27 Writing Persuasive Essays

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Writing Persuasive Essays

Start-Up Activity

Ask your students, "What is the biggest thing that people argue about in our school? How about in our community?" Write student answers on the board and suggest some answers of your own.

Let your students know that an issue that people argue about is called a "controversy." Choose one of the controversies on the board and provide brief background about it. Then ask your students to discuss/debate the issue. Afterward, inform the class that persuasive essays are written about controversial issues.

Think About It

“Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.”

—Thomas Mann

Page 198 from Writers Express

Sample Persuasive Essay

Have student volunteers read each paragraph of this persuasive essay aloud while the rest of the class follows along. Then discuss the features indicated in the side notes. Emphasize to your students that persuasive writing is about stating an opinion and supporting it with convincing reasons.

You can also provide your students with other persuasive models.

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Page 199 from Writers Express

Writing a Persuasive Essay

Use this page to help your students find a topic that will work for their persuasive essays. Turn to page 202 in the student handbook to inspire your class to seek innovative topic ideas for their persuasive writing. You can also point your students to additional persuasive topics for 4th and 5th graders.

After students select a topic, help them focus on a persuasive argument they could make about the topic.

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Page 200 from Writers Express

Prewriting: Gathering and Organizing Details

Use this page to help your students collect details and put them into order. The first example on the page is a simple list gathering details that the writer already knows. The second example is a sentence outline—a more formal way to organize ideas.

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Page 201 from Writers Express

Writing, Revising, and Editing

Use this page to guide students through the process of writing their first drafts, revising them, and editing them. Download and distribute the persuasive essay revising checklist to help students check the quality of their writing.

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Page 202 from Writers Express

Ideas for Persuasive Essays

Inspire your students to explore other possibilities for persuasive writing by considering the five subject areas on this page.

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