‘Order in the Court! - A Strategy for Introducing Persuasive Writing!’ (Week ending 23rd October, 2020)

Court case no.1: Dispute between students and persuasive writing.

                                                                  http://niceclipart.com/12078/gavel.html/gavel-clipart-7 

Persuasive writing- a critical skill that is seen as intimidating to primary school students.

From past experiences, some students easily tune out when it is time to write a persuasive paper.

 Is it because it requires them to use up more brain cells? or are they just afraid of the term

persuasion?

 

As educators, we ought to be very creative when introducing this genre of writing to our

students. Additionally, we should help them to understand that the art of persuasion is an

important aspect of our everyday lives.

 On Tuesday 20^th October, I had an aha moment. The lecturer was very skillful in helping us to bridge

 the gap between students and their fear for persuasive writing.

She did not simply tell us how we can help the students in our classroom. She made us act the part.

Furthermore, a wise man once said, 

     “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

                                                                                -(Benjamin Franklin, 1986).

Bingo! We were involved in a mini debate. 

For this session we were tasked to work in cooperative groups of three to brainstorm ideas and organize

 them into a cohesive paragraph to be presented to the class. Topics were given to us. And guess what? 

They were current or trending topics. What a way to get students excited about persuasive writing. 

Moreover, we were asked to use some of the techniques we learnt in the previous session to enhance our

 paragraphs.

 

These are the topics we worked on. Interesting right?

            

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Below is the product of my group’s persuasive paragraph on closing the Maurice Bishop International 

Airport.

I must say Kudos to Mrs. Laz! She really deserves a trophy. This experience will certainly stay vivid in 

the minds of my colleagues and I. Proud I am to be a beneficiary of this technique. I can now return to 

my classroom confident enough to employ this effective strategy that will encourage my students to 

enjoy writing persuasive pieces.

Also, this technique will encourage collaboration and teamwork among the students and most 

importantly, it will give them a boost or a drive to write. Students will no longer struggle to get ideas, 

but they will be able to unlock knowledge they never though they had. 

~The Power of Persuasion!~ Week ending Friday 16th October, 2020

                                                                             

    https://www.123rf.com/photo_58632660_words-have-power-businessman-work-on-white-broad-top-view.html

                        

hthttps://wikiclipart.com/student-thinking-clipart_36171/

This week’s lectures were remarkable. We covered quite a bit on narrative and persuasive writing.

However, I particularly enjoyed the sessions done on persuasive writing. Persuasion, Persuasion!

Oh how I'm excited about persuasive writing! 

This video retrieved from YouTube gives a great explanation of what is persuasive writing.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9arWXIddM 

While sitting in the sessions done on persuasive writing, I vividly recalled my days in secondary school

 as a debater. I felt that rush of excitement flowing through my veins as I anticipated receiving the topics

  for writing. 

 As I reflect, I believe persuasive writing plays an important role in our everyday lives. 

From the ads on television telling us to buy Kentucky Fried Chicken because it is finger lickin' good 

to the magazine article detailing why we should eat healthy.

The art of persuasion is a critical skill for our students to master. Furthermore, it

 must be noted that inherent in a piece of persuasive writing is power- the power of words. Students 

need to understand that being able to provide a point of view and backing it up with strong supporting 

facts is enough to convince your audience. Furthermore, during a child's personal or professional life, he

 or she will rely heavily on being able to express their ideas and opinions in a constructive and creative 

way. 

Hence, on returning to my nest I will use the techniques learnt in this course to assist my flock of birds

to spread their wings in persuasive writing. 

Additionally, I equip them with the necessary techniques for 'spicing up' their writing, making it 

powerful enough to be considered and attain favourable responses.

 

In addition to the techniques we did in class, there are some others I found online that we can use in

 our classroom.  See pictures below.

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/persuasive-techniques-lessons-and-activities-6008894

 

https://www.teachwire.net/news/persuasive-writing-worksheets-and-resources-for-ks3-and-ks4-english

In my next blog I will be sharing about an engaging teaching and learning strategy used to introduce 

persuasive writing. Go check it out!

And remember 'Persuasive Writing'… Connect! Consider! Convince!

**The ‘Fabulous’ Writing Process** (Week ending -9th October 2020)

 
                                               " Writing is the painting of the voice.” - Voltaire

    When you read a book, do you see the problems the writer went 

through before publishing it? I guess not! I am definitely certain that

what you see in any book is not the first plan, nor the second or the 

third. The author must have written several times before the story 

reaches to the point where it is ready to be published. Furthermore, there

are many great books with awesome stories, but we do not see the time

 and effort that was placed into it.     

  ar.pinterest.com/pin/681802831062162274/    

 Writing is a skill, which means it can be improved. 

                                                                     

All it takes is a great deal of effort and practice.

                  

    I have fallen in love once more. This time it is with the writing process. This process includes five 

stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing. It is imperative to note that these stages are 

recursive and not linear. Thus, almost all writers have gone back and forth before publishing. 

                        

                                                                                https://www.amazon.com/Dellosa-Writing-Process-Bulletin-110014/dp/B000F9ZNVM

With this clearer vision of the writing process I am more than elated to return to my classroom where I will effectively teach this process to facilitate my students in becoming excellent writers.

                                                                                                     

Although avid about writing, I must confess that I sometimes experience ‘Writer's block’. 

For example, the task given to write a piece of narrative entitled ‘caught’ thrilled me. I was eager to get the job done. While brainstorming during the planning stage (prewriting) ideas flew from left to right inside my head. I wrote the plan and was ready to follow it. However, at the point of writing my first draft, I experienced ‘writer's block’.  I did not know where to begin.

I will really need some tips on how to deal with this phase in the event it reoccurs. More 

importantly, I will be able to use these suggestions to assist students who may be

suffering from the same.

                                                                                                    ar.pinterest.com/pin/681802831062162274/