Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes – Part A: Lesson Introduction
50 minutes – Part B: Linking Ideas to Audience
45 minutes – Part C: Writing a persuasive text
15 minutes – Part D: Reflection

Part A: Lesson Introduction

Step 1. Begin this lesson by assessing prior knowledge of students. Invite students to respond to the following questions:

What do we already know about persuasive writing?
What is the purpose of a persuasive text?

Record student responses on the whiteboard. Respond to this question encourages students to access their prior knowledge and experience which can assist them to build links to new learning.

Once all ideas have been listed, restate the purpose of a persuasive text and summarise ideas by writing the following on the whiteboard:

The purpose of a persuasive text is to convince another person to take a particular action.

Part B: Linking Ideas to Audience

Step 1. Explain that when creating a persuasive text, it is important to think about the needs and interest of the audience. This means that the writer can select arguments and persuasive devices that will persuade a specific audience.

Project the scenarios and read the first aloud:

Imagine you are trying to sell an electric car. You see someone walking past and you approach them. You begin to tell them all of the benefits of driving an electric car. You explain how it can reduce fuel costs and how it will also save on maintenance. You explain how less emissions means that it is less harmful to the environment than driving a petrol-fuelled car. After about 5 minutes of explaining, you pause and ask, “What do you think?” The passer-by replies, “I don’t drive.”

State that the seller in this scenario had good arguments, that the running costs were less and it could help reduce environmental impact. Invite students to answer the question:

Why didn’t the seller’s argument work?

Encourage discussion about the fact that even though the seller had good arguments, none of them were relevant as the person he was trying to persuade did not even drive.

Read aloud the second example scenario:

Imagine that you are part of a campaign to encourage people to use less water. Someone comes up and asks you what the campaign is about. You explain to them that it is important to save water because it is an important resource that all people need. You say how we take for granted that there are endless amounts of water as it just comes to our houses and we uses. You go onto to describe the ways that some simple changes to behaviour within the home can help conserve large amounts of water for our community. You pause to allow the person you are speaking to to respond. She states that she uses tank water at home and consumes water sparingly to ensure that she always has enough.

Again, ask the class

Why didn’t the seller’s argument work?

Encourage further discussion about the fact that if arguments are not relevant to the audience, they will not have an impact.

Step 2. Explain that the class will practise linking arguments to the audience by developing arguments to convince the art teacher to purchase supplies that are more environmentally friendly.

Give each student a copy of the Student Worksheet and read through the Art Teacher Profile questions with the class:

What does the art teacher do?
What are the art teacher’s goals?
What does the art teacher need to have in the art room to reach their goals?

Invite students to use the Think-Pair-Share strategy to explore the questions.

Have students spend some time thinking about the questions and noting down their thoughts on the space provided on the Student Worksheet.
Place students in pairs (consider creating pairs of mixed abilities) and have them share their ideas and add notes to their sheets.
Have students share their ideas with the class and add them to the projected table.

Step 3. Explain that now students have thought about their audience, they will develop arguments to convince them to purchase pencils that are made with the environment in mind.

Ensure that students can see a copy of the Faber-Castell Sustainability Leaflet and that they have their own Student Worksheet. Explain the task as follows:

Read through the Faber-Castell Sustainability Leaflet
Find any reasons that an art teacher should buy pencils that are Faber-Castell brand and write it in the table as a reason
Think about why that reason is relevant and write it in the second column.

While explaining the task to students, make reference to the example provided.

Reason the art teacher should buy the product:	Why this reason is important to the art teacher:
The pencils are made from sustainable sources so that production does not negatively affect future generations.	As a teacher, they care about the future of their students.

Step 4. Invite students to work independently to read the Faber-Castell Sustainability Leaflet and complete the Student Worksheet.

Support - While the majority of students are working independently, form a small group of students who may find the task difficult to work with the teacher. Read through the text together and complete the Student Worksheet as a group.

Step 5. Encourage students to share their ideas with the class and record them on the whiteboard so that the class has them for reference when writing.

Part C: Writing a Persuasive Text

Step 1. Explain that students will now work on writing a letter to the person in the school who purchases supplies to convince them to make purchases with the environment in mind. Remind the class that it is important to think about the specific person (you could name one staff member) when selecting the best arguments.

Explain that the expectations of the letter are to:

Begin the letter by explaining why you are writing.
Include at least 3 different reasons why the staff member should change what they normally purchase.
Link your arguments to the needs and interests of the staff member while still using effective persuasive devices.
Restate your view in the final paragraph of the letter.

Step 2. Students have time to write their persuasive letter to the staff member.

Support - During this time, roam around the classroom and provide support to students who are having difficulty developing or expressing their ideas. Prompt them by referring back to the Student Worksheet for ideas.

Step 3. Invite students to form pairs to share their writing. It would be beneficial for these pairs of students to be similar in ability so discussion is at a level accessible to each individual.

Invite students to read or listen to their partners letter. They then need to think about their partner’s arguments and check if they are suitable for the audience. They then provide feedback to their partner by:

Sharing at least 2 things their partner did well when choosing their arguments.
Providing 1 idea for how they could improve an argument.

Reflection

Provide the class some time to think about their learning during this lesson. Ask the questions:

What did you improve in your writing today?
What are you going to keep doing in the future to continue to improve your writing?

Give them time to write responses to these questions. They might write them at the end of their work, in a literacy book or in a learning journal.

Differentiated Learning

Extension – As a writing tasks, student will practise skills that are relevant to their level of understanding and development. When supporting more capable students, be sure to prompt them to think about use of a range of persuasive devices and techniques.

Provisions for Learning Support – Students are provided support in a small group during ideas development and are given one-on-one support from the teacher who is roaming around the room while students are writing.

Teacher Reflection

Convincing With Clarity (Persuasive Writing NAPLAN)

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

Additional Info

In this lesson