Read Aloud a Mentor Persuasive Letter 1

[Pages:2]INTRODUCE THE GENRE

Read Aloud a Mentor Persuasive Letter 1

1. Focus

Mentor Text

Objectives

In this mini-lesson, students will: ? Listen to a read-aloud to learn that

persuasive letters have a specific audience, a strong position, and powerful words and phrases to influence the reader. ? Share personal responses to the persuasive letter.

Preparation

Materials Needed ? Mentor text: "Our School Can Save

Trees" ? Interactive whiteboard resources

Introduce the Mentor Persuasive Letter

Say: In order to become a good persuasive letter writer, it helps to read examples of other people's persuasive letters. Today I'm going to read you a letter written by a student to a school principal. As we read the letter, we will look for some features of a persuasive letter. You will be using many of these features in your own persuasive writing.

Say: The title of this persuasive letter is "Our School Can Save Trees." What do you think might be some reasons the writer has for wanting to save trees? Allow responses.

If your class includes English learners or other students who would benefit from vocabulary or oral language development to comprehend the text, use "Make the Mentor Text Comprehensible for ELs."

Read Aloud the Mentor Persuasive Letter

Read aloud the text, stopping at some or all of the places indicated (or at other points you choose) to highlight three key features of a persuasive text: 1. Persuasive texts are written to a specific audience. 2. Persuasive texts take a strong position about a topic. 3. Persuasive texts use powerful words and phrases to influence the reader.

A Specific Audience Page 7, after greeting. Say: I can tell right away who the audience for this letter is. The audience is who the letter is written to. The greeting tells me that this letter addresses the principal of a school. Writers of persuasive letters have a specific audience in mind.

A Strong Position About a Topic Page 7, after paragraph 1. Say: I don't have to read very far into the letter to know that the writer has a strong position. She says, "We are determined to help the planet." The word determined is a strong word. I think she's using this word to show the principal that she is very serious about the issue of saving trees. She also says, "We want our school to stop wasting paper. We want to save trees." I really understand what her position is. I know exactly what she wants.

Powerful Words and Phrases Page 7, after paragraph 3. Say: The writer is trying to convince the principal about wasting paper and saving trees. She describes why trees are so important--they make clean air and make it easier for people to breathe. These

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Benchmark Writer's Workshop ? Grade 2 ? Persuasive Letters ? ?2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Persuasive Letters

statements are powerful because they affect the emotions of the person reading the letter. The words are intended to make the principal feel good about saving trees.

Powerful Words and Phrases End of page 8. Say: The author says "I was shocked" and "I was disappointed" and "We are wasting so much paper." These strong words and phrases help to strengthen her point of view and get the principal to understand the problem and to sympathize with her point of view.

2. Rehearse

Respond Orally to the Mentor Persuasive Text

After reading, invite students to share their own ideas about and reactions to the text by asking questions such as: ? How did this letter make you feel about saving trees? Did it change your ideas

about how our school handles garbage and recycling? Why or why not? ? What did you visualize as you listened to this letter? ? Which words or phrases did you think were the most powerful?

If necessary, model the following sentence frames to support ELs and struggling students: ? The letter made me feel ______. ? I visualized ______. ? The strongest words were ______.

Make the Mentor Text Comprehensible for ELs

Beginning Point to the pictures on pages 6, 8, and 10 or use the interactive whiteboard resources to introduce vocabulary and concepts related to the text; for example, cut down trees, waste, paper, recycle.

Intermediate and Advanced Involve students in a background-building discussion about recycling and saving paper. Show students a recycling bin in your school or classroom and discuss the purpose of recycling. Point out that paper is made from trees. Ask: How can we save trees?

All Levels If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates to help them understand the lesson focus: determined/determinado(a); recycle/reciclar; save/salvar.

3. Independent Writing and Conferring

Say: Today we heard a persuasive letter, and we paid attention to some important features of a persuasive letter. We learned, for example, that when you write a persuasive letter, you have a specific audience in mind. It can be one person, or it can be many people. We also learned that you state your position very clearly, and you use powerful language to help your audience understand your position and feel the way you do about it.

Ask students to write a paragraph describing what they visualized as they listened to the mentor persuasive letter.

4. Share

Bring students together. Invite volunteers to share the images and ideas they visualized.

?2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC ? Benchmark Writer's Workshop ? Grade 2 ? Persuasive Letters

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