ULTIMATE Parent Guide to Persuasive Writing

Hi everyone, this is Winnie and I'm a teacher and a relieving assistant principal in a primary school in Sydney. And today I'm going to show you everything you need to know about persuasive writing. So by the end of this video, you'll be able to have the knowledge, the skills, and the resources to help your child out on writing persuasively. So let's get started. So the first The first thing that's really important is to communicate what exactly they are learning to do and what the learning intention is. So the learning intention would be to learn how to structure a persuasive piece of text, and it's also important to communicate why they are learning this as well. So the reason why they learn to structure a persuasive text is because we want our reader to clearly understand what our arguments are and what our point of view is so that we can convince them. And it's also important to give a criteria to show, um, yeah, to help them be successful. So we have a success criteria, and by the end of this video, you will have a very good understanding of what's required in the introduction, in the Argument 1, Argument 2, Argument 3, and what's in the conclusion as well. and we'll go through all of the SSPP and all of the acronyms involved as well, so you know what exactly they mean. I also have some videos that are made specifically for kids and aimed at kids so that they— so that I go through each of the stages of writing for persuasive, and you'll be able to click on these links, and they're all here in the one slide. So that you can click on the links and you can show them the video and they'll be able to learn off that video as well. Okay, so the first thing we're going to have a look at is what a good piece of, um, brainstorming for a persuasive piece of writing would look like. So I have differentiated this into 3 different levels, so I'll show you them now. So this would be a Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3, and I'll just show you what they look like. So as a teacher, for a Level 1, this is probably what I expect a Stage 1 student to be able to do. So Stage 1 would be Year 1 and Year 2. You can decide what level you want your child to achieve, you know. Yeah, even in the classroom, if I— yeah, if kids can go beyond the level they're at, then that's great. Great. So a Level 1 in the classroom, for me, I'd expect a Year 1 or a Year 2 student to be able to do. And I'll go through exactly how this works as well. A Level 2 would be for Stage 2 students, so Year 3 and Year 4. And a Level 3 is what I'd expect a Year 5 and Year 6 student to do. But, you know, it's not Yeah, black and white. I've seen— I've had Stage 2 Year 3 and 4 students be able to do a Level 3 piece of brainstorming. So yeah, all right, so for a Level 1, so this is what they're learning to do. So we're learning to brainstorm for persuasive text, and the reason is because, you know, we need to know what we're learning about. And our criteria is to brainstorm 10 ideas and to pick the best arguments. So I've used the topic 'All families should own a pet,' and for the brainstorm, I've just written down whatever words have come to mind. I haven't written any sentences. The aim of a brainstorm is to just write down whatever comes to mind, and then you just write down the 1, 2, 3, 4 words, whatever, and just think of the 10 ideas, because the main thing is to just get them down quickly and so that it can help you figure out what your main arguments are going to be, and then you can pick your 3 best arguments. So I've just picked, um, all families should own a pet because you'll be more responsible, more healthy, and you will have protection. Obviously you can have any different kind of ideas. These are just an example, and it's good to show kids an example as well of what, what you could brainstorm. Okay, for a Level 2 piece of brainstorm, this is where students still brainstorm 10 ideas, but this time they actually group the ideas as well. So I've just grouped them into different— and I've highlighted it in different colors. And then from there, I've come up with the 3 main arguments. So that will help kids figure out you know, what their main arguments are going to be. So that's a level 2 piece of brainstorming. For a level 3, this is where you do the exact same thing, but then you ramp it up a bit and you pick out and figure out the evidence and the explanation. So for argument 1, responsibility— you'll learn how to be responsible— the evidence is your example. So If you're learning to be responsible, what does that mean? What are some examples of that? So you'll learn to feed the pet, wash the pet, keep them safe, keep them, you know, under shelter, maybe teach them some behavior. And the explanation is, what does that mean? So what does that mean by this example? Well, it means that, you know, if you have these skills, then you'll be able to use these skills to look after other people and siblings. So again, this is just an example. Kids can come up with any, and you can also come up with any as well. And then you do the exact same thing with argument 2 and 3. This has been really, really helpful with kids in the classroom because once they have figured out what their evidence and the explanation is and the argument 1, they are ready to write, and they will know exactly what to write in their arguments because it's just here, and all they have to do is just refer back to the brainstorming. So the brainstorming really helps kids, you know, figure out what exactly they're going to write. So if they can get to a Level 3 piece of brainstorming, that's great. But obviously it's, you know, if you are— if you have kids that are at a younger age, then maybe this is a little bit too— yeah, too much, or that's okay. Because this is what I would expect probably, yeah, a Stage 2, like a Year 3, 4, or Year 5, 6. But that's not to say that other kids can't do it either. Okay, so what I've done here as well is I've linked a video to the brainstorming video for kids, and in this video I go through all of the learning intentions, the why, and then I actually go through step by step and I think out loud and I write down— and I go through and actually write down all of the ideas and I show how I come up with, um, yeah, how I group them, how I come up with the 3 main ideas, and how I come up with the evidence and explanation. So feel free to have a look at this video as well. Feel free to share it with your kids with other kids, etc. It's all in there to help as well. So that's the video there. And then what I've also done in my videos, including this one, is that I will put in the slides. So everything that you see in this video, you'll be able to see it in an editable slide version and also a PDF version. And every single persuasive writing for kids video as well will have resources with it as well. So there'll be slides in there, and there's also a PDF as well so that you can use these resources for your kids too. The next one is an introduction. So we're going to have a look at what a good introduction looks like, and I've also included some strong sentence starters because this will be really essential in their persuasive writing. So some of the sentence starters are, you know, 'I strongly believe,' 'Others must agree that,' 'I'm absolutely certain,' etc., etc. Obviously there are other sentence starters as well, but, you know, it's good to have an example there ready for your kids so that they can just pick and choose whatever they feel like. Okay, so for an introduction, it's really important to have the brainstorm there ready so that we can refer back to it. So for the introduction, this is the criteria on the side. So the first, very first sentence would be your sizzling start, and the sizzling start is always a sentence that is used to capture the audience's attention. So you can use a rhetorical question, you can use a fact, you can use, you know, any kind of question that will get the reader's attention. So what you can do is in this criteria I've put in some sentence starters. Obviously there are plenty more, you know, sentences you can start with, but that's just there and it usually just helps kids start off so that they can pick and choose a sentence starter there. So I've used, "How would you feel if?" And then after you pick your start, then you pick your best idea from your brainstorm. So this is where you go back into your brainstorm and then you decide how you're going to finish that sentence. So you could do "imagine" or "how would you feel" or "what if you could." So you could go, "Imagine if you were more responsible." "Imagine if you always had a friend." "Imagine if you were healthy." "Imagine if you could spend more time with family." "Imagine if you were always protected." 'Imagine if you had a happier life.' So that's where you pick the sentence starter and then you add on from your brainstorm into your sentence. So I've put in, 'How would you feel if you were never lonely?' So I've got that idea from the companionship idea there. So that's how I came up with the sizzling start. So each of these points are a sentence. Which is super easy for kids to follow because they will know that, you know, in the introduction, obviously you can have a lot of other sentences too, but mainly you just really only need 1, 2, 3 sentences. You can add some more in there, but this is— this can be used as a base. Okay, so that's your sizzling start, and then after that you need to figure out what your— you need to communicate what your point of view is. So then what you do— so this is the SSPP, so that's what I've referred to in the success criteria. So that's what the SSPP means. So we go sizzling start is the SS, and then the P is the point of view, and then the other P is the preview of ideas. So for the point of view, you start with a strong sentence starter So this is where you go back here. So you can pick any of these sentence starters. I've chosen to use 'I'm absolutely certain,' but you can use whatever you like. And then you answer the persuasive topic. So what's the topic? So then I put in, 'I'm absolutely certain that all families should own a pet.' So pretty simple. That's, you know, pick a strong sentence starter and then answer the topic and just put it in there. The next thing that we need to do is give the audience a preview of ideas. So the first thing is you start with a strong sentence starter again, and then you need to use comma, and, and a full stop. And this is where you put in your argument 1, 2, and 3. So this is really helpful if you have your brainstorm ready, because all you have to do is just put your arguments into the one sentence. Super easy. So you can use 'this is because' or 'this is vital' or 'this is clear,' 'this is obvious.' You know, obviously you don't have to use these ones, you can use other ones too, but it's just good to have that there in the criteria so that kids can go back to it if they need to. So I've chosen 'this is because,' and then I've put in 'this is because argument 1, argument 2, argument 3. So I put in, 'This is because you will learn to be responsible, be healthier, and always be protected.' So I've gone back to my brainstorm and just inserted those 3 arguments in there. So super easy. And then I've also linked in a video to my introduction video as well so that it goes through, you know, exactly what And then I go through for the kids exactly what they do. And then in the video as well, I talk about how— yeah, how I come up with those sentences, how I go back to the brainstorm, how I use the strong sentence starters, and just talk out loud about how I write the introduction. So that's there as well. For you if you need it. And then also, same thing again, in every video, persuasive writing for kids video, I put in the slides and the PDF as well. So this is what it looks like. So they can see, you know, what they're learning to do and why, the criteria, and go through exactly, you know, how I come up with the introduction. The strong sentence starters are there, these slides. And I've also left it empty as well so that you can use this resource for your kids, get them to write in the topic, and then they have a spot there to write their own introduction. And I've also differentiated as well and just put in some levels. So, you know, what does a level 1 introduction look like? What does a level 2 look like? What does a level 3 look like? So that maybe after they write their introduction, they can compare it against these levels and figure out, so, what's my piece of writing? And they can self-assess and then reflect on their piece of writing, and they can think, okay, so does mine look like a Level 1? Have I only put, you know, one of these three criteria sentences in? Or, you know, what am I missing? Is it more of a Level 2? Or have I hit a level 3? So this is just a good resource to— for, you know, your kids to write their introduction and also compare it to the levels as well. And this resource is also in that— in this— goes with this video. So you'll be able to find that by clicking on that link and having a look at the description, and there will be the editable slides there and also a PDF as well. Okay, so the next one is arguments. So what does a good argument look like? So again, I've put in the strong sentence starters and I've put in the brainstorm because that's important to use, and I've also put in the Level 3 brainstorm here so that we can figure out how we're going to put this into our Argument 1 paragraph. So for argument 1, you've got your point, evidence, explanation, and a link. So this is where the PEEL comes in— the P-E-E-L— just like the acronyms that I've put in for argument 1. So the— yeah, it's exactly the same for all of the arguments with the acronyms. So this is where point, that's one sentence, evidence, another sentence, evidence, a sentence for explanation, and another sentence for link. And I've just put a couple of strong sentence starters there, but you know, obviously you can pick whatever, whatever you like or from there as well. So the point, you start with a strong sentence starter, and I've picked 'everyone knows that' and then you answer the persuasive topic. So the topic was all families should own a pet. So I've said, everyone knows that having a pet makes you— and then you include argument 1. So argument 1 was responsibility, so that's why I put responsible. So I put, everyone knows that having a pet makes you more responsible. Now I've just color-coded it to this so that you can see that's the sentence where you show what and communicate what your point of view is. For the next sentence is your evidence, so your evidence where you give the examples. So you can go off, you can pick, you know, 'for example' or 'for instance,' or you don't even have to pick these sentence starters. You can pick something else and start with something else, but it's just there as an example. So I've done, um, 'for example,' and then I've looked back into my brainstorm, and I've already put in there, 'for example, you learn to feed your pet, wash them, keep them safe, etc., etc.' And I just— all I did was just put that into a sentence. So I said, 'For example, looking after a pet helps you learn to feed and wash them.' Super simple. That's why coming up with this brainstorm, Level 3 brainstorm, really helped because all you have to do is just put this in a sentence, put this in a sentence, and then you just need to put the explanation into a sentence too, which is what I've done here. So the explanation, you can start off with 'this means that' or 'because of this' or any other sentence. So I've said, because of this— this should be 'you'— you can use these skills to look after other people, such as your siblings. So that's there. And then the last sentence is your link. So the link is important to link it back to your point. So we've got the evidence there, your example, you've explained what that meant, and now you link it back to the point again. So that's why they're in the same color. So you can use sentences like, 'It is clear that,' or 'As a result,' 'we can therefore see that' or any other sentence starter. And I've just said 'it is clear that' and then I go back to, you know, what the topic is and what my argument 1 was. So I said 'it is clear that everyone must own a pet to learn to be responsible.' So that's there. And I've also put in an example for argument 2 if you want to have a look at that. And how I've used this brainstorm to put, put in, put it into sentences, and also argument 3 as well. And then for the video, this is what I go through. So I talk through, you know, talk out loud about how I come up with the arguments, how I go back to the brainstorm, and that's where I start typing. And putting in all of the sentences. And I describe how, yeah, how exactly I do that. So there's a really informative video of, yeah, especially to communicate to kids how to write an argument. And once you learn how to do argument 1, you just apply the same exact thing to argument 2. So same thing with that video. All my videos will have, you know, slides there and a PDF there to link it, and it's a resource that kids can write on, and they can, um, you know, you can print it out, they can write on that. So this is what the slides look like. Gives them— communicates what they're learning to do, why. So they need to persuade their audience with examples and explain why they should agree with their point of view. It's got the success criteria, which is appeal, the point, evidence, explanation, and link, and also gives, you know, examples. And also I've put in blanks too so that your kids will be able to write in there and also be able to use this as a checklist to tick it off, because I find that helps a lot of my students. They can just tick it off as they go, which is excellent. And I've also put in the levels as well, so what a level 1, 2, and 3 looks like, and then they can compare their work against the levels and figure out, you know, what am I missing, what is— how is it meant to look. Um, yeah, so that's there in the video as well. Okay, and then the next thing is the conclusion. So what does a good conclusion look like? So once again, I've put in strong sentence starters and the brainstorm. So for the conclusion, this is the acronym RREE. So this is where you recap the point of view and you review your ideas and do your exciting ending. So it's your rhetorical question or call to action. So this is your recap of the point of view, and it is super similar to your introduction because you also talk about your point of view as well. So what you do is you start with a strong sentence starter like, 'In conclusion,' and then you can say, 'In conclusion, there's no doubt that,' or, 'In conclusion, I strongly believe,' or, or you could just start off with, 'You must agree that,' or, 'In conclusion, everyone knows that.' So you can pick and choose what sentence starters you want, and then you just answer the topic again, the persuasive topic. So you go, you can say, 'In conclusion, There is no doubt that everyone must own a pet. And then after that, you review your 3 arguments again. So same again, super simple, and similar to the introduction, except this time you start with your point and then your 3 arguments and then your exciting ending. So in the introduction, you started off with the— so it was the sizzling start and then point of view and then your preview of ideas. But then when you end it in the conclusion, it swaps. So instead of the sizzling start, it's an exciting ending there. And you start with the point of view and the ideas. So back to the argument again, or the conclusion again. So this is where you review your ideas and you start with a strong sentence starter like, 'This is obvious as,' and then you just talk about your 3 arguments again. So you go, for example, this is obvious as you will learn responsibility from owning a pet, become happier and healthier, and they will provide us with protection. And then, so just make sure that you've got argument 1, 2, and 3. And then you finally have your exciting ending, which is your rhetorical question or your call to action. So you can use any of these sentences or your own. So you could say, "Wouldn't you want to?" or "Don't you think it'll be great if?" or "The time has come to" or "You must something now." So you could go, "Wouldn't you want to be more responsible?" "Wouldn't you want to make new friends?" "Wouldn't you want to be less stressed and anxious?" "Wouldn't you want to be happier?" "Wouldn't you want to be protected?" So, you know, this is why the brainstorm is very important, and if you do it successfully, then this will help you in all of the areas in your persuasive writing. So I've decided to use, "Don't you think it would be great if you always had a friend?" And then you can keep going. So I've just said, "So get a pet today, you won't regret it." And there you have it with your conclusion. And same thing, this is the video for kids and you know, really for anyone to— where I go through exactly and I start typing up all the conclusion, and then I, um, yeah, talk out loud about how I come up with the conclusion as well. There. And then same thing with the conclusion and any videos, there are slides and PDFs as well to, you know, as a resource. For your child. So this is what it looks like. Communicates what they're learning to do. Why? Because they need to remind their audience of their point of view, reasons, and exciting ending. So this is the RREE: recap, review, exciting ending. And sentence starters there, example there, blank slide there. Checkbox there so that they can tick it off. And also again, different levels, so what level 1, 2, and 3 looks like so that they can, you know, have a look at what they've written and compare again. All right, and then what I've also included are language features as well. So for the language feature video for the kids, I put in you know, um, oh, hold on, that's a different one. Let's find out where the language features is. Hmm, okay, I will find it. So for the language features, this is what it looks like, um, and I'll put the correct video back into that slide. So, um, they're learning to include language features And the reason why they'll do that is to strengthen their arguments to convince their audience. And then what they're learning to do is, you know, add in rhetorical questions, exaggerate, use modality, strong emotive words, personal pronouns, and alliteration. So I go through what exactly that looks like, how come up with it. So rhetorical questions are like, you know, how would you feel if you were never lonely? Exaggeration is being, you know, really dramatic, like, "The lack of pets are destroying the need for exercise in today's children," and just being dramatic to push your point of view. Modality is where you use words like "certain" or "must," like, "It is certain that having a pet will make you happier. You must buy a pet today." Or you can use strong emotive words like, 'Think about all the unwanted dogs and cats who must suffer through the horrific task of waiting for someone to take them home every single day.' So words that bring out an emotion. Personal pronouns like 'we'— 'We need pets to help us lead a happier life.' Or you can use alliteration like, 'Families should own pets to be social after school, not stuck inside sitting and stressing. So that's like using words with the same beginning letters. So that slide and the video for that is also there as well to help kids add in the language features. For— yeah, same thing in that video, there's slide and PDF in there as well. And also, there is also a video on self— helping kids self-assess, revise, and edit as well. So let's just have a look. Oh, okay, looks like those two have swapped. So for the, um, let's just go back to this one so I'll fix that up. Um, so here I go through how the kids can self-assess So they use the criteria and they go through and then they pick 2 stars and a wisher. So I'll just show you what that looks like. So in that video and slide, so it talks about how they're learning to self-assess, revise, and edit. And the reason is to, you know, they can always improve their writing and make sure that make sure that it makes sense to the reader and so that they can clearly understand what they're communicating. So self-assessing is using the criteria to give themselves feedback. So what did they do really well? What can they improve on? And then after they pick out, you know, 2 things that they did really well, then they can pick out what they want to improve on and turn that wish into a star. So for example, a star for, let's say, your introduction. So if they had written a Level 2 introduction, then a star would be they did really well in including the sizzling start, they did really well in including— oh, hold on, that's not a sizzling start— they did really include well on including their point of view and their preview of ideas, and the wish is, 'I wish that you would include a sizzling start.' So that could be your 2 stars and a wish, and you can do that for each of the paragraphs or as a, um, as a whole. So if they were just doing the introduction, they can give themselves 2 stars and a wish, and if their wish was to include a sizzling start, then that's what they would do to turn that wish into a star. And then after that, they revise. So they go through a process of deleting, adding, rearranging, exchanging. So deleting is where you reread your work out loud, and then, you know, what can you delete from the text? What's not essential? Does it follow the criteria? What else can you add? You know, is it another fact? Is it stronger language? What What other language features can you add in there? Do you need more description, maybe? And what about rearranging? So is that sentence better off in another paragraph? What words and sentences do you need to move on— to move to improve your text? And exchanging means, you know, what do you need to replace? What's a stronger or better word for that? What words or sentences can you use that will communicate that better? And then editing is where they check for punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary. So things like capitals, full stops, commas, etc., checking for spelling mistakes. Vocabulary is what words could be improved, so what can you change, what can you, you know, make better for that. And yeah, and then I have also included a persuasive writing criteria as as well. So a PDF and a Word document version that will be in the description. And it's just a PDF that after your child has finished writing their whole persuasive text, they can use this criteria to tick everything off. So they just write their name, this is what they're learning to do and why, to write the topic, this is the success criteria. So did they have 10 ideas? Tick. Did they group them? Tick. Did they have 3 main points or 3 arguments? Tick. Did they include their evidence or explanation? Tick. You know, in their introduction, did they include the sizzling start, the point of view preview of ideas? So it just goes through and it just allows kids to tick it off. They can do this as they go or at the end. When they finish, and it just gives them a point of reference as well. And also in there are all of the criteria from all of the introduction, argument 1, argument 2, argument 3, and the conclusion as well. So it's all there. And also underneath are examples of the different language features all in the same table so that kids can have a good easy reference to look at. And also if you wanted them to measure them up against, you know, is it a good piece of persuasive text or great or amazing or fabulous, you know, you can change this and edit this in the Word document. But here's just an example of how you can differentiate. So maybe a good piece of persuasive writing is they've attempted to include an in— introduction, 3 arguments, and conclusion. A great persuasive piece of writing is they've included some of the criteria in the introduction, 3 arguments, and conclusion, but not all of them. Amazing is if they've included everything in the criteria from the introduction, 3 arguments, and conclusion and the— and they also attempt to include 1 to 4 of these language features. And fabulous is if they've included everything in the criteria and they have included between 5 to 6 of these language features. So that's a point of reference, and this is what the— part of what the document is all on one page. So it will look like this, all on the one page, and it's there in the description. So hopefully that has been super helpful. It's the Ultimate Parent Guide to Persuasive Writing. And some of the other videos I have for parents is, you know, some great project ideas for kids that are really fun and engaging and interactive. So there's a video there if you'd like to have a look. And also, if you want to change your virtual background, there are plenty of different backgrounds you can pick from, and I will show you where and how to change your background and where to get some great backgrounds that you can use. And if you happen to be a teacher, then I also have lots of other videos in there for you as well, like giving feedback and using Google Classroom. Um, so yeah, so Thank you very much for watching, and remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos. I'm @misswinitang on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Don't forget to click on the like button and subscribe and click on that bell so you don't miss out on any more videos. And thank you very much for listening. I hope this was very helpful. Make sure you put a comment down below if it was, and and give me some feedback, and I will see you in my next video. Thank you everyone, see you, bye!