Taylor Fisher

Writing Lesson Template

Reading, Writing, and Oral Language
2007 ACEI Standards

READINESS
Big Idea: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
Lesson Rationale: The students are writing a persuasive piece on their personality traits that was a part of my
science lesson on traits.

I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s):
A. Goal(s)—
 Students will be able to explain what is in a persuasive writing.
 Students will be able to create a persuasive writing with the correct elements needed.
B. Objective(s)—
 Students will produce a persuasive writing with at least three reasons to support their
belief/opinion.
C. Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District
 3.W.3.1 Write persuasive compositions in a variety of forms that-
- State the opinion in an introductory statement or section.
- Support the opinion with reasons in an organized way.
- Connect opinion and reasons using words and phrases.
- Provide a concluding statement or section.
II. Materials:
 I’m Just No Good at Rhyming by Chris Harris.
 Persuasion anchor chart.
 Writing notebooks.
III. Management:
a. Time (30 minutes):
- Anticipatory set: 2 minutes
- Mini-lesson: 9 minutes
- Writing and sharing: 10 minutes
- Review and closure: 9 minutes
b. Space:
- Students will be at the classroom library during the anticipatory set and instruction.
- Students will move throughout the room as they work on their writing.
- Students will be in their seats as we go over students writing together.
c. Students:
- Students are expected to pay attention and be engaged at the library.
- When working on their writing, students are expected to focus on their work.
- If students fail to meet these expectations, they will owe me a StarBuck, mark on their
behavior chart, or have a conversation with me.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Adaptation to Diverse Students (ACEI 3.2):
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  I added movement into my lesson for students who need to move, this will help them focus
more.
 I am using visuals and making the students create visuals. Students who learn through seeing
will be able to grasp the concept I want students to learn easier.
 This lesson creates opportunities to add in other activities that will cater to student’s multiple
intelligences.
 I will ask the high ability students to go deeper with their writing and require more critical
thinking with their words and strategies.
 I will provide sentence starters for any ELL students.
V. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output) (ACEI 2.1) (ACEI 3.3):
 Anticipatory Set:
- “Hey (student’s name) I believe you should go to the other end of the school and get me a
pop from the pop machine because I am your teacher.”
- “I’ll give you three StarBucks if you do.”
- “But we both have blue eyes!”
- “You should get me a pop because if you don’t I’ll make you stay in from recess.”
- “You are my favorite student and since I am so nice and teach you, you should go get me a
pop.”
- Flow with the student’s and the class’s responses.
 Purpose Statement: Today we will be learning about writing a persuasive piece because you will use
persuasion throughout your life and need to be able to back up what you say.

o Mini-lesson (Whole Group)

 “What was I doing to try to get (student’s name) to get me a pop, even though I know it
was a ridiculous request?” (Allow 2-3 students to answer).
 “I was trying to persuade him/her. Today we are going to be talking about writing to
persuade. Persuasive writing is a type of writing that tries to convince a reader of an
opinion or belief.”
 “Authors will try to persuade their readers to change their mind, to support a cause, to
buy a product or to keep their readers. Ways that authors can persuade their readers is
through humor, celebrities, tug at emotions, familiar things, or even scare tactics.”
 “I am going to read you a poem. I want you to be thinking about some persuasion that
you recognize.”
 Read The Whydoo Inside You (Poem in I’m Just No Good at Rhyming by Chris Harris).
 “I love this poem! The Whydoo is trying to persuade the kid to do naughty things. What
are some of the things that the Whydoo says to do?” (Allow 3-5 students to answer).
 “Like the Whydoo, others may try to convince you to do things you know you shouldn’t,
or try to make you be someone you’re not. However, make sure whatever you do, you
know it is the right thing. Plus, don’t let anyone try to change who you are. Each of you
are unique and special in your own ways.”
 “Going along with this, you all are going to be complete a persuasive writing on your
personality traits. You all have been thinking about your personality traits because we
studied them in science last week. The Whydoo wanted to change the girl in the poem, so
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 you all are going to write to the Whydoo and persuade him to be kind and how your
personality trait is important.”
 Show persuasive anchor chart.
 (Write on board as I talk) “For example, one of my personality traits is compassion. If I
was writing a letter, I could start the letter with, Dear Mr. Whydoo. You should be kind to
the young kids you talk to. Have compassion like I do because you need to treat others
how you want to be treated.”
 “If I was writing a poem and used the trait of respect, I could say: Treat others with
respect Mr., Whydoo and they will be kind to you too.”
 “I stated my belief/opinion and then listed one of my personality traits. I then gave one
reason as to why he should listen. Now you guys will give at least three reasons to back
up your persuasion. You can follow the outline that is on the chart beside me.”
 “Since we have already worked with letters, poems, and free writing, I am going to let
you choose which form you want to write. Again, you will write to or about the Whydoo
and why he should listen to your opinion/belief.”
 “I am going to call you up one-by-one. When I call your name, go get your writer’s
notebooks and pick a spot in the room to write. When you get to that spot, you are staying
there during the ten minutes of writing.”
 “Are there any questions about what you are expected to do?” (Answer questions, if
any).
o Writing
 The students will have ten minutes to write to Mr. Whydoo. They can write a poem,
letter, or any other form we have studied.
 I will walk around and make sure they are staying on task.
 I will also complete conferences with a few students. I will go sit next to the student I am
conferencing with and start b asking what their personality trait is that they are going to
use. I will have them explain their thought process so far. Since this is the beginning of
their writing assignment and they only have ten minutes, my conferences will mostly be
to make sure they understand what persuasion is and what ideas they are thinking about.
 I will have a clip board with me and I will write the students trait and some brief ideas
next to their name so that I know what area and questions to go to our next conference.

VII. Check for understanding:

o “Everyone head to their desks with your writing notebooks. I know some of your writings may
not be finished, but I want to hear what you are writing so far. Who would like to share their
persuasive writing?” (Allow as many students to share as time permits and the student sharing
will stand at their desk).
o (After a student reads) “Friends, what persuasive reasons did they give in their writing?” (Allow
1-2 students to answer).
o “Your persuasive writings are coming along very well!”
o “Are there any final questions?” (Answer questions, if any).

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure:

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 o “From what I have talked with you about and what you have shared, I can tell that you are
understanding what is in a persuasive writing and how to back up what you are trying to
persuade the reader to believe.”
o “We will come back to your writings in a few days, but I want you to take your writing notebooks
home and work on them some more this week.”
o “We are going to line up for lunch, but to leave you have to give me a reason to back up the
prompt I am about to give you. I should go to the park because . . .” (Students can go to lunch
after they tell me a persuasive reason for going to the park).

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT (ACEI 4.0)

 Summative:
- Students writing (Will be summative, but the students will write this over several days, so
their final raft will be the summative assessment).
 Formative:
- Conferences, student responses, and student writing.
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a. Bloom’s Taxonomy
b. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
7. What activities could I do to get the students more involved?
8. What management strategies could I try next lesson?

Example of anchor chart for persuasion:

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