Grade 1-2 Persuasive Writing
Essential Questions:
· How can one use writing to change the world? What do I imagine the world can be and how can I use writing to make it come true?
· How can writers persuade their audience to their point of view?
· What language do writers use to persuade their audience?
· How can you organize your writing to help persuade others towards your ideas?
Objectives:
Students will:
· Write their beliefs and their claims to persuade their audience using the format of a letter and a review.
· Choose words carefully so as to persuade their reader effectively, decide on ideas they want to recommend, and support their ideas with evidence.
· Form opinions about the world around them both verbally and in writing.
· Persuade others to believe their reviews by using strong word choice, adding details, conveying emotion, using catchphrases, repetition, and quotes.
· Learn about and apply techniques that good writers use by reading a variety of reviews.
Academic Vocabulary:
· Persuade
· Opinions
· Audience
· Transitional Words
· Compare
Standards
Kindergarten / W.K.1-Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is . . .).Grade 1 / W.1.1-Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is . . .).
Grade 2 / W.2.1-Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
Grade 3 / W.3.1-Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
b. Provide reasons that support the opinion.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.
Part 1: Writing a Persuasive Letter
Possible Suggestions:
“Stationery Shop” - Have “fancy stationery” to use – during recess, students can design stationery to make black & white copies of for use during the letter writing unit. Multiple pages can be stapled together so the students know their letters can be multiple pages in length. Put paper in multiple trays so students can choose the best stationery that best fits their letter.
Note: Build in a mini-lesson for how to write a friendly letter when ready.
*MiniLesson A Writing a Friendly Letter
Suggested Resources for Unit 5 Part I:
Click, Clack, Moo by Cronin (2001)
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (2007)
I Wanna Iguana, by Karen Kaufman Oloff (2004)
Dear Mr. Blueberry, by Simon James (1996)
Dear Annie, by Judith Casely (1994)
Dear Juno, by Soyung Pak (2001)
The Jolly Postman, by Janet Ahlberg and Allen Ahlberg (1999)
MiniLesson #1 Immersion: Persuasive Letter Writing
MiniLesson #2 Take a Walk for Ideas
MiniLesson #3 Adding to Topic List
MiniLesson # 4 (multiple days) Beginning Writing
MiniLesson # 5 Providing Reasons in Order to Persuade
MiniLesson # 6 Using Mini-Stories as Reasons
MiniLesson # 7 Planning for Persuading
MiniLesson # 8 Using Transitional Phrases
MiniLesson # 9 Revising Persuasive Letters
MiniLesson #10 Editing Your Letters
MiniLesson #11 Addressing an Envelope
Note: Possible Postal Worker Jobs:
- Mail Sorters – sort the mail to make sure they are in the correct basket for delivery (ex. school, classroom, home, etc. )
- Delivery Persons – to place in the office outgoing mail, the principal, a classmates mailbox, etc.
MiniLesson #12 Mail Delivery
Possible Suggestion: Have a “Post Office Nook” – a spot where students can deposit their letters for different places to be sent (ex. home, classrooms, USPS)
Part II: Persuasive Reviews
Preparation for Unit
· Provide students with opportunities to share opinions and talk persuasively
· Develop ideas for book, movie, video game, food, or restaurant reviews in conversations
Suggested Resources for Unit 5 Part II:
www.commonsensemedia.org –Current reviews of movies, games, apps, websites, tv, books, and more
www.cyberkids.com --Go to “cyberviews” to see reviews of movies, books, software, videos, etc.
www.kidreviewer.com – Print & video reviews
www.kidsfirst.org –Movie reviews
www.spaghettibookclub.com –Reviews of books by children
www.kidsmenufoodcritic.blogspot.com —Reviews of restaurants by a 10 year old food critic
www.lights-camera-jackson.com —Current movie reviews by a 12 year old
Minilesson #1 Immersion in Persuasive Reviews (may be completed over several days)
Minilesson #2 Selecting topics to Review
Minilesson #3 Stating your Opinion
Minilesson #4 Elaborating within your Review—Reasons & Details
Minilesson #5 Elaborating within your Review—Adding Quotes
Minilesson #6 Writing Catchy Leads
Minilesson #7 Writing Strong Endings
Minilesson #8 Learning from Mentor Texts
Minilesson #9 Use Comparisons to Persuade
Minilesson #10 Editing
Minilesson #11 Preparing to Publish Reviews
Minilesson #12 Publishing
Grade 1-2 Persuasive Writing
What does it mean to persuade someone to do something? You may want them to ask someone to start or stop doing something. Persuasive writing helps students to move from whining and complaining toward taking positive action.
Criteria for Persuasive Writing:
1. writing with a purpose for a selected audience
2. deciding upon and the elaborating on the most important parts of their message
3. writing and editing for readers, making sure the text is easy to read
Note: Repeat procedural mini-lessons as needed. Continue to reinforce expectations for writing workshop. Use your anchor charts as needed from previous units. ex. “Fancying Up Your Writing” Also, repeat any of the mini-lessons that discuss craft as needed. Your conferences with students will support you in determining which mini-lessons students need repeated.
Key Ideas for this Unit:
During this unit, students will develop their understanding of the genre of persuasive writing through writing persuasive letters in which they will write letters that persuade people to take action, and persuasive reviews in which students will state and support their opinion on something. In the previous unit, students were writing personal narratives and expository texts. The goal of this unit is to deepen their knowledge of this genre and apply the traits of good writing. Students will learn how to add details to their writing using their senses and feelings.
Part 1: Writing a Persuasive Letter
Part 1: Goals & Overview:
Students will:
· See the world as it is, imagine what it could be, & use writing to make dreams come true
· Write their beliefs and their claims in compelling ways
· Take time to choose their words carefully, take time to decide on ideas they want to recommend, & support their ideas with evidence
Possible Suggestions:
“Stationery Shop” - Have “fancy stationery” to use – during recess, students can design stationery to make black & white copies of for use during the letter writing unit. Multiple pages can be stapled together so the students know their letters can be multiple pages in length. Put paper in multiple trays so students can choose the best stationery that best fits their letter.
Note: Build in a mini-lesson for how to write a friendly letter when ready. (*See Mini-Lesson A)
*Mini-Lesson A - Elements of a Friendly Letter
Introduce the parts of a friendly letter. Create an anchor chart with discussion.
The Heading can include the return address and the date.
The Greeting means “hello”. (Ex. Dear Luke,) All of the words that are part of the greeting are usually capitalized.
The Body contains the message of the letter. * Remember to indent each new paragraph.
The Closing means “good-bye”. (Ex. Your friend, ) * Remember to capitalize the first letter of the first word in the closing.
The Signature is the author of the letter.
Writing: Students will practice writing a letter to a person of their choice using all of the elements of a friendly letter.
Share: Students will share with others the letter the wrote.
Mini-Lesson #1 Immersion: Persuasive Letter Writing
Read aloud a mentor text, ex. Click, Clack, Moo (Cronin, 2001), to show how characters changed the world. “How can we use letter writing as a way to make the world a better place just like in the story?”
Brainstorm, as a class, a list of ideas of things to change.
Other suggested picture books with letter writing as part of the story:
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (2007)
I Wanna Iguana, by Karen Kaufman Oloff (2004)
Dear Mr. Blueberry, by Simon James (1996)
Dear Annie, by Judith Casely (1994)
Dear Juno, by Soyung Pak (2001)
The Jolly Postman, by Janet Ahlberg and Allen Ahlberg (1999)
Mini-Lesson #2 Take a Walk for Ideas
Take a brief walk around the school to collect ideas for persuasive letters.
Questions to have students think about:
- Are there any things they notice that need to be changed?
- What do I care about?
- What do I notice?
- Whom can I help?
Questions to ask when interviewing people around the school:
- Do you have problems we could help you solve?
- Are there things that happen here often that you want to change?
- What can we do to help?
Writing: Have students create a personal list of persuasive topics.
Share: Have students share with a partner what they added as a result of the walk.
Mini-Lesson #3 Adding to Topic List
“This month you will all have the chance to write lots of letters, and you can write those letters in order to persuade people to do things that you believe need to be done.”
Have students brainstorm ways that they can persuade people to take action. For example, request someone to start or stop doing something, suggest solutions to a problem, and give reasons to back their request.
Writing: Student add to their list of things they would like to persuade others to do.
Share: Have students share what they added to their topic list.
Mini-Lesson # 4 (multiple days) Beginning Writing
Explain to students that they will be using their lists of ideas to write letters. Model for students writing your own persuasive letter. (Do this before preteaching the greeting or anything else. Just let them get their ideas down.) Remind them from here on out, “Wherever you go, whatever you do, think, ‘How could I use writing to make the world a better place?’” You will need to teach them that they do not need to physically walk around to get ideas but can sit at their desk and pretend they are there, ex. think about problems in the cafeteria.
Writing: Give students some paper to get started writing persuasive letters
Share: Have students share drafts of their letters with each other
Have students continue to write lots of “less-than-ideal” letters and collect them in their writing folders until you get to teaching how to revise their letters with techniques that will make their letters even more powerful! Those will be the letters that will get mailed to others.
Mini-Lesson # 5 Providing Reasons in Order to Persuade
Point out to students that they are asking for a favor or suggesting a solution to a problem in their letters. In order for them to get their way, it helps to provide reasons to get people to listen. Model for students, using your own letter, how to state your big point (with a please!) and give lots of reasons to make your case about why it’s important. Students should turn & talk with a partner using an example – “Pretend you are writing a letter to your parents, asking for a pet – ex. a horse. “Dear Mom & Dad, I'm writing to ask you if....because…” – students should keep going and include a reason or two.
Writing: Have students refer back to a letter that they have already written to include a main point followed by reasons.
Share: Have a student who added reasons to a letter share with the class the changes they made.
Note: Begin an Anchor Chart for Persuasive Letter Writing:
1. State your Big Point
2. Use Reasons to Persuade
Mini-Lesson # 6 Using Mini-Stories as Reasons
Model writing the story of a small moment/example to illustrate your point. Tell a story of one particular incident that helps make your case. Instead of writing a list of reasons, pick a particular moment to explain why you should listen. Ex. A letter to the principal to fix a water fountain: “Dear Principal Smith, Please can you fix the water fountain? Instead of writing a list why, use a small moment to illustrate the problem – “Today I tried to get a drink. I pushed the button and opened my mouth. The water went all over my face and my shirt. I saw the problem. There is gum stuck in the hole so it goes funny.”
Have students turn & tell a partner how a small moment was used instead of a list of reasons.
Writing: Have students try to use a small moment to illustrate their point
Share: Have 1-2 students share their use of a small moment when trying to persuade
Add to Anchor Chart:
3. Use a Small Moment to Illustrate the Problem
Mini-Lesson # 7 Planning for Persuading
Before writing persuasive letters you may need to plan for them. Model for students taking a piece of paper and touching the top of the page where the greeting goes and saying aloud the greeting, and then touching the place where the letter will begin and saying aloud the start of the letter – this is where the writer will state their claim, expressing their opinion using reasons or a story example.
Writing: Students will practice planning for a persuasive letter using the technique modeled by the teacher with a partner.
Share: Student(s) who have a clear plan may share theirs with the class.
Add to Anchor Chart: