Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog

Fancy Ideas for the Everyday Classroom

Not my Gumdrop Buttons {a persuasive writing unit}

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Last week my students used my Wait, Wait! Don’t Shoot! Persuasive Writing Set and wrote from the point of view of the turkey who job it was to convince the farmer spare their life  and eat something else for the Thanksgiving Day Feast.
The kids came up with a lot of amazing reasons why the farmer shouldn’t eat them- including: I have Turkey Pox, my turkey family will seek revenge on you and turkey has too much trytophan in it so you will be too tired watch/play football.  I was happy to see them peer edit like champions!  It definitley made my life a lot easier but it also had them thinking in a different way.
The key to peer editing is having it be super structured with specific things for them to look for.  They aren’t going to catch them all but it will for sure help you when it’s your turn to edit with them.  Before they switched their paper with another person they had to highlight all of the first letters in each sentence- this ensured that they had capital letters to start each new sentence.  They circled with red pen any words that they were unsure of the spelling and lastly they highlighted all of the periods (or other ending punctuation symbols).  When they switched it with their partner, they had to sit side by side and read their own story to their neighbor. This allowed them to hear their own story and catch any other mistakes.  While they were reading their partner could make correction/suggestions at the end of each sentence. At the end they told their partner two things they liked about their story and made one constructive comment.  Then it was the other partners turn.  It was very successful! 
Writing persuasively is a new skill for my kiddos.  SO, since this was their first shot at it and they LOVED it so much I created one for winter- Not my Gumdrop Buttons .
{Keep reading for a Pin It to Win It Giveaway}

Here is their prompt
I have 2 circle maps that are used to help them jump start their thinking. I have them work on their own for 3 minutes, share with a partner for a minute and then as a class I make a giant collaborative circle map so others can add the great ideas of their classmates to their own.
The next step is making a cause and effect flow map to help them explain their reasons better.  I provided some thought starters this time because I noticed that some of my more hesitant writers needed some extra support

I do a few mini lessons while going through this unit. One is reinforcing transitions that are tailored to writing persuasively. They are used to narrative transitions, so this is important.

Another mini lesson is going over personal pronouns. This is important because they are writing from the point of view of the gingerbread cookie- some kids struggle with this and I pull them aside and give them this word bank to help them as they construct their draft.

This is something new that I added to this set again to help better support my students who either have a language barrier or who have writers block.  This next circle map is a great teacher resource to use during the modeling process. It provides great ideas but allows the students to explain it.  This can be done orally, whole group. I always tell the class that even if we come up with the same 3 reasons why Santa shouldn’t eat you that is ok because you are making it your own with the explanation process.  Another way you can use this is by giving it to the group of kids that struggle the most coming up with ideas in a small group setting during writers workshop.  
The last mini lesson that I included in this set is Hook ideas.  I went over it with my class last time with the Wait, Wait! Don’t Shoot prompt- but having this resource in their writers workbooks is a great idea because they can reference it all year long.  I came up with some hooks that go along with this specific prompt.  This is another great support for your kiddos who have no idea where to start. I encourage my students to use my examples as inspiration.
After all of the minilesson and prewriting activities are done… this is where the magic happens!  

After they write their Flee map they write their rough drafts adding more detail, using figurative language, strong adjectives and vivid verbs. Then is the self editing checklist and peer editing….

and then publishing it on their festive final draft paper….
and last but not least is their gingerbread craftivity…. because like I always say- upper graders still love to make crafts!

This set is on sale now! Just for some pre-Thanksgiving fun… Pin it to win it!!!

Also included are 5 slides for students who do not celebrate the holidays with Santa. These edited slides ask them to persuade a hungry kid not to eat them as a tasty snack.

ANNNND…. for some pinning fun… The first 3 people who pin this get this for free! Just leave a comment below saying you did it and your pinterest address (for example mine is pinterest/laylawhenry).  Ready set pin!!! Make sure to leave your email in the comments section along with your pintrest address!

Comments

  6. Layla – I absolutely love this! I would love to use it, but I'm sensitive to those in my classes that don't celebrate Christmas. Would it be possible if I purchase it to edit the pages so that it is to persuade a child or person not to eat it?
    Thanks!
    Janie
    Are We There Yet?

    Reply

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