Prior to beginning this unit, students will need to have basic reading a writing skills. I will expect that my students can write complete sentences, write a 4-5 sentence paragraph, and have basic understanding of appropriate conventions, spelling, and essay formatting. Due to the nature of looking at persuasive essays and the variety of students in the classroom by age and grade level, I will expect that my students can read at a 6^th grade level text with support for unfamiliar vocabulary.