Sarah Hartwell

November 9, 2016
Education 303-303
Professional Literature
Content:
The article that I am using for the content section is from readwritethink.org. Its
focus is on the Strategy Guide of Persuasive Writing. The audience that this strategy
article was written for was teachers to give them ideas how to teach the topic of
persuasive writing and speaking.
In this article it gives different examples of how to teach the idea of persuasive
writing. One of the examples reminds me of what I am doing with my students. Break
down the elements of a persuasive speech or piece of writing: an introduction that states
the position clearly, at least three pieces of evidence to support the position, and a
conclusion that restates the topic and summarizes the main points. (Strategy Guide:
Persuasive Writing 2016). It is important to present the different aspects of persuasive
writing. You cant persuade someone too well without having a clear position or evidence
to support your position. The example went on to say how an interactive persuasion map
helps show a framework that lets students organize their own ideas and beliefs before
they start their writing.
The article says before writing a persuasive piece, students should understand
how persuasion is used orally in everyday life by practicing making short, convincing
speeches about something thats important to them. (Strategy Guide: Persuasive Writing
2016). I think that it is important to explain how persuasion is used in everyday life;
instead of having speeches I am going to have the students write short written pieces that
practice persuasion. This shows that persuasion can be used in written form too.

Teaching Strategy:
The journal that I am using for the teaching strategy I found on The Reading
Teacher. It is titled Using Print in the Environment to Promote Early Writing, it was
written by Hope K. Gerde, Megan E. Goetsch and Cary E. Bingham. This specific article
was written for teachers. The main focus of this article is to show the importance of
creating and using print in the classroom, it also provides research-based guidance for
establishing an environment that is created and used by both teachers and children to
promote childrens reading and writing skills.
Print in the environment is defined in this article as being the text that children
see, create, and interact with in their surroundings. (Using Print in the Environment to
Promote Early Writing. 2016) There are many different ways to have print in the
classroom: such as having books, posters that the students have made, signs up about the
topics that the students are learning. This article talked about how print should be
meaningful if it is the classroom. The print that students see should have a purpose, they
should be able to learn something from what they are reading. In addition, the print
should be at or close to childrens eye levels so that the children can relate to it better.
Print that is aligned with a classrooms current content or theme can provide meaningful
uses for children. (Using Print in the Environment to Promote Early Writing. 2016)
In my unit I make use of two books, a list, a Venn diagram and many written
aspects. I plan to have everything that I use out and available to the students so that they
can reference the materials whenever needed. There is a list of persuasive writing words
that I bring up in the first lesson of this unit that I hope to either keep somewhere on the

whiteboard or writing center area so that the students can reference it while they are
writing, and maybe use it in the future too for other writing pieces. This is a good use of
making sure that the print is meaningful and useful for the content that is being taught.

There are multiple sections that are worth the read. They are as followed: What is
print in the Environment?, The Importance of Print in the Environment (Limitation 1:
Classroom Print is Often Not Meaningful to Children, Limitation 2: Classroom Print is
Often Not Used by Teachers or Children), Creating meaningful Print for the Classroom
Environment (Meaningful Print Is Related to Childrens Interests, Meaningful Print Is
Aligned With Current Classroom Content, Meaningful Print is Co-created With Children,
Meaningful Print is Refferred to Often) Guidelines for Engaging Children With Print in
the Environment (Point to Print, use Think-Alouds to Explain the Use of Print, Use Print
as a Resource to Introduce Letter Names, Sounds, and Forms, Post Child-Generated
Print, Create Print That is Culturally Relevant, Provide Opportunities to Use Print
Throughout the Day, Brainstorm With Children About Creating New Print, Encourage
Children to Write on Print in the Environment ) Conclusions.

Resources:
Gerde, H. K., Goetsch, M. E., & Bingham, G. E. (2016, July 14). International
Literacy Association: The Reading Teacher. Using Print in the
Environment to

Promote Early Writing. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1508/full
Strategy Guide: Persuasive Writing. (2016). In Readwritethink, International
Literacy Association, NCTE. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategyguides/persuasive-writing-30142.html?tab=4#tabs