c


 





  

  

î
 Write for a variety of purposes and for specified audiences in a variety of forms including
narrative (e.g., fiction, autobiography), expository (e.g., reports, essays) and persuasive writings (e.g.,
editorials, advertisements).




__x__ demonstration _____ guided practice _____ inquiry __x__ explain and give examples




 

  

 ! 



"#
$ %
&
 

 


³This week we have been talking about a new genre of writing called persuasive writing. I can tell by
reading your writer¶s notebooks that you all have lots of great ideas about what types of persuasive
writing you want to work on throughout this unit. Today we¶re going to read a story that will help us
determine how people are persuaded.´



Read ³Earrings´ by Judith Viorst aloud.

'
( ) 

³While I read ³Earrings´ by Judith Viorst, I want you to take some notes in your writer¶s notebooks
about what the girl in the story is trying to convince her parents to do. What methods does she use to
persuade her parents to let her get her ears pierced?´

*
+

³Today when you are writing working on your own ideas, think about how the main character in
³Earrings´ convinced her parents to do something they didn¶t want to do. Look at your own ideas for
persuasive writing and start coming up with convincing reasons that could support your opinion just
like Judith Viorst used in our story.´


 

³Let¶s take the rest of our lesson time to discuss the story and what the main character did/said to
convince her mom and dad to let her get her ears pierced. What were some of the things you wrote
down in your notebooks? Why were the things you wrote down persuasive?´
Reflection:
The students really liked the story that accompanied today¶s mini lesson. I think
that the repetitiveness of the text made it very easy for the students to follow and made
the message very clear. I wanted to use this piece to help show the students how you
persuade your readers with reasons and supporting details. I think that using a story that
was easy to follow made it very easy for the students to pull out the main character¶s
opinion, reasons, and supporting details. The only thing that I did not love about this
book was that it was not very relevant to my boys. The whole class liked the story,
because it was a little silly and an easy read. However, next time I teach persuasive
writing, I will try to find something that is a little bit more relevant for the boys and the
girls.
I noticed when discussing the reasons and details that the author used that the
students had a lot of trouble connecting reasons with the details that were actually
relevant to that reason. They could pull out the key information, but putting it together in
a logical manner was not a strength. When working with the graphic organizer, I will
need to make sure that I am very clear when trying to explain that each reason needs
details that relate to the reason, not that are random.