“I am Sam” Persuasive Letter
Instructions
Websites to look for:
 Interviews
 Personal experiences
 Medical web pages
 Educational web pages---from college or universities
 Scientific web pages---discovery, CDC, etc.
 DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING:
 Wikis
 Ask
 Yahooanswers
Letter Example
 Sample letter
 Note:
 It is a 5 paragraph essay
 Must contain researched data as well as evidence from movie
 Must be presented in letter format
 Must be written using an academic and professional tone.
 Persuasive examples must be specific whereas the reasons can
be general. (Apparent on planning sheet)
Tentative Writing Calendar
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
17
•Finish movie
•Intro letter and
planning sheet
•Create claim
•Create research
questions
18
•1st research day
•Research articles
that provide info
that proves your
claim
19
•Last research day
•Do same as day
prior
20
•Begin to fill in the
planner on the
back of the
instructions sheet
21
•Continue filling in
planner
•Create Works
Cited page for
research used in
planner
24
•Hand out letter
drafting sheet
•Use class time to
finish drafting sheet
25 (McCreery’s B-day) 26
•Use class time to •Thanksgiving Break
finish writing letter
•Letters turned in
today receive 5 pts
extra credit
•Due date: Tuesday
December 2nd
27
•Thanksgiving Break
28
•Thanksgiving Break
Bell Work
 Please complete this on the back of your evidence sheet from
the movie.
 Write your claim (what you want to prove) about Sam’s
custody of Lucy. Remember do not use “I think,” “I believe,”
or any other personal pronouns
 Ex: Sam should not have custody of Lucy but should receive
frequent visitation rights.
 Now write 4 reasons (can be general) to prove your claim
Researching…
 Purpose of research: to prove a general reason true with
Reason
evidence from an outside credible source.
 Researcher’s job: Find information online that proves one of the
general reasons that you created to support your claim.
 Ex: Many parents find it easy to cater to the physical needs but tend to
Research
miss the emotional needs. According to Mental Health America, “good
mental health allows children to think clearly, develop socially and
learn new skills. Additionally, good friends and encouraging words
from adults are all important for helping children develop self
confidence, high self-esteem, and a healthy emotional outlook on life”
(What). Sam has never struggled with meeting Lucy’s emotional
needs. He encourages to read hard words, he supports her
academically by attending parent-teacher meetings, and he invites her
friends over so that she can build emotionally with people her own
age.
Research Days
 Tuesday November 18 and Wednesday November 19
 Only research days this week
 Print articles or bookmark the page on your ipad for later use.
 REMEMBER: You are looking for data (evidence) that will prove your stance on the
issue.You only need ONE piece of researched data for this activity, the rest can be
from the film.
 Research tip: Pick a reason and then find information online to help prove
that reason.
 Reason: Sam makes pushes her to do her best by making her read tough words
aloud.
 Research: According to education.com. Reading aloud enhances fluency,
strengthens comprehension, and develops critical reading skills.
 Web info you need to document: MANDATORY




Author name
Title of article
Title of webpage
Copyright date or date published
Works Cited Page
 This page documents all of the outside sources that you have used in
your paper.
 To cite is a verb that means quote as evidence for or justification of a claim
 A Works Cited is a list of websites, books, newspapers, any outside
sources that you use to support your claim.
 Your research falls into this category.
 Please locate your research from yesterday and a new sheet of paper
 Works Cited Rules:
 Always gets its own sheet of paper
 Only the first line of each citation touches the left hand margin
 Citations= all information found on ONE outside source
Works Cited Creation
 Title the paper: Works Cited (center this @ top of page)
 Then create your citation below the title
Author last name,
first name
Article Title
Website Name
Date Published/
Copyright date
Peep, Bo. “The Joys of Herding.” Lost Her Sheep. Sept. 2012. Web. 14
January 2013.
Date I accessed
the source
Medium of
publication
In-text Citations
 This action documents in the writing where you got your
outside information. It briefly connects to the Works Cited so
if people want more information they know where to go and
get it.
 After you write information from the source you put the first
word of the citation, of that source, in parenthesis.
 Ex: “Herding is great fun especially with my sheep dog, Rowdy”
(Peep).
First word in the
citation that I created
in relation to the
source this information
comes from.
Information from
the outside source
to support my claim.
Today in McCreery’s Class:
 All students must be moving onto the guided rough draft or
the final letter creation.
 Things that need to be completed and turned in to receive
extra credit/full credit:
 Evidence sheet completed during movie
 Persuasive planner on back on instructions sheet
 Persuasive drafting page
 Final persuasive letter WITH in-text citation of research
 Works Cited page
Persuasive Letter Final Format
Your street address
City, state zip code
Today’s date
First & Last name of recipient
Their street address
Cit, state zip code
Dear___________:
Letter contents in paragraph format. One space between each paragraph.
All information should meet the left hand margin.Your letter contents
come from your drafting sheet. Make sure you read your letter at the end
to judge its persuasiveness.
Sincerely,
________________________ Type your name
Grading
 Point breakdown





Evidence sheet- 10 points
Persuasive planner- 15 points
Drafting sheet- 20 points
Final persuasive letter w/ works cited- 45 points
Total point value= 90 (can receive +10 bonus if submitted by 3:15pm on Nov.
25th)
 Final Persuasive letter grade breakdown









Opening paragraph of letter- introduces letter well and contains claim
Supporting/body paragraph- provides strong support for claim
Tone/ language- professional & academic
Format/organization- writing is complete & easy to follow, letter format
Concluding paragraph- summarizes claim/support, provides call to action
Mechanics- contains few, if any, spelling/grammatical errors
Persuasiveness- uses a mixture of appeals and is highly persuasive on topic
Research- connected, developed, and pertinent to letter
Works Cited/In-text- Both are completed correctly and completely