• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Spotting faulty reasoning: bandwagon, slippery slope, ad hominem…). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which fallacy matches this description? Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself. (hasty generalisation / slippery slope / false dilemma / ad hominem) → ad hominemPrompt: 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. (false dilemma / ad hominem / bandwagon / hasty generalisation) → bandwagonPrompt: Does it attack a person, follow the crowd, offer only two options, generalise from a few cases, or predict a chain of disasters?
3. Type the fallacy (in English) that matches this description. Drawing a big conclusion from too few examples. → hasty generalisationPrompt: Think about what each kind of faulty argument does wrong.

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: More faulty reasoning: straw man, circular reasoning, red herring…. 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? Using the conclusion as its own evidence.
• Step 1: Fallacies are reasoning errors; spotting them helps you judge arguments fairly and write stronger ones.
• Step 2: circular reasoning: Using the conclusion as its own evidence.
• Step 3: So the answer is: circular reasoning
• Answer: circular reasoning
• 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? Using the opinion of someone who is not an expert on the topic as proof. (post hoc (false cause) / red herring / appeal to false authority / straw man) → appeal to false authorityPrompt: Think about what each faulty move does: twist, repeat, borrow fame, distract, confuse order with cause, or play on feelings.
2. Which fallacy is used here? Please vote for my plan — I've worked so hard on it and I'll be heartbroken if it fails. (appeal to false authority / appeal to pity / post hoc (false cause) / circular reasoning) → appeal to pityPrompt: What is wrong with the reasoning, exactly?

• 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 8 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. Type the fallacy (in English) that matches this description. Assuming that because B happened after A, A must have caused B. → post hoc (false cause)Prompt: Think about what each faulty move does: twist, repeat, borrow fame, distract, confuse order with cause, or play on feelings.
2. Which fallacy is used here? The new head teacher arrived in September and exam results rose, so she must have caused it. (straw man / appeal to false authority / red herring / post hoc (false cause)) → post hoc (false cause)Prompt: What is wrong with the reasoning, exactly?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-9.