This is the first week of school, and my Theory Of Knowledge class is learning about the difference between knowledge and belief, and the different justification used for a variety of claims.

Tomorrow, we’re going to examine Reuben Abel’s nine types of evidence, and students will rank them in terms of reliability and validity.

I’m tentatively planning on doing a lesson on Syria on Monday where they will apply what they learned.

First, I’ll ask students to share in small groups what they think they know about what’s happening in Syria and the potential of a U.S. attack.

Then, I’ll show this video of President Obama making his case for an attack:

I’ll then do a Read Aloud of the first three paragraphs of this NY Times article.

Afterwards, I’ll ask students to work in pairs and identify which of the nine types of evidence the administration is using to justify the attack and how they ranked those in terms of reliability and validity. Then, students will share if they believe an attack would be wise and use their analysis to defend their position.

It’s late at night, and my mind isn’t working as well as I’d like it to, so I’d like to invite teachers, especially TOK educators (though not limited to them) for feedback on how to make this lesson better. I’m also trying to figure out if I should somehow use Charles Blow’s NY Times column, The Era of Disbelief.