Design for Learning

Instructor: Ann Robertson

Language Arts
Title: Persuasive Writing
April 15, 2016
Grade Level: 3rd grade
Time: 45 minutes

Area:
Date: Friday
Estimated

Standards Connection:

22.) Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with
reasons. [W.3.1]
a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and
create an organizational structure that lists reasons. [W.3.1a]
b. Provide reasons that support the opinion. [W.3.1b]
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for
example) to connect opinion and reasons. [W.3.1c]
d. Provide a concluding statement or section. [W.3.1d]
Learning Objective:
When given a persuasive writing prompt, students are able to create a
writing piece that portrays persuasive writing and meets at least 4/5
checks on the checklist.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
All right, class! Today we are going to learn all about persuasive
writing!
Evaluation of Learning Goal:
The students will understand how to write persuasively. They will learn
all about reasoning and bringing in facts and reasons to support their
opinions. There will be plenty of examples to connect with along the
way. The students will understand what is asked of them, as the
checklist will be handed out so that they can check their writing.
Students that get less that 4/5 of the checks on the checklist will be
talked to individually to see what the problem was and to check for
understanding.

Engagement:

Design for Learning

Okay, class lets all head to the carpet quietly and quickly. Teacher will
allow students to transition to carpet. I have this book with me that I
am very excited to read to you. Has anyone heard of this book? It is
called Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!. Jalen, will you read who this
book is by? Thats right. Mo Willems wrote this book. This book even
won the Caldecott Honor. Does anyone know what the Caldecott Honor
is? Its an award that is given out to a childrens book that has really
great pictures or illustrations in it. They may not be the best, in your
OPINION. But someone out there has decided that the pictures in this
book are very clever and go along well with the story. All right, lets get
going. Now, I want you to listen closely to my reading and pay
attention to all the little phrases. Teacher will start reading the book.
She will go very slowly to let it sink in. She will stop at certain phrases
such as My cousin Herb drives a bus almost ever day!. Hmmm
does that sound familiar to what we learned yesterday about facts and
opinions. Do you think thats a fact that the pigeons cousin drives a
bus almost every day. I would say it might be! When she stops at
those, she is bringing in ideas of fact and opinion that the children
have learned the day before and have been practicing. After the
teacher finishes reading the story and pointing out small details, she
will ask the children a few questions. So what was the pigeon doing the
whole book? Thats right, Lake, he was trying to convince us to let him
ride the bus. So who is the audience of this story? Thats right! We are
the audience. So what else was the pigeon doing? How did he try and
make us let him drive the bus? Teacher will call on about 5 students
because there are a lot of examples of how the pigeon convinced. So
he was trying to be funny when he was convincing us by saying lets
play a game! What else? Okay, he was trying to make us feel sorry for
him. I like your thinking on that one. Okay, what about this page.
(Teacher turns to page with multiple examples). What was he doing
here? Thats right. He said Ill give you five bucks! So he was trying to
bribe us. Bribe is like when you really want something so you give
someone a bribe to make them give you what you want. So if I really
wanted Shakiras jacket, I could say Please give me your jacket I will
give you 10 dollars for it! Thats a bribe. So he tried to bribe us. What
else? He offered to be our best friend. Okay. These are all really great
ideas for how the pigeon tried to convince us to let him drive the bus.
So today we are going to be talking all about Persuasive Writing. This
book is all persuasive writing. It is the pigeon persuading us to let him
drive the bus. Okay lets head on back to our seats quietly so that we
can learn a little more about persuading.
Teacher will let students return to their seats and transition to
teaching.
Learning Design:

Design for Learning

I.
Teaching:
So yesterday we talked a lot about fact and opinion didnt we? What is
a fact? Thats right, Tatiyana. A fact is something that can be proven. It
is a true thing. And what is an opinion, Amoz? Thats right it is how you
feel about something and everyone might not agree with you.
So persuasive writing is putting the two of those things together. You
pick an opinion, then you bring in reasons and facts to make someone
believe the same opinion you do. You all have really good opinions, but
you need to be able to support those opinions. Lets say for example
you were sitting next to a new friend that you just met, and you
wanted him or her to come over for a sleepover. Your new friend is a
little shy at needs a little convincing. You wouldnt just say. Hey you
should come over to my house for a sleepover. You would say, Hey,
Janea. You should really come over to my house for a sleepover. We
would have so much fun! We could play with all my shopkins and we
could eat junk food all night. I bet we could even watch a really funny
movie if you wanted to. I will even let you have my bed, and I can
sleep on the floor. My house is really fun because we have a lot of
yummy food. You should come spend the night! So do you see how I
used facts and reasons to convince my new friend, Janea to come over
for a sleepover. I didnt just say hey. Come over. I gave her all these
different things we could do so that she would want to come over to
my house. Does that make sense? Who has questions?
Okay, so lets change things up a bit from the story we read earlier.
Teacher will transition to use the ELMO. She will have a blank piece of
paper and use a pen that is easy for the students to see. She will draw
a terrible picture of the pigeon from the story and write the words YOU
SHOULD NOT DRIVE THE BUS. Teacher will circle that and create a
web. The children are going to help the teacher come up with ways to
convince the pigeon not to drive the bus. We are going to reverse
roles. So you know how the pigeon was trying to convince us to let him
drive the bus? Well, we are going to now convince the pigeon to NOT
ride the bus. Together, we are going to come up with how we are going
to do that. Okay, who has an idea of how we are going to PERSUADE or
CONVINCE this pigeon to not ride the bus. Ill start us off. I think we
should tell the pigeon Pigeons dont know how to ride buses! Teacher
will write this branching out from the picture. She will then call on a
series of students to help her come up with reasons to persuade the
pigeon. Okay, thats good Javier. So, its dangerous to others if the
pigeon drives the bus. What else? All right. He hasnt gone to driving
school, so he wouldnt know the rules of the road. Okay, how else
could we persuade this pigeon not to drive the bus? How else could we
make him believe that our opinion is the right opinion? Okay, we would
tell him that humans should only drive buses. Okay, we would tell him
that the bus driver told us not to let him, so that wouldnt be very nice

Design for Learning

to the bus driver. Okay, any other ideas? Okay, we could tell him that
maybe he could get a little bus of his own that is made for pigeons that
he can drive. Okay, what about bribing him? Could we bribe him? Okay,
we can tell him we will give him his favorite food if he doesnt drive the
bus. Wow, these are some really great ideas, class. So lets put it all
together. We are going to write our very own persuasive writing piece.
Teacher will use the white board to write everything that the class has
come up with in a paragraph form. At the top, she will clearly label that
it is Persuasive Writing. Now, lets notice how I stated what I thought at
the beginning and the end. This is a good way to structure our
persuasive writing. I introduce what I think and then I leave it fresh on
the readers mind by ending with it as well. Okay, what questions do
we have about how we do persuasive writing?
Teacher will transition to Practice.
II.

Opportunity for Practice:

Okay, I want you to close your eyes and think about your favorite
special. It could be art, library, PE, what other specials do we have?
Okay, technology. Okay so think of your favorite specials, and no free
PE doesnt count . Okay, so now that you have it in your head. I want
you to open your eyes. I am going to give you each a scrap piece of
paper. I want you to give me at least three reasons to try and convince
me to think the way that you do. So lets say Jasmines favorite special
is Art. She might write down 1. It is a way to express yourself when
you are feeling something 2. You get to take something home after you
make it. 3. We can talk while we work on our art projects. She is just
going to brainstorm on her scratch paper to think about how she would
persuade me to change my mind that technology is my favorite
special. But depending on what Jasmine has told me I might change
my mind. So jot down your ideas on your scratch piece of paper of
how you will convince me to share your same belief of your favorite
special. Teacher will give students about 7 minutes or so to jot down
their ideas. Okay, stop where you are. All eyes on me. Eye contact! You
are going to turn to your partner next to you and convince them to
think the same way you do. If you have the same one then you can
just pretend that they dont have the same one when it is your turn to
persuade or convince. Is that confusing or does that make sense? Who
has questions? Okay, now raise your right hand. I promise (I promise)
not to get too loud (not to get too loud) because that will make Ms.
Robertson sad (because that will make Ms. Robertson sad). Okay, you
may go. Teacher will give students about 5 minutes to let them talk it
out with their partners. Okay, all eyes on me. So did your partner
persuade you to think like them? Haha some did? Okay, Christopher!
How bout you try and persuade me. Go ahead! Teacher will call on

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about 2 or 3 students to do this. Okay, what questions do we have
about persuading or how we write persuasive writing?
III. Assessment:
Okay, now its your turn. I am passing out index cards. Everyone gets
one. I want you to write your name at the top right corner and the
date. Then look at me when you have finished doing that. All right,
close your eyes. Imagine you are walking to lunch. You make it to the
lunchroom and bam! You look behind you and you see that Courtyard.
Okay open your eyes. Does everyone know the courtyard I am talking
about? We pass right by it if we are going from lunch to the library.
Okay, did anyone notice that there was a bit of a change to the
courtyard. Hmmm what about something that was added to the
courtyard? Yes, a little tree was planted in the middle of the courtyard.
But theres still a whole entire open courtyard that has nothing else in
it. Mr. Yeager has told us all that he doesnt know what to do with that
courtyard. He wants to make some changes, but he doesnt know what
to add to the courtyard to make it better for you guys. It can be
anything! You are going to pretend like you are writing Mr. Yeager a
letter to persuade him to believe what you believe should be added to
the courtyard. It can be anything! Use your imagination. You need to
have good reasoning to convince him to think the way you do.
Remember how we convinced the pigeon? Think about the way we did
it. We need to convince Mr. Yeager. I want these done in complete
sentences please. That means you need to really explain yourself and
what you are trying to get Mr. Yeager to do. Start off your letter with,
Dear Mr. Yeager and how do you think we are going to end it? Thats
right From, Jayla. Or whatever your name is. Okay, what questions do
we have? I am also going to pass out a checklist for you to complete
after you have completed your letter to Mr. Yeager. This will make sure
you have all of the parts of persuasive writing and this assignment that
Im looking for. Once you are done writing your letter, go through the
checklist and make sure you have everything before you turn them
both in. This is a silent activity. I dont want you giving away any of
your ideas! You may begin.
IV. Closure
Okay, great job staying quiet and getting your work done, class. Lets
head to the carpet to talk about what we have learned this morning.
Teacher will allow students to gather on the carpet. Thumbs up if you
learned something today! Okay, thumbs up if you feel pretty confident
you know that you are going to persuade Mr. Yeager to add what you
want in the courtyard. What were some of your ideas? Oh, wow you
said to add a waterslide! Thats so fun. Oh wow, you said to add a
whole entire garden. How neat! Okay, who can tell me what it means
to PERSUADE someone? Thats right it means you are trying to get
them to agree with your opinion. Who else thinks they know what it

Design for Learning

means? All right. Its giving reasons for someone to have the same
opinion as you. Wow, you all really learned a lot it seems like. Thank
you for being such amazing listeners today. I really appreciate it!
Content and Resources:
Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Whiteboard
Elmo
Blank sheet of paper for web
Index cards
Scratch Paper
Checklist for each student
Extensions and /or Accommodations:
Extension:
Use humor to persuade someone of anything of your choice
and write a paragraph on it
Re-teaching
Students who get below a 4/5 on the checklist will have an
individual talk to figure out what the student is confused about
with persuasive writing. The teacher will bring in more examples
and work one example through with the student to write a letter
convincing someone of an opinion. Questions will be answered
accordingly.
Individual Learning Plans
Will be followed as it is written for the specific needs of that
child.