Persuasion
Planning for
Learning
Karen Yager & Penny Waters
Focus on learning
 What do I want my students to
learn?
 Why does it matter?
 What do they already know?
 How will they demonstrate
learning?
 How will they get there?
2010 Narrative
2011 Persuasive Text
1 Audience
2 Text Structure
3 Ideas
4 Persuasive Devices
5 Vocabulary
6
Cohesion
7
Paragraphing
8
Sentence Structure
9
Punctuation
10 Spelling
Improving Writing
To improve the quality of pupil writing:
 Explicitly and systematically teach the structure and
language demands of the writing task
 Focus on the sound, feel and power of words
 Focus on audience and purpose
 Explicitly teach the thinking processes involved in writing
 Immerse pupils in examples and exemplars of the
required style of writing
 Model, scaffold and jointly construct texts
 Use guided and independent practice
 Employ peer and self assessment and critical reflection
 Write with your pupils!
Confidence
 Creativity is innate yet starting
writing is not easy!
 ‘Just get black on white’
(Robert Gray, 2011).
 Fast write
 Beginning with observations,
chunks of writing, little
moments...a sentence a day!
 Jottings: Journal, notepad,
iPhone or wiki/blog
 12 words of conviction
 Twitter arguments
 50 word persuasion: Take
away the letter ‘e’
Confidence
 Simple to super sentences!
 Persuasive devices
 Word Clouds: Wordle and
Taxedo
 Master Chef persuasion
 Story Circle (Hot Potato
Debates)
 Hypotheticals
 Writing from experience
and conviction!
Craft
 Focussing on the sound,
look and feel of the
words…record writing
and really listen!
 Senses:
- Sound: Euphony,
discordance…the
vowels and consonants
- Sight: Figurative devices
- Feeling: Nuances
Craft
 Spotlighting: the word
and sentence level
- Lexical density
- Vocabulary
- Grammar
 Structure:
- Purpose and audience
- Form
- Syntax and
paragraphing
- Framing devices
Persuasive Devices
 Verbs are the powerhouse of
persuasion
 Effective figurative and sound
devices
 Colourful adverbs and
adjectives
 Modality
 Imperative voice
 Second person
 Hyperbole
 Analogy
 Visuword:
http://www.visuwords.com/
Grammar
 Recording written
work and listening
for the discordance.
 Online tools:
http://www.cybergra
mmar.co.uk/index.ph
p
 Grammies!
 Replacing adjectives
with verbs
‘Questions may be the most
powerful technology we have
ever created. Questions and
questioning allow us to make
sense of a confusing world.
They are the tools that lead to
insight and understanding’
Jamie McKenzie.
Hypothetical Questions
 Explore possibilities and test theories. These
are the “what would happen if…” questions,
allowing pupils to think critically and
creatively, and test their own convictions and
beliefs. E.g.
• What if the speaker had eliminated the
imperative verbs and anaphora?
• What if we had no Facebook?
• What are the possible pros and cons?
Synthesising
 Really listening to pupil
responses
 Identifying relationships
 Building on pupil
responses
 Connecting pupil
responses to make
meaning and emphasis
key points.
 This contrasts/compares
with…?
 What conclusion can we
draw from…?
Williams’ Model to develop Ideas
 Paradox: Paradoxes can be used to evaluate ideas and challenge pupils to
reason and find proof.
 Analogy: Find the similarities between things and compare one thing to
another.
 Discrepancy: Students should be challenged to discuss what is not known or
understood.
 Provocative questions: These are questions that require thoughtful
consideration to clarify meaning or develop new knowledge.
 Organised Random Search: Given a situation or body of knowledge, pupils
search for other information to answer questions such as, what would you
do or what would you have done?
 Tolerance for Ambiguity: Open-ended questions
 Intuitive Expression: Empathy questions
 Evaluative Situations: Evaluate solutions and answers in terms of their
consequences and implications — pose the question what if?
 Visualisation Skills: Provide opportunities for students to perceive or
visualise themselves in many contexts.
Langford’s 5
Whys
 Ask a question
 This leads to a
second question
 Ask three more
questions
 Probes and
deepens
understanding
 Thwarts
superficial
responses
Persuasion
 Stage 4 Year 7 Term 1
 Students will learn
about how words and
images can be used
persuasively to
manipulate and
position others.
 Cross curriculum
perspective of
Sustainability
 Naplan 2011
Persuasion
 Key learning ideas:
- The features of a persuasive
text
- The purpose of persuasive
texts
- How language features and
form can be used to
persuasively promote points
of view and position a
responder.
 Overarching question: How
and why do composers craft
texts that promote
persuasively points of view?
Assessment for and of Learning
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Nature of Task: The Australian Federal government has decided to be proactive in
targeting these vulnerable locations. They have devised an Australia wide
competition that invites proactive citizens to identify an environmentally significant
and vulnerable location, and present a persuasive argument as to why the Federal
Government should provide funding to ensure that this location is protected for
the future. You have been selected to represent your school to identify the special
location, predict a possible disaster and argue persuasively why the special place
you have chosen should be protected. Your presentation must include:
A description of the unique place
A prediction of one or more possible man-made or natural disasters.
A persuasive case for why the place is special, and should be protected and
preserved for future generations.
You can present your case using any medium of production such as:
A power point, slide show or prezi with images and footage
A podcast
A print document such as: a poster, pamphlet or letter.
Use your imagination and decide what medium would be the most effective and
persuasive vehicle for your argument!
Weeks 1-2
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Focus: What are the key features of
persuasive texts?
Introduction to Persuasion
Students view and analyse:
Severn Suzuki’s speech delivered at UN
Earth Summit 1992 focusing on the
ideas and the purpose of the speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZs
DliXzyAY
The Green’s television advertisement
election campaign:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQ
VnIKDoOA
EDF Energy Advertisements:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx3
Y5RV9YR4&feature=related ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7J
MBa6h7Eo&feature=related
Weeks 1-2
 Features of Persuasive Texts
 Students visit for Persuasion 101:
http://prezi.com/62290/
 Power of Verbs and the Imperative
Voice
 Persuasion in 30 seconds
 Students deliver a 30 second speech
presenting their point of view on the
merits of one vs. the other from the
following list:
 Solar power vs. electricity
 Cars vs. walking
 Book vs. Kindle
 Plastic bags vs. green bags
 Clothes dryer vs. Clothesline
 Polarised debates
 Class blog created as a platform or
Voicethread - http://voicethread.com/
Weeks 3 -4
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Focus: What is the purpose of
persuasive texts?
Al Gore’s speech to Smith School
World Forum on Climate Change:
http://oxforddigital.tv/streaming/alg
ore0709.php
‘There will come Soft Rains’: Short
Story – Ray Bradbury & poem by
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K
BtE4jS8J24&feature=related
Bruce Dawe’s Poem ‘In the New
Landscape’
Blog or Voicethread to discuss the
issue: ‘Global warming is a myth.’
Persuasion map:
http://www.eduplace.com/graphicor
ganizer/pdf/persuasion.pdf
Weeks 3 -4
 To enhance vocabulary, students
use the online thesaurus:
Visuword:
http://www.visuwords.com/
 The Naplan marking criteria is to
be used to assess the exposition
– self and peer marking http://www.naplan.edu.au/writi
ng_2011_-_domains.html
 Impact of Emotive language and
Modality
 Cyber Grammar:
http://www.cybergrammar.co.u
k/index.php
Weeks 4-5
 Focus: How can language features
and form be used to persuasively
promote points of view and
position a responder?
 The Power of Rhetoric
 Point of view: The line of argument
and the supporting evidence
 Use of persuasive techniques
 Notes and discussion on the
features of effective rhetorical
speeches. Students could visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheto
ric
 Assessment Task – ongoing
 http://prezi.com/bnvpgr4u8pnh/ca
pe-byron-symposium/
Exposition
 Timed introductions
where time allowed
decreases with each
response.
 What? Where? When?
Why? How?
 Comparison/Contrast
columns
 Hamburger
 Imperative voice,
anaphora, declarative
statements….
Exposition
 Editorial
 Letter to the Editor
 Advertisement
campaign
 Poster
 Symposia
 Nominalisation (actions
become things). E.g. ‘to
pollute’ becomes
‘pollution’, ‘destroy’
becomes ‘destruction’
Conviction
 Stage 5 Year 9 Term 1
 Students will learn about how
the convictions of composers
reflect their times and context ,
and shape meaning in texts.
 Question:
• How significant is our context in
the formation of our convictions
and the meaning we convey in
our texts?
 Key Ideas
• How context shapes convictions,
perspectives and ideas.
• How conviction shapes the use of
language, form and features.
Conviction
 Suggested texts:
 To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984,
Ender’s Game, Night…
 Websites such as:
- Surfaid:
http://schools.surfaidinternation
al.org/
- Amnesty International:
http://www.amnesty.org.au/refu
gees/
 Protest poetry and songs:
http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/po
etry/poetry_against.html
Weeks 1 - 2
 Significance of context
and convictions:
- 12 word exposition on a
burning issue
- 50-word narrative
- Extracts from a range of
texts
 Modality, imperative
voice and emotive
language
 Persuasive text - Naplan
Assessment
 Assessment for Learning
- 60 second presentation on
a burning issue
- Blog post or editorial
 Assessment of and as
learning:
- Imaginative text
- Critical analysis focused on
how context and
convictions shaped
meaning and language
choices
Weeks 3-6
 Close study of a text or
CTD a range of texts
- Focus on how meaning is
shaped by context and
convictions
 Imagery through
figurative devices
 Gaps and silences
 Assessment task: Text
with conviction and
personal evaluation
http://connectivity2
011.wikispaces.com/
Persuasion++ETA+Conference