OUTLINE OF A PERSUASIVE ESSAY LESSON PLAN

Objective: SWBAT craft their own persuasive essay.

Materials: Rubric hand out (15 copies), overhead of essay example, checklist for essay

Adaptations/Modifications: Check for understanding frequently with all students due to ELL status. Kari (IEP) to pre-teach material, reinforce vocabulary, and extend time for homework up to two days. Erika (IEP) extended time, regular breaks, quiet setting for testing, and shortened assignments. Brianna has the option to test in an alternative environment.

Literacy: Students will be creating their own persuasive essay, using terms and strategies previously learned. They will be expected to thoughtfully craft a written argument, using their own examples and knowledge.

Set: “If you can please pull out your completed outline, as well as any notes that you have on your argument, I am going to check to make sure that your homework was completed.” “Great! Today we are going to be spending most of our time writing our argument in essay form. I’m sure that you all have some questions as to what it should look like, so I am going to show you an example of what I expect your final draft to look like, as well as a rubric for what I am grading your essay on.” Pass out the rubric to students, and place example on the overhead. Read through the rubric with the students, and walk through the example to highlight what I expect to see from students finish essay. (15 min)

I had initially planned to simply jump directly into looking at the rubric and example of the essay. However, I took the first five minutes to re-address counter argument and check for undersatnding before they began writing. Most students felt confident about counter argument after the class assessment (use fingers 1 to 5 with one being I don't get it and 5 being I UNDERSTAND! to show me how you feel about counter argument). The remaining ten minutes were spent working on the rubric and the sample essay. I did read the sample essay out loud, having them follow along on their own copy.

Application: “The rest of the class time is yours to begin working on your own essay. Please look back at all of your notes, the outline you completed last night, and be sure to ask me if you have any questions. I expect you all to be working quietly on your essay for the rest of class today. If you need help, please raise your hand and Mrs. Brown or I will come help you as soon as we can.” Mrs. Brown and I will walk around to check for understanding and help students as needed (20 min).

There was a substitute today, and so she helped me out instead of Mrs. Brown. The two of us spent the time walking around and helping out the students. When I realized there was some confusion about the basics of essays, I put the example back up on the board, and labeled the following: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. As a class we breifly discussed what these three parts mean, as well as where the thesis or topic should be placed. This seemed to clear up most of the studnets' questions, and they spent the remainder of the time working on the essay. We spent the rest of the class on this section.

Evaluation: “For the last few minutes of class, I would like you to pull out your journal and spend the next few minutes telling me how your essay writing is going. Is this easy? Hard? Do you have any questions I haven’t answered yet? Please let me know how I can help you, and how we can focus our time tomorrow.” (5 min). We did not get to this part, but because it was simply a reflection on their experience, I decided to just delete it from the plan.

Closing: “Thank you for your hard work today on your essays. For homework tonight, I would like you to finish writing your rough draft of your essay. If you already have finished it, please look it over and begin making corrections to spelling and punctuation. Tomorrow we will be peer editing each other’s arguments. Have a great day!” I will check to make sure students understand what is expected, and that they have all the items they will need to finish writing their essay over night (5 min).

Reflection: Well today was a bit of a disaster on my part. I had no idea that the students did not know the different parts that make up an essay! However, once I broke down the basics by showing and labeling them on the overhead projector, this went much better. The students also spent the remainder of the time working on their essay, and therefore we did not get to the journal piece of the lesson. However, as this was not a vital piece of the lesson, I decided to just delete it from the daily lesson for today. If I were to teach this lesson plan again, I would be sure to perhaps pre-teach more about the components of an essay. I might even teach an entire unit about writing an essay before actually moving into writing a persuasive essay. 

CHECKLIST FOR PERSUASIVE ESSAY

________ Clear and interesting introduction

________ Topic or argument is easy to find

________ 2 pieces of evidence or support (facts, opinions, expert opinions)

________ Address at least one counter argument

________ Double spaced

________ Strong conclusion

Example of Persuasive Essay

                You wake up and there is a slobbering tongue in your face. The smell of dog breath is overpowering. The dog jumps on you, trying to wake you up and get him breakfast. Dogs have often been referred to as man’s best friend. They provide companionship to people, and they are always happy to see you. What some people don’t know is that dogs require a lot of work! I believe that all children should be given a puppy when they turn thirteen, because it will help them learn responsibility.

                My views are based on the fact that dogs require food and water in order to survive. Dogs also need exercise and a place to go to the bathroom. If a child is given a puppy when they are thirteen, they will need to take care of it. They will need to feed eat, play with it, and make sure it has water. If the puppy does not get those things it will start to whine and be unhappy. I am confident that the puppy will teach the child how to be more responsible.

                Now another thing about puppies is that they need lots of attention. The puppy will always want to play with the kid. The puppy will chew up toys and shoes if they aren’t put away. Therefore the child will have to make sure to pick up after themselves. You can be sure the room will always be clean!

                Some parents might be worried that the child will stop taking care of the puppy and they will have to instead. It’s possible that this might happen, but the parent just needs to say “No!” I am confident that the child will learn how to take care of the puppy if the parent says they have to. The parent must place the dog food in the child’s room, and then the puppy will bother him until he gets fed.

                In conclusion, I believe that all children should be given puppies when they turn thirteen. Puppies are a lot of work, and children will learn how to be responsible if they have to raise one. Some parents may disagree, but I am confident it will work. So if you need a Christmas present for your child, go out and by a puppy!