30 Responding to Persuasive Prompts

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Responding to Persuasive Prompts Opening Page

Start-Up Activity

Put this persuasive prompt on the whiteboard:

In a classroom blog post, recommend a sport or other activity to a new student. Give three reasons for your recommendation.

Give students 5 minutes to analyze the prompt, state their opinion about a particular activity, and list their reasons. If your students struggle to complete these tasks, reassure them that this chapter teaches strategies for planning, creating, and improving responses to prompts. The process will help them build confidence going into essay tests and other assessments. 

Think About It

“Don’t worry about writing the perfect sentence, or you’ll never get past the first line.”  

—Jan Greenberg

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Writing to a Persuasive Prompt

Lead your students through the parts of the PAST strategy to help them take stock of persuasive writing prompts. PAST stands for Purpose, Audience, Subject, and Type. By asking questions about each part of PAST, your students will gain a clearer understanding of what persuasive prompts are asking them to accomplish. Students can use the strategy anytime they encounter a writing prompt on an essay test or high-stakes assessment.

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Sample Persuasive Prompt and Response

Read through the sample persuasive prompt and PAST analysis with your students. Point out the key words that indicate the type of writing, the audience, and the subject.

Next, ask for a volunteer to read aloud the first paragraph of the sample response. Explain to your students what makes the first paragraph effective: It introduces the topic and gives a clear opinion. Ask for another volunteer to read aloud the remainder of the sample response.

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Sample Persuasive Response (Continued)

Once your class finishes reading the sample response, describe what makes the middle and ending parts effective. For the middle part, demonstrate how the responder uses separate paragraphs to explain separate reasons to support the main opinion. For the ending part, demonstrate how the responder restates the main opinion and gives a call to action. 

Finally, point out the overall voice of the response. Even though it is trying to convince readers to do something, the voice sounds serious and polite as opposed to pushy.

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Writing to a Persuasive Prompt (continued)

Take your students through the prewriting process for persuasive prompts.

  • Start with a strong opinion. Remind your students that a strong opinion includes the subject and a personal feeling about it. 
  • List and arrange details. Point out that these details are the main reasons to support the opinion. Recommend that your students put their best reason first so that they are sure to express it within the time limit of the writing. 
  • Think about the time. Tell your students to use about 5 minutes for prewriting, about 5-10 minutes for revising/editing, and the remaining time for writing. 
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Writing, Revising, and Editing

Remind your students that persuasive responses, like all other forms of writing, should include beginning, middle, and ending parts. The beginning introduces the topic and states a clear opinion. The middle describes reasons to support the opinion, with each reason elaborated in a separate paragraph. The ending restates the opinion and encourages readers to agree or take a certain action.

Additionally, stress the importance of leaving enough time for revising and editing. Download and distribute the persuasive essay revising checklist to help students check the quality of their responses.

Once students feel confident with the process of responding to a persuasive prompt, provide them this prompt and have them complete a practice timed writing:

We all wish we could change something about our school. Maybe we need more time at recess. Maybe we need tastier food in the cafeteria. Maybe there should be a club for people interested in model trains. What change would you most like to see at your school? In an essay, give your opinion about an important change at your school and argue for it with convincing reasons.

 

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Responding Review

Lead your students through a quick summary of the process for responding to persuasive prompts. Remind them to review this process when preparing for essay tests or high-stakes assessments. 

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