#12 Death penalty on Jeremy Iron's words

Key words:

Key concepts:

•  Societies that use death penalty don’t have lower crime rates
• Death penalty targets the economically disadvantaged
• The death penalty is irreversible and never acceptable
•  Everyone has the right to live and no one should be subjected to torture
•  Human rights apply to all human beings
• This punishment abuses basic human rights
• The right to life is inalienable

In this video, Jeremy Irons outlines his arguments and counter-arguments about death penalty:

• Death penalty does not guarantee a lower crime rate. Even if it does, it won’t be acceptable.
• Capital punishment means that those who have no capital gets the punishment.
• There is no way to go back from the death penalty, even if the person who was punished with it was actually innocent. 
• Inadequate legal representation means capital punishment.
• Everyone has the right to live regardless of the crime they have committed.
• Every individual facing the death penalty is still a human being.
• Equality means human rights are applied to all human beings.
• People and the judicial system should be able to differentiate imprisonment from execution.

#11 Yoko Ono's letter to the Parole board

Twenty years after John Lennon's murder his widow Yoko Ono Lennon wrote a letter to the Parole Board expressing her disgust when there was a possible release of Mark David Chapman, her husband's killer. The main points to highlight from her letter are:

1. How important John Lennon was for his relatives and followers around the world.
2. Her feelings about her husband's death.
3. The idea that people’s lives can change in a matter of seconds.
4. How justice may incentivise the behaviour of those who want to commit a crime.
5. Violence begets violence. 

#10 A podcast on Argumentative writing.

A Step-by-Step Plan for Teaching Argumentative Writing.

By Jennifer Gonzalez

Jennifer Gonzales is a certified English language art teacher, however, she has been always interested in teaching children how to write. In her podcast explains how she teaches argumentative essay writing step by step and the strategies to improve it.
According to Jennifer it is important to prepare a gradual plan for teaching argumentative or persuasive essays. This plan includes several steps to take into consideration when we ask children to write: 

 Step #1: Watch how it is done
Students are required to read model examples of essays in different genres. The teacher should expose students to different real world writing, which are appealing to their interests, and make them compare diverse pieces of writings to spot the differences between them.
Step #2: Freestyle, Verbal arguing
In order for students to write a persuasive piece of writing, they need to be aware of how to state their ideas clearly. For this reason, teachers should encourage students to make verbal arguments of a certain topic through activities such as ice breakers in which students are told a statement and they should decide whether they agree or disagree on it. By doing this, they are supposed to support and defend their position. 
 Step #3: Formal Argument
Students will be provide with reliable research material in order to give them the opportunity to back up their arguments in a new topic. By the end of the discussion, students will be ask to write down three important reasons which will support their position on the topic, this implies writing a thesis statement.
Step #4: Assignment
 The teacher should state clear instructions for the assignment. It is necessary to present more than one topic so that students can choose what they are more comfortable with. Bringing material related to the topic and limiting students chooses when selecting supporting material will save a lot of time for them.
Step #5: Writing process (building the base)
A pre-writing process should be carried out so that all students will feel prepared when they are face to the writing task. The teacher will present different strategies such as graphic organizers or models of essays to show what the process of writing involves.
Step #6: Workshop (writing the essay)
Throughout several lessons students will work on how to choose the best evidence for their arguments, how to include it in their writings properly, how to cite sources correctly and writing skills. The teacher should monitor the students' performance and give feedback at all stages of the assignment. Collaborative work among students is a key aspect to make students pay attention to.
Step #7: Final assessment
By the end of the writing process, students will be ask to submit their writing work if they are sure about it. They should be given the opportunity to revise their assignment and resubmit when necessary.