Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

Writing -3rd Grade
Payton Blair

LESSON RATIONALE

This lesson will be taught in my market day unit after students have constructed the products they are going to sell.
They will be writing a persuasive letter trying to convince me to sell their product in our classroom store. Students
are able to buy things from the classroom store every Friday with the “Blair Bucks” they’ve earned. This will get
students thinking about the product they’ve made and how it will benefit their classmates. Writing a persuasive letter
to the teacher will be a fun way to prepare students to write persuasive essays later in the year. This lesson will also
prepare students for writing their commercials later on in the unit.

READINESS

I. Goal/Objectives/Standard(s)

a. Goal

Students will identify and implement persuasive writing techniques in their writing.

b. Objective

 Students will implement components of persuasive writing techniques into a letter format,
convincing the teacher to include their product in the classroom store.

 By filling out a comment card, students will identify persuasive writing techniques in their
peer’s letters.

 Students will identify how their product will benefit their peers and contribute something
positive to their classroom community.

c. Standard: 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.

II. Management Plan

a. Materials: Anchor chart explaining the components of a persuasive writing (example attached at
bottom of lesson), giant sticky notes, regular sticky notes, pencils, projector displaying on the
board what should be written in their letter, letter template for each student,

b. Time: 45 minutes
 c. Space: Students will be at the carpet for the anticipatory set and when I’m explaining the
components of persuasive writing. They will be walking around the room during the
brainstorming sessions writing ideas on the giant sticky notes. Every student will be at their desk
while they are writing their letter and reading it to their shoulder partner.

d. Behavior: While sitting on the carpet, students are expected to listen quietly without talking
unless they are called on. During the brainstorming session, students may talk quietly as long as it
is about the assignment and it doesn’t get too loud. While sitting at their desks, students should be
working quietly until they read their letters to their shoulder partner.

III. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners- Students who have difficulty writing
will be able to type or use text to speech to construct their letter. During the lesson presentation,
students with hearing/seeing impairments will sit at the front of the carpet so they can hear/see the
anchor chart. Students can express themselves however they would like during the brainstorming
process. They can use pictures, words, diagrams, etc. to get their thoughts on to paper before writing
their letter

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Anticipatory Set

“Before we start our lesson today, I have a quick story for you. When I was in elementary school, I
always had to go to bed at 9 o’clock. I would do everything I could to try and persuade my mom to let
me stay up later. I would try to convince her to read me more stories, let me have more tv time and
would even tell her that I would do extra chores just to stay up for an extra hour. Sometimes it would
work but most of the time I still had to go to bed early. Have any of you tried to convince your parents
or friends to let you do something? *Let a few students respond*
Purpose: Today we are going to be learning about how to write persuasive essays and you will
eventually write me a persuasive letter about the products you’ve made! It’s important to know how to
write persuasively because all throughout your life you will have to convince people to do all kinds of
things. In our economics unit specifically, producers need to learn how to convince their consumers to
buy their product and put it in the stores.

V. Lesson Presentation (Input/ Output)

“To start out we are going to talk about what persuasive writing is. Persuasive writing is a type of writing that tries
to convince a reader of an opinion (writes this on anchor chart). Why do you think an author would try to persuade
their reader? *Let a few students answer and if they give a correct answer write it on the chart. If no other students
can think of an answer, write the remaining points on the chart. * You guys did a great job coming up with answers!
Let’s look at all the things we came up with! Authors can persuade readers to get what they want, to support what
they believe, change someone’s opinion, solve a problem or to make money. Now that we know why authors try to
persuade their readers, let’s think about how they could do that. If you were trying to persuade someone to do
something through writing how would you do it? *Let a few students answer and write correct answers on the
chart. If students are struggling to come up with answers, rephrase the question or give them an answer to get their
brains thinking. Write and go over the remaining answers as you write them on the chart. * You all had some really
great ideas! We know now that authors persuade readers by making good points, being funny, using emotions,
talking about their favorite things, or scaring people. There are many other ways you can be convincing through
writing but these are some of the ways you should be thinking about when writing your letters to me.
So, I know that all of you have been working hard on creating products to sell at our market day on Friday. Well
today we are going to do a writing activity to go along with your products! You are going to write a persuasive letter
to me and try to convince me to sell your product in our Blair Bucks Store. Before you start writing your letter, we
are going to do a brainstorming session. There are 4 giant sticky notes posted around the room and at each one there
are smaller sticky notes for you to write on. Each one will ask you a question that you could write about in your
letter to try and convince me to sell your product. The first one asks, why is your product the best? The second one
asks; how will your product contribute something positive to our classroom community? The third one says, why
would your classmates want to buy your product? And the last one says; how will the price of your product allow
you to make a big enough profit to keep making more for our store? I want you to include how much your profit will
be for this question so you might have to look back at your business plans if you don’t remember. You will do your
brain storming on the little sticky notes and place them on the big sticky note once you’re done. Feel free to use
words, pictures or whatever you want to get your thoughts on paper! This is to help get your brain thinking before
writing your actual letter. In a minute, I am going to dismiss groups to go to each giant sticky note. You will have 2
minutes to brainstorm at each question before I tell you to switch.” Dismisses groups to go to each sticky note. I will
set a timer for 2 minutes and tell groups to switch in a clock-wise direction after the timer goes off. I will be walking
around during the station time and ask students questions *

VI. Check for Understanding

“Alright now that you all have finished brainstorming please head back to your seats and I will pass out your letter
writing templates. We have practiced writing letters in class many times before so I expect this one to include
everything a letter is supposed to have. Remember to start your letter with “Dear Miss Blair” and end it with
“Sincerely” and sign your name. I am going to put up the list of questions you just used to brainstorm on the
projector so you can remember everything to include in your letter. On the screen, it will also remind you to put the
name of your product and what it’s used for in your letter. I will also put the anchor chart on the board so you can
make sure you are using persuasive elements in your letter. Feel free to draw me a picture of your product at the
bottom of your letter once you’re finished writing, but this is not required! You will have 15 minutes to write and I
will check in when there are 5 minutes left to see who needs more time! I will walk around and engage with
students during this time and ask them questions about their letter/answer any questions students have. *

VII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

“Now that you are all done writing, I want you to turn to your shoulder partner and read your letters to each other.
When each person is done reading their letter, I want you to fill out a comment card and write one way that your
partner used a persuasive technique in their writing (students will be familiar with how to use comment cards
because they are used in the classroom often). When you are finished, turn your letters and comment cards into the
writing tray.”

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

 I will walk around during brainstorming time and make sure students understand how they should be
persuasive for each question that is being asked. This will also help them in constructing their letters later
on.
 I will assess if students understand the components of persuasive writing by reading their letters. I will be
looking for how they tried to convince me and if they included all of the questions they answered during
their brainstorming time in their letter.
  I will also be able to assess if students can detect elements of persuasive writing in their classmate’s letters
by what they put on their comment cards. I will be looking to see if they talked about how their peer was
persuasive or techniques they used to be convincing.

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?
7. Were students able to express components of persuasive writing in their letters?
8. How can I better make sure students understand what it means to be persuasive through writing?
9. Were students able to identify persuasive writing techniques in each other’s writing?