6th+Grade+Persuasive+Writing+Assignment

Mr. Williams - SEM
 * 6th Grade Persuasive Writing Assignment**


 * Lesson:** Students will be asked to write a persuasive paper on why they think the book they choose is the best for their grade level. The book should be one that they have previously read so that the child has an understanding of the writing.

[|Chart.pdf]
 * Materials:**pencil, paper, colored highlighters (green, yellow, red/pink), student book, and graphic organizers.


 * Teacher Notes:** Teachers should remind the students to think about the 6 + 1 traits of writing through out this lesson. All of these can be addressed at different times during this activity. In the early stages of the students writing the teacher needs to focus on the idea, organization, and word choice traits. Keep in mind that I have not taught this lesson and I am sure that I will change things along the way. Feel free to use what you can and change what doesn’t work.


 * Purpose of Lesson:** The purpose of a persuasive writing is to get the reader to rethink their position on a topic, take action on a particular issue, or have the reader do or believe something new.


 * Duration of Lesson:** This lesson has six steps to it; some of the steps can be joined together in one class period or day while others will take multiple class periods or days. The teacher needs to use their judgment on when to speed up or combine steps and when to slow down or extend the time. //A wise person once said sometimes you have to slow down to go fast.//


 * __Lesson Steps__**

During this step the students should us a graphic organizer such as a word web to list books they would like to possible write about. After the student has their list of book titles, they will need to narrow that list down to one book. They need to think about who their audience is and what position they will be taking during this writing. These things can help them narrow their list to find the perfect book for this assignment.
 * Step 1:****Brainstorm**

Feedback is key at this point of the students writing. If the teacher gives specific feedback during the planning phase the student will have less to do during their revision and editing phases. During this step the students need to decide what their topic sentence is going to be. This is important because they will use this topic sentence to help write their introduction later in the lesson. Using a topic sentence graphic organizer like the one provided the students will have different types of topic sentences to pick from. After choosing their topic sentence they can then choose one of the other sentences to be part of their conclusion. Green strips of paper or the use of a green highlighter can be used to show topic sentences and conclusions. Finding their big ideas and supporting details is next. The students should come up with at least three big ideas. Number notes, T-Charts, or another organizing form can be used to help the students list these big ideas. The use of the yellow paper or highlighters can also be used to identify the big ideas of the article. The next step is to list supporting details these can be marked by using red/pink paper or highlighters. Remember that not all big ideas have to have supporting details and that there is no exact number of supporting details each big idea should have. At this time students can do some verbalizing of their paper out loud. Having the student verbalize to you what they have on their paper can help you see potential problems they may have and gives the student a chance to hear what their paper will sound like. The last part to step 2 is to determine the transition words that they will use to help their writing flow from beginning to end.
 * Step: 2 Planning**

Once the students have come up with their topic sentence, conclusion, big ideas, supporting details, and transition words they can start building paragraphs. Students should start with their introduction paragraph. This includes the topic sentence and the writers’ position on the topic. Next comes the body or the paragraphs of the writing consisting of the students’ main ideas and supporting details. Remember to have the students use words that are tier two words; these are words that are challenging for the student age. Transition words will be used to link paragraphs to paragraphs or join big ideas to big ideas. Finally comes the conclusion this is where the writer will restate their position and purpose for writing this paper. In the conclusion the writer will restate the topic sentence using a concluding word that will help finish their writing.
 * Step: 3 Drafting**

During the revision stage of this lesson the students are asked to revise their writing. This should be easy if you the teacher have given them direct feedback along the way. The teacher should help the students identify what needs to be revised without doing the revision for them. Student revisions to sentences should be made so that the sentences have better word choice and writing has better fluency. Teachers should make sure that the students aren’t just checking for spelling and punctuation during the revision process. The teacher may want to give the students a list/rubric of example revisions a good writer might make. Peer conferences can be used during the revision stage to help the writers pinpoint possible problems.
 * Step: 4 Revising**

The editing portion of this lesson deals with the checking of conventions in the writing. The first editor of the paper should be the writer of the paper. There needs to be a laps of time between the revising and the editing steps, this will give the writer a fresh look at their paper. The second Editor of the writers’ paper should be the teacher. This second editing only needs to be done if the published word is to be shared to the public. Otherwise the student editing alone will give you a clear picture of the students’ abilities when the final publishing is made.
 * Step: 5 Editing**

The final step of this lesson is publishing, yet not every piece of writing that is edited needs to be taken to the publishing stage. There are many different ways a students writing can be published. These options can be discussed between teacher and student to determine which is best for the purpose of the writing.
 * Step: 6 Publishing**