Grade: 3-5

#4528. Persuasive Letter Mini Lesson

Reading/Writing, level: 3-5
Posted Fri Mar 4 14:21:25 PST 2011 by Lisa Busch (Lisa Busch).
Materials Required: I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff, Chart Paper, Treats for small group
Activity Time: About 30 minutes per group
Concepts Taught: Persuasive writing

Persuasive Letter Mini Lesson
Mini Lesson Topic
Name the teaching point: Persuasive writing in letter format. Taught in small group

Materials: I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff, Chart paper, Treats for each group

Connection - Tell them what you taught the previous lesson: The last writer's workshop we learned how to recognize words that signal that the writer is trying to persuade the reader to think or do something. (1 minute)

Explicit Instruction - Tell them what you will teach today.: Today I'm going to teach you how to write a persuasive letter. I am going to read I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff. This book is about a boy who wants to adopt his friend's iguana. Instead of using the traditional "Please, Mom, please, please, please. . ." approach, he writes letters to his mom using convincing arguments. His mother writes him back and discusses his arguments. Let's take a look at how Ms. Orloff uses persuasion in the book. As the book is being read, the teacher should point out signal words from the book that indicates the writer is trying to persuade. (15 minutes)

Guided Practice: Hold up a treat for the group (candy, class rewards, etc) and tell the group they are going to, as a group, write a letter to persuade you to give the treat to the group. You be the scribe and write the letter on chart paper. Be sure to ask each student for a contribution and how it can be written as a persuasive letter. When the group letter is finished, read it aloud and ask group if they want to make any changes. If the group convinced you, reward them with the treat. (10 minutes)

Independent Practice - Remind students how the teaching point can be used in independent writing. (There should be a link between the mini lesson and the students' independent writing lives.): Tell students to try to use persuasive writing in their journal or to write a persuasive letter as their next independent writing. Remind them of the way Ms. Orloff used humor in her book, and it was still a very persuasive letter. (This will also help with the trait "Voice" in their writing. (1 -- 2 minutes)

Group Wrap Up - Restate the teaching point. Did you try what was taught? Did it work for you? How will it affect your future writing?: Today I taught you about writing a persuasive letter. When your group wrote the persuasive letter, were you successful? How will you use this skill in your future writing? Have a short (3-5 minute) discussion answering these questions, and then release the group to work on independent writing. (5 -- 7 minutes)