Hi! I’m Jennifer from Pages Of Grace, and I am thrilled to be a guest blogger for Minds in Bloom! One of my favorite things about teaching 5th grade is persuasive writing! I think we can all agree that 5th graders have opinions…strong opinions The great thing about persuasive writing is that the children get to voice their opinions. However, rather than just telling someone what they think, they learn how to organize their thoughts and give reasonable examples to support their opinions.
I show my students this anchor chart, and we discuss each part. In the introduction, you state your position. My students usually write 2 sentences in their introductions, a thesis statement and a topic sentence. Of course, this can be done differently depending on your goals, but this works well for my students when they are first learning persuasive writing. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs cover three reasons for taking the specific position on the topic. The fifth paragraph is the counterargument. This is where students acknowledge the other point of view. Not all persuasive writing includes a counterargument, but it is required in my district. The outline also shows the students that they need to give 2 examples to further explain their reasons in each of these paragraphs. The conclusion is green, because the conclusion is a restatement of the introduction.
given you two choices: in a neighborhood near a city or on a farm in the
country. Where would you like to live? Write an essay persuading your
family to live either near the city or on a farm. Give at least three reasons
to support your choice.” My students always have a great time with this prompt! The photos below show some parts of my students’ persuasive essays on farm or city life.
This is an example of a student’s introduction. The first sentence is the thesis statement. It acts as an attention grabber and shows the student’s position. The second sentence is the topic sentence. This sentence tells about the main things that will be included in the rest of the essay.
This is an example of one of the “reason” paragraphs. The first sentence tells one reason for choosing a farm and gives the reader an idea of what will be explained in the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph gives examples to explain why this reason is appealing.
I am an upper elementary teacher and mom to two pre-k children, so I enjoy both early childhood and elementary education topics. I also enjoy running, cake decorating, and just about every kind of craft. I would love to connect with you!Visit my blog, Pages Of Grace
Check out my store on Teacher Pay Teachers
Click HERE to see my set of Persuasive Writing Prompts
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