1. Call of the Wild
Lesson 37

2. Objective(s)

5. Let’s read the excerpts from “Do Animals Think and Reflect?”
Let’s Share

6. Independent Practice Write a paragraph for your response.
Provide evidence to support your claim and have parenthetical citation – always assume to do this even though directions may not state to do so.
Write a paragraph for your response.
What claim about animals’ ability to think and reflect does Burroughs make in the text?
How does he support this claim? Choose two pieces of text evidence as support.

9. Objective(s)
L38

11. Yesterday, we read Burroughs’ argument that animals do not have intellectual and reasoning skills that are similar to humans. Today, we’ll watch a video and read excerpts from ‘Animal Minds.’ While we watch the video, write down on your copy of “Do Animals Think and Reflect?” ideas and examples from the video which offer a counterpoint to Burroughs’ argument.
Then watch the first 28 minutes of How Smart Are Animals? (“How Smart Are Dogs?” and “How Smart Are Dolphins?”).
Possible counterpoints:
Burroughs says animals act purely out of instinct and can’t reason; the video shows that animals are able to learn things and make inferences (Chaser with Darwin) and problem solve/create (dolphins with the new trick).
Burroughs says that even though animals appear to reason when they are protecting themselves, it is still instinct; the video shows that dogs learn to rely on humans as they become domesticated--they are social animals and know how to do things similar to a small child.

12. Now, we will read “Animal Minds” by Virginia Morrell.
First # the paragraphs.
What is cognition?
Conscious mental activities – such as thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering
Let’s read Paragraphs 1-4
Let’s read Paragraphs 21-37
Let’s read Paragraphs 48-54

13. Independent Practice

16. Objective(s)
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18. How to organize your writing:
Introduce the argument and the claim of each side.
Provide two body paragraphs. In each body paragraph, explain the claim of one side and the evidence which supports the claim. Identify where additional evidence would need to be gathered to support the claim.
Conclude the writing by restating the argument and explaining what makes each side of the argument strong and weak.

20. Independent Practice

23. How to organize your writing:
Introduce the argument and the claim of each side.
Provide two body paragraphs. In each body paragraph, explain the claim of one side and the evidence which supports the claim. Identify where additional evidence would need to be gathered to support the claim.
Conclude the writing by restating the argument and explaining what makes each side of the argument strong and weak.

24. In the culminating writing task, the prompt asked you to develop an essay to examine what theme London conveys about humans’ treatment of animals. The task focused solely on The Call of the Wild, which meant that you only needed to include evidence from Wild.
Our Extension Task builds on this and takes things one step further. Now, the prompt is asking you to apply what you understand about animal cognition from one of the informational texts, Burroughs’ ‘Do Animals Think and Reflect,’ How Smart are Animals? and/or ‘Animal Minds,’ and use evidence from this text to support your claim about whether London should or should not be considered a ‘nature faker’ given evidence from the informational text.
So, if you think London should be considered a ‘nature faker,’ which text would best support your argument?
No matter which side you choose, you will also need to include evidence from The Call of the Wild that connects with and illustrates the key information that you note from the informational text.

25. Turn and Talk with your shoulder partner: How do the pieces of evidence from each text connect to one another? How do they both connect to and support the reason and the claim?

26. Independent Practice
A claim is the main argument of an essay. It is probably the single most important part of an academic paper. The complexity, effectiveness, and quality of the entire paper hinges on the claim. If your claim is boring or obvious, the rest of the paper probably will be too.
Counterclaims: In arguing a claim, you should always consider potential counterclaims and counterarguments. For instance, in response to the above claim about the Seahawks, someone might say: “You’re wrong. The Hawks defensive problems last year were a result of poor coaching on the part of the defensive coordinator.” This counterclaim denies the validity of my claim. Usually, it’s important to address counterclaims in your writing.

28. Objective(s)
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30. Essay Requirements
You will also write a paragraph to refute an opposing claim

31. How can I correct the following claim/thesis statement?
I’m going to give you a copy of the writing rubric. Put your Heading on it.
How can I correct the following claim/thesis statement?
Given the recent evidence, Jack London should not be considered a “nature faker” because his portrayal of Buck in The Call of the Wild is consistent with current research about animal cognition.
Now, let’s look at a piece of paragraph 3.
What phrases does the writer use to make connections between the evidence and the thesis statement?

32. What is the writer’s claim
What is the writer’s claim? What is the opposing claim the writer acknowledges?
To refute’ means to prove something wrong. How does the writer refute the opposing claim?

33. Independent Practice
Once completed, attach your final draft to the top of your rubric and place in the basket.