Persuasive Letter
(Convincing the Community to Go Green)
(Convincing the Community to Go Green)
Description of the Students: I will be teaching this unit to my 21 4th graders. They have been taught persuasive writing in the past but I am going to incorporate a variety of technological components while involving the community as well. I know that it is sometimes a struggle to get kids to write but I am hoping to make it very engaging by using technology and a real life connection with their audience.
Summary of the Plan: After watching a YouTube video of the book I Wanna Iguana to introduce persuasive letters, I will inform the students that they will be writing their own persuasive letter. I will then show a Teacher Tube video ("Ways to Go Green"), and allow students to brainstorm ideas that someone can do to help the environment (recycling, conserving energy, stop polluting, etc...). Using ideas from the video or their own, they will then choose one of these ways and also choose someone in the community (friend, parent, neighbor, etc...) to write a persuasive letter to convince them to do this if they are not already doing it. They will use Twitter to interact with classmates for ideas as a Think/Pair/Share tool. They will use an online graphic organizer to organize their introduction, reasons, and conclusion of their letter. They will also use various search engines on the internet to research their topic along with books from the school and community library. Once they have written and sent their letters, either by e-mail or mail, we will create a class video "Why to Go Green" that puts a perspective spin on the original Teacher Tube video we had watched ("Ways to Go Green"). We will invite the people in the community who the students had written the letter to, to come view the video and ask for their feedback about the letters and whether they were persuaded to make any changes. Students will then reflect in their Writing journals about any difference this assignment had made in their life, if any.
Standards:
· Students will communicate a purpose through informing or persuading.
· Students will describe how consumer actions (e.g., recycling) influence
the use of resources and impact the environment by: describing some community activities that promote healthy environments.
· Students will create a variety of tasks using technology devices and systems to support authentic learning.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
· Students will be able to write a persuasive letter that includes an introduction, 3 reasons, and a conclusion.
· Students will be able to post their ideas on a Twitter account and give and receive feedback from other me and other students.
· Students will be able to research information for their persuasive letters using various websites and books.
· Students will be able to contribute to creating a video to share their persuasive letters with the class.
Measuring the Success of the Plan:
The success of the plan will be measured in many ways. I will be using a rubric to score their persuasive letters, Twitter participation, research abilities, and video contribution. I will also measure success by the feedback of the letter recipients. Finally, I will measure success by their reflections in their Writing journals.
Technology Involved:
- YouTube video that shows the story I Wanna Iguana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PgUqbBqYeI
- Teacher Tube video that discusses ways to help the environment: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=168436&title=Ways_to_go_Green__
- Twitter (for a Think/Pair/Share tool) http://twitter.com/
- Online Graphic Organizer: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/
- Various Research Websites:
- Microsoft Word (to type persuasive letter)
- Email (may be used by some students to send letter)
- Video Recorder (culminating class activity)
This looks like a great lesson for persuasive letter writing. I know finding a real-world connection is always good. I love the use of so many forms of technology. Have you used twitter before? Do students use their phones or computers for that? Think-pair-share is always a great activity, I am curious if twitter will make it better or detract from the focus.
ReplyDeleteSounds fun and engaging to make a class video about "going green". I like how you invite the community for involvement to view the video and help with writing. Feedback from someone else when it comes to writing after conferencing with teachers will be so beneficial and practical. I understand the challenges of getting them to finalize a piece after it is critiqued. They will be more apt to listen to them. Great use of technology, good variety! My book is Reading, Writing and Learning in the ESL Classroom. It suggest ways to give ESL students additional support which is similar to the adaptive strategies and accommodations you would give a student with an IEP. They sometimes need some sheltered instruction on vocabulary before and during instruction. Idioms can be a challenge for them too. Their oral language is sometimes ahead of their written so students dictating may be useful to and help them better compose their thoughts. Peer tutors are another effective strategy.
ReplyDeleteYour plan is about going green, much like my plan for recycling. Although our plans are both about helping the environment, they are both still so different. I really loved your plan and may do something similar in the classroom next year in my room along with my unit. I really love the websites that you gave, especially the graphic organizer. In the book I am reading, 40 Active Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom by Green, it mentions how important it is to give students the ability to work with someone they feel comfortable with such as a friend/ neighbor whom can cheer for the successes of the students and encourage them when needed(pg. 156). In your plan, you gave the students the option of writing to a friend, neighbor, etc which would really help the students to feel more comfortable with writing a persuasive letter. Giving students choice is so important!
ReplyDeleteIn the book 40 Active Learning Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom, Green and Casale- Giannola inform us that active learning involves more than listening, develops higher-order thinking, and helps students explore their own attitudes and values (p.5). I think this lesson really shows active learning. Through the use of demonstrations and technology your students will be able to decide their own opinion on "Going Green" and will be able to reach out to people in the community.
ReplyDeleteA couple questions: Have your students previously been exposed to any kind of persuasive writing in your class? Also, how will you handle the editing and revising stages?
You have really done well at incorporating technology into your instructional unit.
ReplyDeleteIs Twitter an appropriate site for 4th graders? I do have a Facebook account and even those are outlawed by some parents in the 6th grade. I am so anti-technology I don't understand all its uses... Is this something they do on a cell? Another one of the students in this class recently posted a site called Edmodo. It is set up the same way, but for educational purposes. I signed up, but haven't perused yet. Good Luck!!