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PlayOwl

English · Grade 8

Assess Reasoning and Source Credibility

Learners evaluate a fictional study app's press release against an independent study. They delineate the argument and spot irrelevant evidence, identify subtler reasoning flaws (confusing correlation with causation, cherry-picking, straw man and slippery slope), judge source credibility by expertise, conflicts of interest and research methods, and write an evaluation. A new argument about school uniforms checks transfer.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 105 minutes
  • Reasoning and credibility check: 8 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, highlight a text, match pairs, put in order, sort into groups and write a short answer
See plans Included with Family, Teacher and School plans. Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Delineate an argument and recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
  • Evaluate whether reasoning is sound, identifying correlation-causation errors, cherry-picking, straw man arguments and slippery slopes.
  • Assess source credibility using relevant expertise, conflicts of interest and the quality of methods (sample size, comparison group, independent review).
  • Write an evaluation of an argument's reasoning, evidence and credibility.

Lessons

  1. Delineate and spot irrelevant evidence 6 steps3 practiceabout 25 min
  2. Is the reasoning sound? 5 steps3 practiceabout 27 min
  3. Credibility and methods 5 steps3 practiceabout 26 min
  4. Write an evaluation 4 steps2 practiceabout 27 min
  5. Reasoning and credibility check 8 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

More 8th grade reading

Guide for grown-ups