a student in a position that will enable them to recognize fallacies in logic and standard tactics of manipulation to avoid being taken advantage of by peers, bosses, colleagues, or any other persons in the future. A well-educated student in classic rhetoric will recognize problems such as faulty logic, fallacies, or truth enabling him/her make wise decisions on various personal and professional issues (Marsh, 2013). For example, politicians are renowned serial liars and in most cases, we fall for their lies because of their impressive rhetoric abilities. The unit would help its beneficiaries make wise voting and political decisions by looking through the lies in the campaigns and selecting the deserving candidates. 

By accomplishing the course as expected, students will improve their ability to analyze and speak effectively. Effective analysis requires keen listening, an essential skill in effective communication. When we listen closely, we analyze more of what the other parties are communicating. The implication of this is that it makes a person more careful and intentional in conversations either as listeners or speakers. Studying classical rhetoric prepares everyone for public speaking and presentations. Research shows that public speaking is the leading fear amongst a significant number of people; it is scarier than snakes as findings assert. The course would help students overcome this fear and replace it with the confidence necessary for situations such as debates, weddings, pitching business ideas, and the likes. 

References

Dainville, J., & Sans, B. (2016). Teaching Rhetoric Today: Ancient Exercises for Contemporary Citizens. Educational Research and Reviews, 11(20), 1925-1930.

Donskikh, O. A. (2019). Significance of Aristotle’s Teaching Practice for Modern Education. In Teacher Education in the 21st Century. IntechOpen.

Hottel-Burkhart, N. G. (2000). The Canons of Aristotelian Rhetoric. Diversity in Language: Contrastive Studies in Arabic and English Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, 93.

Kennedy, G. A. (2009). A new history of classical rhetoric. Princeton University Press.

Marsh, C. (2013). Classical rhetoric and modern public relations: An Isocratean model. Routledge.

�This has huge significances to the design of the plans.

�Be more specific with this

�Are you identifying “core concepts” as separate from the three branches and five cannons?

�All of them?

�What kinds?

�Still a bit vague

�What phenomenon?

�To be fair, this is difficult for graduate students to grasp, so you might reconsider how you have this worded. “Understanding” Aristotle means quite a bit.

�Several of these outcomes are significantly large, so it’s hard to see them being accomplished within a single lesson.

I’d rather you aim small and accomplish those goals than aim big and stretch how you might reach them.

Also, outcomes should be single sentences that mention one (maybe two) verbs/actions.

�This is the aim, yes, but you want to provide practical questions you plan to use.