Fifth graders meet the logical fallacies that sneak into everyday arguments — bandwagon, ad hominem, hasty generalization, slippery slope, either/or, and red herring. Fill-ins connect the names to definitions, including the 'gum leads to candy leads to pizza' chain and the trap of always/never absolute thinking.
Matching pushes students to spot the move in real sentences: 'Everyone is buying this brand,' 'You are wrong because you are only ten,' and 'My cousin got sick after sushi, so all sushi is unsafe.' Naming the flaw is the first step to writing arguments that hold up.
Style:
Argumentative Writing
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes an argument weaker.
2. The bandwagon fallacy happens when a writer claims something is true because many people believe it.
3. Attacking the person instead of their argument is called a personal attack or ad hominem.
4. A hasty generalization is made when a writer draws a big conclusion from only one or two examples.
5. Saying 'if we allow gum in class, soon students will bring candy, then pizza' is the slippery slope fallacy.
6. An either/or fallacy presents only two choices when there are actually more options available.
7. A red herring introduces an unrelated topic to distract from the real argument.
8. Using words like "always" and "never" without proof is a sign of absolute thinking.
9. Writers who rely on fallacies instead of evidence will not convince careful readers.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
"Everyone is buying this brand, so it must be the best."
→ Bandwagon — assumes popularity equals correctness
Ad hominem — attacks the person, not the argument
"You are wrong because you are only ten years old."
→ Ad hominem — attacks the person, not the argument
Hasty generalization — concludes from too little evidence
"Either you support longer recess or you hate exercise."
→ Either/or fallacy — presents only two extreme choices
Either/or fallacy — presents only two extreme choices
"My cousin got sick after eating sushi, so all sushi is unsafe."
→ Hasty generalization — concludes from too little evidence
Bandwagon — assumes popularity equals correctness
Argumentative Writing
★ Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1) A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes an argument weaker.
2) The bandwagon fallacy happens when a writer claims something is true because many people believe it.
3) Attacking the person instead of their argument is called a personal attack or ad hominem.
4) A hasty generalization is made when a writer draws a big conclusion from only one or two examples.
5) Saying 'if we allow gum in class, soon students will bring candy, then pizza' is the slippery slope fallacy.
6) An either/or fallacy presents only two choices when there are actually more options available.
7) A red herring introduces an unrelated topic to distract from the real argument.
8) Using words like "always" and "never" without proof is a sign of absolute thinking.
9) Writers who rely on fallacies instead of evidence will not convince careful readers.
★ Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1) Match each item to its correct answer.
"Everyone is buying this brand, so it must be the best."
→ Bandwagon — assumes popularity equals correctness
Ad hominem — attacks the person, not the argument
"You are wrong because you are only ten years old."
→ Ad hominem — attacks the person, not the argument
Hasty generalization — concludes from too little evidence
"Either you support longer recess or you hate exercise."
→ Either/or fallacy — presents only two extreme choices
Either/or fallacy — presents only two extreme choices
"My cousin got sick after eating sushi, so all sushi is unsafe."
→ Hasty generalization — concludes from too little evidence
Bandwagon — assumes popularity equals correctness
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10 Questions
10-15 minutes
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