President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and opinions, and persuasive techniques. 

Concepts

ronald reagan, the presidency of ronald reagan, giving speeches, persuasive speeches, rhetorical devices, bias, fact and opinion, author's purpose

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Flip the lesson, asking class members to read the speech, answer the questions, and view excerpts of the speech before returning to group and full class discussions

Classroom Considerations

• Requires multiple copies of the four-page text of Reagan's speech and a worksheet of questions that encourage a close reading of the text
• Excerpts from the speech are available on YouTube
• Knowledge of rhetorical devices would be useful but not required

Pros

• The homework assignment provides class members an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned from the lesson

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.5 RI.9-10.6 RI.9-10.8 RI.9-10.9