Lesson Plan
Lesson 1: Convince Me, If You Can!
A 60 minute lesson designed to introduce the genre of persuasion.
This lesson plan includes the following resources:
Lesson Plan
Tuning In
- Watch the Toy Story 1 – This is the perfect time to panic! video on YouTube. After watching, ask the students:
- What type of conversation are Buzz and Woody having? How do you know?
- What are the different viewpoints Buzz and Woody are trying to express?
- What do you notice about Buzz and Woody’s voices and hand gestures?
- What is the point of having an argument? What is each person trying to do?
- Is this a very effective argument? Why or why not?
Teacher Instruction
- As a class, brainstorm some topics that family and friends might argue about e.g. how to spend leisure time, what television shows to watch, where to go on holidays. List these as a mind map on the board.
- Choose one of the topics from the class brainstorm. Ask two students to volunteer to have an argument; one arguing ‘for’ the statement, the other arguing ‘against’ the statement. While the conversation is taking place, encourage the rest of the class to take note of the language, tone of voice, facial expressions and hand gestures being used by the students.
- Discuss the argument as a class. Ask the students:
- Which student do you think was more convincing?
- Why do you think this?
- What language and gestures did you notice during the argument?
Guided/Independent Learning
- Ask the students to form pairs. Provide each pair with a topic card from the Persuasive Topic Cards – Upper Grades. Whichever student is the oldest must take the ‘for’ side of the topic, while the other student must take the ‘against’ side of the topic. Designate a set amount of time for students to conduct their argument e.g. ten minutes.
- Ask each pair to report back to the class about how their argument unfolded. Ask questions, such as:
- What tone of voice did you use when you were presenting your view?
- What information did you present to try and make your partner agree with you?
- What types of words were you using as you were arguing?
- Did your partner manage to convince you to agree with their viewpoint on the topic?
Wrapping Up
- Ask the students to stand in a circle. Choose a topic card that was not used in the pair game. Taking turns around the circle, students must present an argument for the topic, then an argument against the topic (and so on). Continue around the circle until the students cannot think of any more arguments. Choose another card and repeat the process. This could be played as an elimination game with one student left standing as the winner.
Differentiation
Extending Students
- Place more confident students together in pairs for the argument game, so that they may challenge and extend each other's thinking.
Supporting Students
- Choose an appropriate partner for less confident students for the argument game, so that they feel comfortable to participate.
Assessment Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
- used strategic whole class or individual questioning
- observed student participation during learning activities
- recorded student progress on a checklist
- annotated student work samples
- collected and reviewed student work samples
- facilitated whole class or peer feedback sessions
- encouraged student self-reflection
- administered formal assessment tasks.
NSW Curriculum alignment
- EN3-1A
Communicates effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and language forms and features
- EN3-2A
Composes, edits and presents well-structured and coherent texts
- EN3-8D
Identifies and considers how different viewpoints of their world, including aspects of culture, are represented in texts
Victorian Curriculum alignment
- VCELY337
Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students’ own experiences, and present and justify a point of view or recount an experience using interaction skills
Australian Curriculum alignment
- ACELY1699
Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to studentsâ own experiences and present and justify a point of viewElaborationsasking specific questions to clarify a speakerâs meaning, mak...
- ACELY1709
Participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying and interrogating ideas, developing and supporting arguments, sharing and evaluating information, experiences and opinionsElaborationsusing strategies, for example pausing, questioning, rephras...
- ACELY1796
Use interaction skills, for example paraphrasing, questioning and interpreting non-verbal cues and choose vocabulary and vocal effects appropriate for different audiences and purposesElaborationsparticipating in pair, group, class and school speaking...
- ACELY1816
Use interaction skills, varying conventions of spoken interactions such as voice volume, tone, pitch and pace, according to group size, formality of interaction and needs and expertise of the audienceElaborationsparticipating in pair, group, class, s...
Find more resources for these topics
EnglishSpeaking and ListeningWritingText TypesPersuasive Writing
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This is an excellent unit to teach persuasive writing! The differentiation and sequenced lessons was exactly what I was looking for!
Alexandra Harrison · Oct 8th, 2019
Hi Alexandra,
Thank you for your lovely comment. I am so glad you are enjoying our resources.
Kristian · Oct 14th, 2019
We do not have have good internet reception at school. What to do if youtube videos wont play? Can’t download it on my computer. I would love resourses that is available off line.
Leonard · Dec 25th, 2017
Thank you for your comment, Leonard. We will certainly keep your feedback in mind when creating future lesson plans.
Stephanie (Teach Starter) · Jan 15th, 2018
Thank you for the differentiation and the sequence of activities. Makes life easy when teaching.
Maura Killalea · Apr 5th, 2016
You are most welcome, Maura! We love making teachers’ busy lives as easy as possible!
Kind regards,
– Steph
Stephanie (Teach Starter) · Apr 5th, 2016
Love the link to toy story!
Katherine Murtz · Nov 21st, 2015
Thanks, Katherine! I thought the children would relate well to this clip. Hopefully it will spark their interest in the persuasive genre!
– Steph
Stephanie (Teach Starter) · Nov 24th, 2015
Brilliant.
Ben Wiggins · Nov 15th, 2015
Thanks for the fantastic feedback, Ben! I hope you find the other lessons in the persuasive writing unit just as useful.
Kind regards,
– Steph
Stephanie (Teach Starter) · Nov 15th, 2015