When reading Tompkins (2012) persuasive chapter, I found myself becoming distracted, thinking about my future classroom - there were many ideas that captivated my attention and thus, I couldn’t help but think about the various ways I plan to implement these ideas into my own classroom. Tompkins (2012) highlights that "persuasion is a part of everyday life" and also, describes the three ways to persuade (p. 252). As I learned during my peers' presentation, authors use the three appeals to persuade their reader: Logos (Logical and Reason), Ethos (Credibility and Character), and Pathos (Emotions). When reflecting on these three appeals, I believe I am personally most influenced by Pathos - cue the song "In The Arms of an Angel" and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals commercial. Every time I see this commercial, I have to switch the channel; otherwise, I know I will be persuaded to donate all the money I have to these animals.
As substitute teacher, my students are also very good at appealing to my emotions - "Miss D, if you let us have extra recess time, then you will be our favorite guest teacher EVER." I mean, how can I say no! In my future classroom, I can envision using mentor texts to introduce persuasive writing. MacKay, Ricks, and Young (2017) emphasize that, "teachers help students develop the 'eyes of a writer' by pointing out ways authors use various writing techniques to achieve their purposes" (p. 177). For example, in preparation for Tuesday's class, I found a wonderful primary level text -
The Big Bed by Bunmi Laditan. In this mentor text, a young girl persuades her dad that she should be able to sleep with her mom in their big bed and thus, her dad should sleep on a cot. I believe this text would be a wonderful resource for a primary level classroom, as students may find this book to be silly and engaging; plus, it may encourage students to begin brainstorming ways they can persuade a family member.
In my future classroom, I believe students would enjoy writing persuasive letters. As Tompkins (2012) states, "younger children focus on developing arguments in support of their position in persuasive writing" (p. 254). When guiding my students through writing a persuasive letter, I anticipate that they would enjoy writing a letter to their parents, siblings or someone in their school. For example, during one of my undergraduate placements, I observed a 3rd teacher guiding students through writing a letter to the principal, using persuasive writing to convey why extra recess time is important. Also in this placement, my host teacher read
The Lorax and encouraged students to write a letter to the Once-ler, persuading him on why he should stop cutting down trees; students seemed to love these writing activities.
In addition, to support students in persuasive writing, I will strive to use the
online persuasion map as a prewriting activity. When my classmates shared this resource, I was intrigued by the way it guides students through each step of persuasive writing. Specifically, students begin with a thesis (stating their position) and then, identify three reasons to support their position. To take this one step further, the resource then guides students in writing three examples to support their reasons; this would be a great way to encourage students to use the three appeals. However, my classmates shared that this resource is tailored for grades 4 and up. As a future second grade teacher (hopefully), I anticipate that I would have to provide more support for my students, possibly through the gradual release of responsibility model. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the various ways I plan to teach my students the persuasive genre.
References:
MacKay, K.L., Ricks, P.H., & Young, T.A. (2017). Supporting young writers with award-
winning books. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 177-187.
"Miss D." this was such a compelling entry. It was so interesting to hear the ways you were imagining possibilities as you read as well as sharing your rationale for the types of texts you see as useful mentor texts for this genre. I also appreciate the examples you gave regarding how you see your students naturally using elements of persuasion in their every day life.
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