WH · Angle Lab — Lock Your Angle & Finish Your Contract

Part 1 · Angle Lab

Recap yesterday's Socratic. Every student should have a rough "itch" to build on.

Where we left off

Yesterday you found the argument that pulled at you. Today you turn that itch into a real question — and lock the plan around it.

Part 1 · Angle Lab

Today's finish line

Angle chosen. Contract done. Signed.

Two moves: ① lock your angle in the Angle Lab, then ② complete your Contract and bring it to me.

Part 1 · Angle Lab

Let students self-select a path. Both land on the same organizer + the 3 tests.

Two ways to get your angle — pick your lane

Path A

Start from the Menu

Grab a ready-made angle that sparks something — then make it yours.

Path B

Build Your Own

Run the 5-step generator to grow an angle from the text that got under your skin.

Part 1 · Angle Lab · Path A

The menu. Read a couple aloud. Point students to the same list on their organizer.

Path A · The Angle Menu

Trailblazer · more scaffolded

Compare Hammurabi's Code and the 10 Commandments — two theories of authority. Same? Different?
Is Confucius' "lead by virtue" realistic for a real ruler — or naive?
Which single law in Hammurabi's Code is most unfair — and what does that reveal about his idea of justice?

Maverick

Athens: a model to follow or a warning? (Funeral Oration + Melian Dialogue)
Law, virtue, democracy — each has a blind spot. What is each one's biggest weakness?
Is "an eye for an eye" more just than a modern prison sentence? Argue it.

Phoenix

Design your own governance system using all three thinkers — and answer the strongest objection to it.
"The Melian Dialogue is the honest description of how all governance really works." For or against?
Which of the three thinkers would best govern our world today — and what would they get wrong?

Part 1 · Angle Lab · Path A

Path A · Don't just copy it — make it yours

Three ways to personalize

• Swap the text — use Confucius instead of Pericles.
• Change the comparison — pick your own pairing.
• Add a modern link — tie it to something now.

Menu → personalized

Menu: "Law, virtue, democracy — each has a blind spot."

Yours: "Which blind spot is most dangerous today — and which ancient thinker saw it coming?"

On your organizer: circle a menu angle, then rewrite it in your words

Part 1 · Angle Lab · Path B

Path B for students who already have an itch. Walk all 5 steps with the Maya example next.

Path B · Build Your Own — 5 steps

Start from friction — which text or claim made you want to argue back?

Take a side — what do you actually think? (a stance, not a topic)

Right-size it — too big to finish? too small to argue? adjust.

Phrase it as a question — open and arguable.

Test it — the three checks.

Part 1 · Angle Lab · Path B

Model the generator with "Maya." This same angle carries into the Contract half.

Path B · Watch Maya build one

Maya runs the generator

1 · Friction: "'The strong do what they can' bugged me — it felt true, and that bothered me."

2 · Side: "I think Athens' democracy was mostly a mask for power."

3 · Right-size: "'All of Athens' is too big → just the Funeral Oration vs. the Melian Dialogue."

4 · Question: "Is Athens' democracy a model to follow — or a warning?"

Part 1 · Angle Lab

Both paths end here. If an angle fails a test, it's not dead — it needs a tweak.

Step 5 · Test any angle — all three must pass

Arguable?

Could a reasonable person take the other side? Maya: ✓ people still defend Athens.

Researchable?

Can you dig into it in 6 weeks with your texts? Maya: ✓ two clear sources.

Yours?

Do you actually care? Maya: ✓ ties to "greatest democracy" talk today.

Run your angle through all three on your organizer

Part 1 · Angle Lab

✍️ Angle Lab work time

Finish your organizer. Land on one angle that passes all three tests.

Stuck between two? Pick the one you'd argue harder. I'll come to you.

Part 2 · The Contract

Shift to completion. Everyone should now have an angle to pour into Part 1.

You have an angle — now the plan

Open your Studio Contract.

Same idea as the Angle Lab: I'll show a part, you write it. We'll finish Parts 1–5 together, then 6–9 on your own.

Part 2 · The Contract

Contract · Part 1 — What this studio is about

Write

The essential question (copy it), your angle from the Lab, and why it matters to you.

Maya's Part 1

Angle: "Is Athens' democracy a model to follow or a warning?"

Why: "People call the U.S. 'the greatest democracy' — I want to test what that claim is worth."

Write Part 1 now

Part 2 · The Contract

Contract · Part 2 — Standards

Write

Your standard code + type (ELA / SS / crosswalk). Find codes on your Launch Reference.

Maya's Part 2

Primary: 9-10.R.9 · Crosswalk: WH.6_12.3 + Era 1 · Type: Crosswalk

Write Part 2 now

Part 2 · The Contract

Push "specific = defensible." This description is what you'll score against in Week 5.

Contract · Part 3 — Demo of Learning

Write

Pick a mode and describe exactly what you'll make.

Maya's Part 3

Mode: Extended Writing.

"A 600–900 word argument answering my question, 3+ quotes across the Funeral Oration and Melian, addressing one counterargument."

Write Part 3 now

Part 2 · The Contract

Contract · Part 4 — Skinnies

Write

List 1–3 skinnies for your standard & mode. Read their 2.0/3.0 lines before Part 5.

Maya's Part 4

• R.9 Informational / Argumentative
• W.4 Argument Writing

Write Part 4, then open those skinnies

Part 2 · The Contract

The heart. Slow down. Their three rungs become the Part-5 table. 3.0 = A.

Contract · Part 5 — Proficiency Targets (the big one)

2.0

Maya: "I can identify the claim and appeals in the Funeral Oration and the Melian Dialogue, one at a time."

3.0

Maya: "I can compare how Pericles builds his case and how Thucydides undercuts it — and argue which is stronger, with evidence." ← target = A

4.0

Maya: "I can name what Athens assumes about power that it never argues for — and connect it to how democracies talk about themselves today."

Write your 2.0 / 3.0 / 4.0 now

Part 2 · The Contract

Keep 6–8 fast. Most of the block is the angle + Part 5.

Contract · Parts 6–8 (quick)

6 · Deliverable

Public thing for Week 6.
Maya: essay to the Commons.

7 · Timeline

One checkpoint per week.
Wk 1: "angle + contract signed."

8 · Resources

2 library texts + 1 you find.
Pericles, Melian + a modern op-ed.

Fill Parts 6–8 now

Part 2 · The Contract

Contract · Part 9 — Sign-off

Bring me your Contract.

Angle, standard, demo, skinnies, targets — done? Bring it over. I approve it, or hand it back with notes. Then it's official.

Angle Lab

Angle chosen. Contract done. Signed.

Open your Studio Contract.

Bring me your Contract.

Angle locked.Contract signed.

Angle locked.
Contract signed.