• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Is the evidence relevant and sufficient?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Judge the evidence for this claim. Claim: Cycling to school is safe in our town. Evidence: Police data shows no serious cycling accidents near local schools in five years, after new cycle lanes were built. (relevant and sufficient / relevant but not sufficient / not relevant) → relevant and sufficientPrompt: Relevant: is the evidence actually about the claim?
2. Which claim and evidence pair matches this judgement: not relevant? (Claim: Our school should switch to LED lights. Evidence: My uncle has LED lights at home. / Claim: Our school should switch to LED lights. Evidence: LED stands for light-emitting diode. / Claim: The new reading app improves reading scores. Evidence: One pupil said she reads more now.) → Claim: Our school should switch to LED lights. Evidence: LED stands for light-emitting diode.Prompt: Relevant: is the evidence actually about the claim?
3. Judge the evidence for this claim. Claim: The new reading app improves reading scores. Evidence: In a term-long trial across 12 classes, pupils using the app improved more than similar pupils who did not. (relevant and sufficient / relevant but not sufficient / not relevant) → relevant and sufficientPrompt: Relevant: is the evidence actually about the claim?

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Spotting faulty reasoning: bandwagon, slippery slope, ad hominem…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which fallacy matches this description? Presenting only two options when more exist.
• Step 1: A fallacy is a flaw in reasoning that can make a weak argument sound convincing.
• Step 2: false dilemma: Presenting only two options when more exist.
• Step 3: So the answer is: false dilemma
• Answer: false dilemma
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which fallacy matches this description? Claiming something is right or good because lots of people do it or believe it. (slippery slope / false dilemma / bandwagon / hasty generalisation) → bandwagonPrompt: Think about what each kind of faulty argument does wrong.
2. Which fallacy is used here? Everyone in our year has this app, so it must be safe. (slippery slope / false dilemma / ad hominem / bandwagon) → bandwagonPrompt: Does it attack a person, follow the crowd, offer only two options, generalise from a few cases, or predict a chain of disasters?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Which fallacy matches this description? Claiming one small step will inevitably lead to a chain of extreme results. (ad hominem / hasty generalisation / slippery slope / bandwagon) → slippery slopePrompt: Think about what each kind of faulty argument does wrong.
2. Which fallacy is used here? Either we ban phones in school completely, or students will never learn anything. (hasty generalisation / false dilemma / bandwagon / ad hominem) → false dilemmaPrompt: Does it attack a person, follow the crowd, offer only two options, generalise from a few cases, or predict a chain of disasters?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-8.