Suzanne Gregory

Douglas MacArthur Elementary

4th Grade Writing
Lesson Title: Crafting Reasons with Audience in Mind - Persuasive Essays (30 minute lesson)
Enduring Understandings
1) Persuasive writing comes in many forms, but it has a goal of convincing a reader of a
perspective
2) Readers and writers should recognize persuasive writing techniques.
Essential Questions
1 How can I persuade my audience?
3) How do writers present their opinion and provide reasons to support their opinion?
Primary Content Objectives
The student will know:
1 How to recognize opinions
4) How writers use the strategy of writing with an audience in mind as one way of convincing
their audience about their opinion
The student will be able to:
1 Choose an audience to form a perspective for a persuasive thesis statement.
5) Give reasons go support their thesis based on their chosen audience.
Key Vocabulary and Definitions
1. Thesis Statement: the main idea that a writer is trying to persuade or convince an audience
about
2. Supporting Ideas/Reasons: Details that further explain or describe the thesis statement
3. Audience: writing for a specific purpose with a reader or group of readers in mind
Aligned with Virginia Fourth Grade Writing Standard 4.7 d,e
4.7 The student will write cohesively for a variety of purposes.

d) Organize writing to convey a central idea.

e) Recognize different modes of writing have different patterns of organization.
Lesson Materials: Advanced Organizer for Whole Group Lesson, Student Writing Notebooks,
Individual Practice Worksheets, Student Chromebooks

Assessment:
Pre-assessment - Review parts of the persuasive essay that we have already discussed in
class. Thesis Statements and Supporting Paragraphs from Thesis Statement)
Formative Assessment - Students will have an opportunity during the lesson to generate
persuasive ideas that are tailored for a specific audience. (Teacher can monitor student
understanding)
Summative Assessment - Students will generate persuasive writing tailored for a specific
audience by writing down their ideas that will be included in a final persuasive essay.
Lesson Procedure:
Review: Last week we talked about how to choose a topic for a persuasive essay and how to
write a thesis statement. We also talked about how to add supporting paragraphs to our thesis
statement. Today I am going to give you a tip about how to make your persuasive essays even
more convincing.
Teaching and Modeling (I Do) (7 minutes)
1. When you are selecting reasons to support your essay, you want to think about your
particular audience and select reasons that are designed to convince that audience.
2. Let me show you what I mean. I am going to give you a thesis statement and two different
possible audiences for my essay.
3. Example: School Uniforms Are Terrible! (thesis) Parents and Kids (audiences) If I was
going to convince kids that school uniforms were terrible I would give different reasons than if I
was trying to convince parents.
4. Demonstrate how to tailor reasons to a particular audience by using a Graphic Organizer
with the class.

Guided Practice (We Do) (10 minutes)

1. Give the students a list of reasons on the graphic organizer that would be for an audience of
parents or kids.
2. Have students work with a partner to decide which reasons would be for parents and which
ones would be for kids. While they are working, have a couple of students work with me at the
advanced organizer.
Reasons: School uniforms are terrible because they dont let you express yourself.
School uniforms are terrible because they are expensive.
School uniforms are terrible because they are not preparing kids for the real world.
School uniforms are terrible because they dont look good on every kid.
3. Highlight the work that one group of writers did on the advanced organizer. Ask the class to
look and see if they agree with what the first group decided. Discuss with class why the reasons
were good for the intended audience.
Individual Practice (You Do) (13 minutes)
Transition: Class, now I want you to think about your topic that you have chosen for your
persuasive essay. I am going to give you three options for your audience. You can choose to
write to parents, students, or teachers. I want you to write a list of reasons to support your topic
that would make sense for the audience that you choose.
1. Students can stay on the whole-group carpet or return to their seats to work on this part of
the lesson individually.
2. While students are working, I will be walking around helping students with their ideas.
3. Students who finish early can work with a partner to check if their reasons match up to their
intended audience. They can then continue working on typing their rough drafts of their
supporting paragraphs from the previous days lesson.
Considerations for students with Special Needs/Differentiation
Students have been allowed to choose the topic that they are writing about - so students with
special needs can write on a simpler level than other students in the class. Also, the length of
the essay can be adjusted for students based on ability level. During the individual portion of

the lesson, I can provide extra instruction/review/support with students who need extra help
writing counterclaim arguments.
Connection to Technology
Students will be using their Chromebooks to type their final copy of their persuasive essay. The
Chromebooks can also be used to help with correct spelling and grammar.
Source: Boxes and Bullets: Personal and Persuasive Essays Writing Curriculum by FirstHand
Publishing. Heinemann.
Fourth Grade Writing - Persuasive Writing Unit Plan - Parkway School District

http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/candd/curriculumareas/commarts/documents/finalfourthgradepersua
sivewriting.pdf

Name ________________________________

Choosing an Audience for My Persuasive Essay

1. Circle your audience.
Parents

Students

Teachers

2. Write down the topic for your persuasive essay.

______________________________________________
______________________________________________

3. Make a list of reasons to convince your audience about

your topic.
* ____________________________________________
______________________________________________
* ____________________________________________
______________________________________________

* ____________________________________________
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