Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In We owe the oceans

15 minutes

Find Out: Investigations of ideas for change

30 minutes

Take Action: Persuasive pieces

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will:

understand how to use a range of persuasive techniques
identify which persuasive techniques are used in Blue The Film
identify which issues raised in this unit are most important to them.

Success criteria:

Students can:

use a range of persuasive techniques
articulate some of the main messages of Blue
use persuasive techniques
produce a piece that incorporates persuasive messaging.

Tune In: We owe the oceans

Preparation

If students are unfamiliar with persuasive techniques, ask them to view the following How to be persuasive presentation (also available on the Student Worksheet) and answer the question on the Student Worksheet before coming to this class, or set aside several minutes at the start of the class for them to complete this task.

Step 1

Begin this lesson by asking students to share what they learned about persuasive techniques. Ask them to share their answers to the question 'What are the three types of persuasive techniques listed in the presentation?' on the Student Worksheet. (Answer: appeal to emotion, appeal to reason, appeal to character.) In addition, ask students to share examples of these techniques.

Step 2

Now, provide devices capable of showing the Blue clips for the students. Organise students to work independently or in small groups to watch the clips of two of the Blue Ocean Guardians: Lucas Handley and Madison Stewart.

Assign groups with one of the following clips to watch. As they watch, invite students to record any key messages presented in the clips, and any interesting or important information they would like to share with the class, and any information about persuasive techniques used.

Clip 1. Who is Lucas Handley?

Who is Lucas Handley? (https://vimeo.com/1056608649/e95d8574b1)

Clip 2. Who is Madison Stewart?

Who is Madison Stewart? (https://vimeo.com/1056608696/f87d86ca45)

Step 3

Regroup the students in a discussion circle. Invite students to share their thoughts and views about what they watched, with students who watched the Lucas Handley clip sharing what happened in their clip, and those who watched Madison Stewart sharing what happened in their clip. Invite students to share their ideas using the following questions:

What happened in this clip?
Who featured in this clip and what did they do?
What were the key messages presented in this clip?
Are any persuasive techniques used in these clips? If so, which ones and how are they used?
How persuasive are Madison and Lucas in delivering their messages?
What questions do you have about these clips?

Tip: You could record students thoughts and use some of these ideas to guide further discussion or inquiry.

Find Out: Investigations of ideas for change

Step 1

Break the class into three groups. Assign each group with one of the following topics, explaining that these were some of the topics that were addressed through the course of this unit:

Fishing
Plastic waste
Marine animals (e.g. turtles and shearwaters)

Give each group a two pieces of butcher's paper and some marker pens. On the first page, ask students to write the topic they have been assigned at the top of the page.

Each group then needs to work together to generate a list of ideas that come to mind when thinking about this topic.

Now, ask students to take the second piece of paper and write their topic in the middle of the page. Groups then need to transfer their original ideas from their first page to this second page, but placing more important (central) ideas closer to the centre of the page and ideas less important or related (tangential) around the outside edges of the page.

Students should then connect their ideas by drawing connecting lines between ideas that have something in common.

Finally, invite each group to present their second piece of paper to the class, explaining their ideas and justifying the positioning of their ideas on the page (as being either central or tangential).

Once complete, display the brainstorm sheets on the wall or board where all students can see them.

Take Action: Persuasive pieces

Explain to students that they now need to select a topic from the brainstorm sheets that they are most interested or concerned about. The topic could be one of the broad ones covered by each group, or a smaller topic raised through the brainstorm.

Working independently, students need to create a persuasive piece that is aimed at convincing its audience of the need to act on this issue or topic.

Persuasive pieces could include:

A letter to someone
An annotated drawing or infographic
A short essay/written piece
A short film
A podcast

Supporting resources:

Persuasive Writing Tips
Letter Writing Tips
Podcast Making Tips
Film Making Tips

Step 3

Give students enough time to complete their persuasive piece.

Step 4

Once students have completed their persuasive pieces, invite students to team up in pairs or small groups. In their groups, students need to share their persuasive pieces, with other group members providing feedback. Remind students to be kind helpful and specific when providing feedback:

Tips for providing feedback

Be kind – it can be hard sharing your ideas with other people so make sure you remain kind and supportive.

Be specific – be clear about what you think and why. Rather than saying “I like the colours”, say something like “I like the way those colours help create a mood that supports your message”.

Be helpful – try not to just say what is strong or weak, but also make suggestions about how things could be improved.

Use a gallery walk format to provide peer feedback on student work. Display the students' work around the classroom and place a piece of blank paper next to each work for writing feedback. Invite groups to rotate around the room and provide feedback to the creators of the work. As groups view the works they are required to record one thing they like about the work displayed, one thing they wonder about it, and one thing to improve the work or where to go next. Consider doing this before work is submitted to the teacher so that students can incorporate any feedback to improve their work.

Step 5

Give students time to incorporate feedback into their persuasive pieces.

Step 6

Invite students to share their persuasive pieces with the class. You could do this as a presentation session or as a gallery walk.

You could use this rubric to assess student work: Persuasive Piece Assessment Rubric.

Reflection

Invite students to participate in a class discussion around the following questions:

Why is it important to share what we know about the ocean?
How can we convince people to take action?
How could we help people to take action?
What can we do or say if people say it is too hard?
What persuasive techniques do you think work well for the topics presented in Blue?
What persuasive techniques work best for you?

Blue - Persuasive Blue Messages

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

Related Professional Learning

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