Preparing Student Writers to Write PERSUASIVELY PART 3

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 something you feel strongly enough about to write it down
How do other authors present such issues and could you do something similar?

TALK ABOUT:
Issues and they way they affect people and communities
Ways to bring about a change, or improvement

REHEARSE:

How they would support a cause or deal with an issue in their writing.

Encourage students to talk about an issue with a partner as if they were talking to a reader.

DOCUMENT/ CHART:
Some of the words, phrases etc that the mentor authors are using to influence the reader.

LIST:
Issues that matter to your students
Possible audiences

When young writers initially write persuasively they do little research.
Opinions have little or no justification.
Vague generalizations are made.
Result?  -The reader remains to be convinced.
Is this our starting point?

‘If we want our students to be effective persuaders in their writing we need to engage them in many learning experiences that will strengthen their understanding of persuasive texts and what writers do to effectively persuade others.’

 Source: ‘Is That A Fact Teaching non fiction Writing K-3’, Tony Stead

OUR PLANNING NEEDS TO FOCUS ON BUILDING:

•Reading and Writing stamina

•World knowledge

•Text knowledge

•Vocabulary

•Oral Language


The ISSUE of Increasing Student Stamina for Reading and Writing


 How long do my students engage in independent reading and writing
each day?
How do I progressively increase time on task?

Vocabulary/World Knowledge/Text Knowledge
  
Read to, Share with children good quality non fiction
Use vocabulary interchangeably, and explicitly
View documentary DVDs on multiple topics
Provide good quality non fiction texts for independent reading
Deconstruct texts to examine their features and structure

In What Ways Do Writers Influence Us?


•By warning us through their writing (fiction and non fiction)

•By telling a story that brings the issue to our attention

•By telling a story that has a message

•By providing examples

•By describing details

•By begging us to change

•By writing letters –public and personal

•By writing about something worth preserving or protecting

•By describing a scene to highlight a problem

•By writing poetry

•By writing about how to treat people, places, objects, treasures

•By inspiring us to try new things

•By inspiring us to be brave or resolute

•By describing the benefits to be gained by a particular action/actions

•By repeating words, or a group of words (word patterns) to add emphasis

•By writing a story with a moral

•By employing humour to diffuse an issue

•By asking questions


Writers ‘prod’ us to think more deeply about an issue.


The Issue of Cohesion in Student Writing

(*I am grateful to Jeff Anderson for highlighting this issue in his book, Ten Things Every Writer Needs To Know)

Cohesion is the GLUE that holds the words together. It assists the writer to create smooth joins between sentences.
Cohesion assists the reader to navigate their way through a sea of words

Making Cohesion Work for Student Writers

•Teach them about transitional words and phrases

•Teach them to summarize with transitions

•Teach them the old to new strategy

•Teach them that pronouns need an antecedent

•Teach them to repeat key words and phrases

•Teach them to be consistent with tenses, point of view and mood

•Teach them to cull irrelevant text

•Teach them to use punctuation and grammar with deliberate intent.


Overcoming Connectivity Problems
Transitional words and phrases help connect ideas. They emphasize details, reveal organization, illuminate comparisons and contrasts
Auto Transitions are familiar to young writers. They overuse them!
Firstly, secondly, thirdly, fourthly fifthly and, in conclusion!

Transitions
Our students need to actively PROCESS, NOTICE and EXPERIENCE how other authors use transitions in REAL texts.
 Students need to understand the function of various transitions.This must happen BEFORE they are ever provided with a LIST!

 

Examples of relevant vocabulary for concluding a persuasive text
Ways to sum it up:

•In conclusion ….

•Given the above points…..

•To summarise ……

•There are many reasons…

•I recommend…

•Consequently it seems better to…

•The weight of evidence would suggest…

•This, in summary …

•It can seem that…

•I propose…

•On balance ….

•It would seem that…

•The facts are compelling for one to think that…

 

Modelling- Teachers Need to Model For Students

How to organize information

How to include persuasive language

How to use connectives to link information

How to use text features (photographs, labels, charts) to help the reader

How to connect concluding statements to introduction
Use of facts and opinions to support stance taken.
Use of connectives –therefore, as a result, because etc.
Use of hyperbole, emotive terms, repetition

Encourage Student Reflection:

What’s the point?-  Persuasive texts are designed to persuade people
or to convince  people of a point of view. Good persuasive texts
tantalise the reader. Does yours do this?
Have you got a plan?- These texts are usually well planned and thought out, Is yours?
Where to start?- Is your introduction boring, do you think the reader/listener will continue to be interested…
Have you drawn the audience in by making a bold statement.
Have you addressed the main issue and stated your position.
Connect with the reader- Have you used connectives that explain your view like: however, therefore, because, although, yet, in addition to.

 Final Thoughts..

Traditionally teachers used tests as tools. We must be careful NOT to become tools of the test!


'Writing is the largest orchestra a child’s mind has to conduct…
Writing assists students to practice being organized and effective. Writing is a platform for thinking and problem solving. Students who work with teachers who demand minimal writing are educationally deprived. They may be less prepared to produce when they attain adult hood.'
The Myth of Laziness, Mel Levine

 

 We can justify a vigorous campaign enabling students to write easily, and confidently.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more