TpT Seller Challenge {Week 3}: Make your Masterpiece!

I have a list of product ideas that is PAGES long. I have about 5 products that I have started but haven’t finished but I FINALLY finished one that I started in April! My hope was to finish it for Earth Day, but all of the excitement of life made that impossible. I am excited to showcase my new product, Arguing for the Earth, for this weeks TpT Seller Challenge.

Persuasive writing is one of my FAVORITE genres to teach. It can be hard for kids, and I have noticed that it is a real struggle particularly for my second language learners. I made sure to include a lot of structured support in this set using Thinking Maps to help them organize their ideas along the way!

The prompt asks the students to argue on behalf of the Earth and to try and convince their school to make easy changes. Before the writing process begins, they need to investigate the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. My students understand recycling but they get stuck on the last two. I added a little research piece to this by including 5 QR codes that explain the 3Rs with examples. Brainpop has some awesome resources that go along with this here. The students can take notes on the circle maps about HOW and WHY taking care of the environment is important.

After they gather sufficient information, they can start constructing their arguments. I have them use a one sided flow map to evaluate Cause and Effect Relationships. To differentiate I provided some arguments for struggling writers as well as some sentence stems to help. These are especially helpful for Second Language Learners.

Once the research and planning are done, drafting beings! I created a Hook mini poster for their Interactive Notebooks which goes over the different ways they can start their essay. The Flee map has some helpful hints for them as they get their ideas out and lastly there is a Self Editing Checklist which reminds them to go over their work before they turn it in.

I can’t wait to use Arguing for the Earth this year with my new set of kiddos! It has enough support for the more hesitant writers and it allows them to research, use facts, and make helpful suggestions to their peers.

Join in the fun by linking up with Peppy Zesty Teacherista, Sparkling in Second, Third in Hollywood and Teach Create Motivate!