Living Life Twice

PART 3   When the writing begins: Encourage the development of a persuasive tone into ALL writing students undertake. All writers try to influence the reader. They have a purpose when they write and we must embed this understanding in the minds of young writers. The writer evokes a response, or a change in attitude from the reader and is thus fulfilled. Show students how the writer is using words to influence and inform the reader. What craft is the writer using to achieve this? What do you notice about the writer ’ s voice? What words are the most powerful? What is the writer ’ s point of view here? AVOID immediately descending into a pale imitation of a persuasive essay. The need here is to focus on the reasons for writing, rather than being mesmerized by the form. HELPING STUDENT WRITERS EXPLORE ISSUES What matters to you enough to want to write about it, or explore it in your writing? What frustrates or annoys you? What is so...

Everywhere I look at present in Blog world or Twitter, I see and hear poetry! This always gets my creative juices flowing, so this post is in support of all those brave teacher poets out there. Hope you can use this idea to astound and amaze your students and colleague. Today, it’s all about repeating ourselves… Repetition is an old and basic element in poetry. It goes back to poetry's origin in chants and spells. Something "magical" happens when you repeat a word, phrase or line. It gives the reader a chance to rest before setting forth again. It becomes the refrain that glues the words together. Words take on new dimensions, subtleties, and connotations. It creates patterns--and echoes. To create a poem using repetition, you could begin by making a list  using one of the following starting points: Somewhere you went today Today's weather Description of your clothes An event you witnessed recently 10 randomly selected simple concrete nouns (...

So, clearly  teaching students to write persuasively , to influence a reader is about more than WRITING to a formula or recipe! What is the First Step? We need to introduce young writers to the language of Persuasion • The language of introduction I believe, I feel, I think, • The language of connectives however, therefore, because, although, yet, in addition to. • The language of conclusion In summary, I recommend, In conclusion In the classroom we  begin by fostering quality conversations … A sea of talk should pervade classroom discussion and conversation around pertinent issues. Talking to learn should be a guiding principle in planning lessons. Successful discussion requires students to reflect on what they are doing as learners.  If students   don ’ t know the process of discussion they remain dependent on the teacher to tell them what to do, how to solve problems and how to ‘ think. ’ Developing Opinions: Ample...