BeMED 12. Persuasive Writing Task

Title
Persuasive Writing Task
Author
Ms. Samantha Abela
Age Guide
Year 5-11
Subject Area
English, Maltese, Geography, Social Studies, ICT, Environmental Studies
Preparation Time
Nil
Estimated Duration 2 hours
Site Classroom or computer lab
Educational objectives Students understand and are empowered to address the real causes and consequences of unsustainable behaviour within the context of an interdependent and globalised world.
Learning Outcomes – I can order ideas and describe them effectively to contribute to discussions supported by the teacher.

– I can write for a stated purpose, using grammar and sentence starters.

– I can gather information from long and complex articles and books.
Link to SDGs SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

SDG 14:  Life below water
Educational resources required Interactive Whiteboard

Appendix 12.1 – Spider diagram

Appendix 12.2 – Writing frame

Appendix 12.3 – Capturing your audience

Appendix 12.4 – Persuasive writing vocabulary

Appendix 12.5 – Writing prompts discussions

Appendix 12.6 – Websites to help students with research

Internet Connection
Remote preparation The ‘Fact-Finding’ Task can be done before the lesson and allot more time to writing and class discussion. The links provided can be sent to the students beforehand.
Planning Considerations The lesson can be done in class or in a Computer Lab. In case of a Lab, booking of the facility would be required.

The Fact-Finding task can be done as an introduction or as a pre-task before the lesson.

Students require some technological device and an internet connection during the lesson for the Fact-Finding task.

Students should be warned about the huge amount of information available online. Teachers can opt to: Limit the websites they search by giving them a prescribed list or by limiting the search by geographical zone example: things related to Malta only.
Method Introduction

5 minutes – The teacher introduces the topic of ‘Persuasive Writing’. The teacher asks what is the meaning of the word ‘Persuasive’ and can create a spider diagram (Appendix 12.1) on the board jotting down the students’ ideas before giving the following definition:

“making you want to do or believe a particular thing” – Definition by Cambridge Dictionary

“able, fitted or intended to persuade” “inducement” – Definition by Dictionary.com

Development

10 minutes -The teacher moves on to introduce the students to the main activity. The students will act as opinion writers for a local newspaper. They are concerned with the presence of plastic litter in our seas. The task is to:

Write a letter addressed to the editor in which they have to:

·       Outline their concern by explaining what it is about.

·       Provide evidence on the concern by quoting events, sources, statistics, etc.

·       Provide arguments about the concern, namely why this is an important issue to be tackled.

·       Provide ideas about possible solutions to the concern.

·       Conclude the letter in a positive manner, hoping that you are acknowledged.

The teacher can provide a Writing Frame (Appendix 12.2) to guide the students in their task.

20 minutes – Now that the students know what is expected from them, the teacher can guide them by providing them with the following guidelines:

–        Persuasive writing should be done in the Present Tense.

–        How to appeal to the Audience? (Appendix 12.3)

–        Provide a list of Persuasive Writing vocabulary (Appendix 12.4)

–        Discuss with students who is their audience: People who will read the newspaper and thus they might not know anything about your topic.

–        Topic Finder – The teacher can provide the following ideas / Writing prompts for the students to choose from. (Appendix 12.5)

–        Once students are given time to think which topic they wish to tackle they do research on the topic to gather the facts they need (evidence).

40 minutes – Research Task

The students use the internet to research their topic. They can start by looking up the keywords, look for statistics from reliable sources such as EU, UN websites and local NGOs. The teacher can give the students a list of websites to look up information from. (Appendix 12.6).

Students are instructed to record information on a Document or Paper and to write down the source (website) from where they got the information.

They are also to be instructed that some information may be conflicting. They need to be able to cite both sides of the story and choose which one they will promote more and why.

They need to also check how sources are reliable and if the authors were commissioned to write a particular article from a particular point of view.

Creating a ‘For and Against’ column may help the students in the research process. They need to organize ideas, collate them, sort them out and correlate them as deem fit.

40 minutes – Writing

Now that the students have gathered the information, they can move on to writing their Opinion Piece for the newspaper.

The teacher gives them the writing frame (Appendix 12.2) to remind them what is being asked from them.

Conclusion

5 minutes – The teacher concludes the lesson by summarizing what is the meaning behind persuasive pieces of writing. Why these are important in society (to generate a discussion and prompt actions for example). The teacher collects the work and urges students to hand in their work (digital or physical copies).
Follow-up activities Class Presentations – Power Point Presentations can be made using the information that the students already gathered.
Newspaper publishing – Some of the best writing pieces can be shared on the school social media and local newspapers.
Background information for educators Please refer to Appendix 12.6
Adaptations

 

 

 

 Each writing task can be adapted to the different age group depending on the Word Count requested and the extensiveness of the vocabulary used.

The teacher can create an example with slotted text for students to just write keywords.

The teacher can start the paragraphs for the students.

The teacher can limit the website research so that students are not overwhelmed.
Extensions Increased word counts