TEACHING WRITING: Persuasive Text Curriculum Team CSO

2011 NAPLAN Writing “In the 2011 NAPLAN Writing test, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will write a persuasive text. Persuasive writing is writing in which the writer needs to convince someone of his or her point of view or opinion. For example, a student may be asked whether reading books or watching TV is better. The student would present his or her opinion on this topic and would include reasons for that In writing this way, the student is attempting to persuade the reader to agree with his or her opinion.” http://www.naplan.edu.au/verve/_resources/NAPLAN_2011_Writing_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Persuasive writing The topic and task will be the same for Years 3 5 7 and 9 It will be marked in a way that closely resembles narrative writing as there is common criteria

Talking & listening Reading Writing

“In the literate citizen… “In the literate citizen…..all these repertoires are variously mixed and orchestrated in proficient reading and writing, speaking and listening, viewing and representing” Luke and Freebody 1999

Note Whenever the word text is used it includes written, visual, oral/aural, digital and multimodal texts

Persuasive vs Narrative persuasive writing assesses rhetorical techniques (writer’s viewpoint) narrative writing assesses the development of character and setting.

*Text types / Purpose Exposition To present an opinion; to argue a case for or against a particular position or point of view Discussion To look at more than one side of an issue; to present arguments for and against a position, based on evidence, before coming to a conclusion Personal Response To summarise and respond personally to a text Review To summarise / analyse a literary text and assess its appeal and value

Activity Task cards

What do we ask of our students? Middle class Anglo Saxon English The language of POWER

Structure Exposition State thesis or position: Write a series of paragraphs to argue the position: Sum up, restate the position or provide a recommendation:

Grammar-Exposition General nouns ears zoos Abstract nouns policy government Technical words species of animals Relating verbs It is important Action verbs We must save Thinking verbs Many people believe Modal verbs We must preserve Modal adverbs Certainly we must try Connectives firstly secondly Evaluative language important significant

Structure - Discussion State the issue: A series of paragraphs to argue for the issue: A series of paragraphs to argue against the issue: Concludes by summing up or providing a recommendation:

Grammar - Discussion General nouns uniforms alcohol Relating verbs is are have Thinking verbs feel believe hope Connectives Additive similarly Contrastive on the other hand Causal however Noun groups unwanted kittens Modality perhaps must should may Adverbs of manner deliberately hopefully

Structure_ Personal Response Context for the response: Writes an opinion or reaction:

Grammar – Personal Response All types of verbs Noun groups describing characters Present tense Past tense if historical setting Temporal sequence of events Persuasive language used in judgement Clause or sentence themes that are often title of the book. Author

Structure - Review Context – giving information about author, work, setting and summary: Paragraphs describing main characters, relationships and theme of text: Judgement by evaluating the work giving opinion or recommendation:

Grammar - Review As per Response NB. Students are encouraged to speak and write Personal responses in Stage 1. By stages 2 and 3, students should be speaking and writing reviews

Language features / Grammar Opinion adjective Generalised nouns Words that qualify-usually, probably, some, most Connectives also, another reason, as well, however, therefore Thinking & feeling verbs Emotive language-hero, champion, bloodshed, disaster Adjectives (modal) Evaluative language conjunctions

Persuasive Texts-Criteria Audience The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and persuade the reader Text structure The organisation of the structural components of a persuasive text (introduction, body and conclusion) into an appropriate and effective text structure

Ideas Persuasive devices The creation, selection and crafting of ideas for a persuasive argument Persuasive devices The use of a range of persuasive devices to enhance the writer’s position and persuade the reader

Vocabulary Cohesion The range and precision of language choices The control of multiple threads and relationships over the whole text, achieved through the use of referring words, substitutions, word associations and text connectives

Paragraphing Sentence structure The segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists the reader to follow the line of argument Sentence structure The production of grammatically correct, structurally sound and meaningful sentences

Punctuation The use of correct and appropriate punctuation to aid the reading of the text Spelling The accuracy of spelling and the difficulty of the words used

Activity Assisting students in improving their writing

Sample Task http://www.naplan.edu.au/verve/_resources/persuasive_prompt.pdf

Useful websites http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/persuasion-30034.html http://www.writingfun.com/writingfun2010.html

What is the expectation for each stage? Exploring the Modules What is the expectation for each stage?