Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Writing Mini-Lesson
45 minutes – Part B: Writing Skill Practice
50 minutes - Part C: Independent Writing Task
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Mini-Lesson

The writing mini-lesson is designed to explicitly demonstrate skills to students in a clear manner. The mini-lesson should occupy no more than 10 minutes. To enhance student's ability to focus and ensure they have adequate time to practise demonstrated skills independently.

Step 1.

Ensure that the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are displayed or written on the board and read them aloud to students.

Students will...

I will use persuasive techniques and arguments that suit the audience.

Students can...

… remember different persuasive techniques.
… explain persuasive techniques used in texts I read/view.
… think of a number of arguments to support my point of view.
… use arguments and persuasive techniques that suit my audience.

Step 2.

Explain to students that this lesson will begin with a clip to prompt thinking about persuasive techniques. Explain that students will be watching an animation that shows a pigeon trying to use a whole range of strategies to convince the audience to let them drive a bus. Now, show the following clip:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (https://vimeo.com/58620436)

Step 3.

Display the Pigeon Persuasion Table by either printing A3 or projecting it. Read through the statements made by the pigeon and explain what strategy he is applying with each statement.

What the pigeon says/does...	What strategy the pigeon is using...
“I’ll just steer”	Get the audience to say yes! Once they have said yes to one thing, they are more likely to say yes to something else. Find a smaller thing to get them to say yes to and then ask the bigger question again later.
“My cousin Harry drives a bus almost every day! True story.”	Make it seem normal/acceptable If something is agreed on by lots of other people, the person you are trying to convince is more likely to agree.
“I never get to do anything!”	Appeal to emotions The pigeon is trying to make the audience feel bad for him so they will want to help him out.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s play ‘Drive the bus’!”	Appeal to emotions The pigeon is trying to make the audience feel like they could have fun and trick them into joining in.
“I’ll be your best friend!”	Give something back The pigeon is offering something in return that they think the audience will care enough about to agree.
“How ‘bout I give you five bucks?”
“I bet your mum would let me.”	Opinion of Authority Stating the opinion of someone powerful or in charge can make it seem more reasonable.
“I have dreams you know!”	Appeal to emotions The pigeon is trying to make the audience feel bad for him so they will want to help him out.

Step 4.

Explain that you will use similar techniques to the pigeon to try and convince the school principal to let teachers at their school wear tracksuit pants to work. Emphasise that while writing, you will be thinking about what things are important to them so that you can select arguments related to things they care about.

Write this...

Say this...

Dear [Principal’s name],

I am just writing a quick note about something I have noticed that may be helpful for teachers and, in turn, students.

The teachers at our school work very hard planning fun activities and helping and supporting students and this is something small that could be given back to them to help them in doing their job.

Teachers should be able to wear tracksuit pants to work. Why? Because it would help them do their job. My sister works in a kindergarten and she wears them. She finds it so much easier to get up and down when working at tables or on the floor. This means she can move around the room to work with the kids more easily.

Wouldn’t you love to be running a school where all teachers are happy and comfortable doing their job? Wouldn’t it be amazing to see all the teachers on the floor or at the tables working with the students?

Give something back
The teachers are already giving back – so they deserve it

Make it seem normal
Mention someone else that is able to do it already.

Appeal to Emotions
Describe a scenario that makes them feel happy/accomplished

Emphasise to students that while writing you have done two things:

Select persuasive strategies you believe will be successful for this audience.
Provide arguments that relate to things they care about – successful classrooms, effective teaching and happy and productive students.

Part B: Practising Persuasion

Step 1.

Explain to the class that they will have time to practise identifying and using similar techniques. Support the class to organise themselves into groups of three and provide them with the Pigeon Persuasion Worksheet. Each student in the group should have their own sheet to record responses on.

Provide 30 minutes for students to complete the task.

Differentiation - Organise students into mixed ability groups for this task. More confident readers will be able to support others in their group if they have trouble decoding or understanding parts of the text. Supporting others by rephrasing and explaining what they read will also develop and extend their own skills.

Step 2.

Support students to organise themselves into new groups of three in which members were not previously in the same group. Allow time for them to share and discuss their ideas. Each member should have time to:

Share what they have written
Explain what they found easy to do and what they found challenging
Receive suggestions from others in their group

Step 3.

Invite each group to share their ideas for each strategy with the class. Write examples on the board for reference in later parts of the lesson.

Part C: Persuasive Writing

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will be writing a persuasive piece about the Royal Melbourne Show and that before beginning they will discuss the show and watch some videos.

Using the Think-Pair-Share approach, invite students to discuss the questions:

What is the Royal Melbourne Show?
Why is The Show important?

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - students independently think about an issue or question and record their thoughts.
Pair - students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

Note: If you do not live in the Melbourne area, it may be suitable to discuss a local show so students can connect to the context presented. Subsequent videos and the writing task, however, will relate specifically to the Royal Melbourne Show.

Step 2.

Show the following clips to gather more information about the Royal Melbourne Show.

Journey to the Show – Hanging Rock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFF4RK_MXqM)
Royal Melbourne Show 2017 Highlights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSPtjMVtY2Y)
Sheep at the Royal Melbourne Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QRy7ux1WIc&feature=youtu.be)

After playing each clip, invite students to share new things they have learnt about the Show.

Step 3.

Provide a copy of the Persuasive Writing Sheet to each student and read it aloud to the class, answering any questions the class may have. Allow 40 minutes for students to write their narrative (writing may be completed in writing books or on loose paper at your discretion).

Reflection

Step 1.

Provide students with the Independent Writing Reflection Template and allow 5 minutes for them to complete it.

Step 2.

Support students to organise themselves into groups of three to share their reflection. Encourage them to provide suggestions their partners as to how they could practise or improve upon the areas they found challenging.

Differentiated Learning

As a NAPLAN practice lesson, a key focus of the independent task is to support students to become comfortable completing tasks on their own. Mixed ability groups are encouraged during skill practice components of the lesson, however, students should be encouraged to complete the written task independently. If any student is not coping with the written component, you can support them by assisting them to develop ideas they can use in their writing.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The Show - NAPLAN - Persuasive Techniques

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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Lesson Details

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