Writing Assignment: Persuasive Letter
Writing Assignment: Persuasive Letter Overview: For this assignment, you will write a well-supported persuasive letter about an issue (school-related, community-related, national, etc.). You will send your letter to a principal, school board member, newspaper editor, politician, etc. The purpose of this assignment is to practice writing persuasively, to practice using correct business letter format, and to attempt to make a change for the better in our school, community, or world. Author and Audience: You are writing as yourself. You are writing to someone who can help make your request a reality. Your tone should be mature, reasonable, and businesslike. * Form: Your persuasive letter will be set up in correct business letter block format. In the first paragraph of your letter, you will identify who you are and why you’re writing. In the body paragraphs, you will discuss the issue at hand. In the last paragraph, you will thank your reader and call for action. You may address your reader’s concerns as you go, or you may wait and address them all in your last body paragraph. Be sure you provide adequate support for your argument. ** Focus Skills: Content: Anticipates and answers reader’s questions Content: Avoids faulty logic Organization: Uses logical organization of ideas Style: Avoids passive voice *** Conventions: Avoids pronoun reference errors *** Format: Uses correct business letter format Procedure: 1. Read the assignment carefully. Choose an issue of significant concern, and fill in the graphic organizer I gave you. 2. Write a rough draft of your letter. Bring your rough draft and your graphic organizer with you to class on the rough draft due date. 3. Look at the focus skills, think about our writing lessons, and revise your letter accordingly. 4. After you finish your final draft, annotate it and complete the self-assessment and reflection on your rubric. As you annotate and reflect, be sure to explain why you made the choices you made in regard to your writing. Prove that you’ve mastered each skill. 5. Staple together your completed rubric, your annotated final draft, your rough draft, and your graphic organizer. Please bring in a clean copy as well. I will provide you with an envelope and a stamp. Rough Draft Due: Final Draft Due:
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Notes to session participants: * Other interesting options to allow for lessons in voice and style: Student is a literary character writing to another character. Student is himself or herself writing to younger students. Student is an historical figure writing to his or her best friend. Be creative! ** The form could be just an introductory paragraph, just one body paragraph, just a works cited, etc. Each assignment doesn’t have to be a complete work. *** Some skills are non-negotiable because they lend themselves specifically to the assignment. For differentiation, however, these particular skills may be replaced with other skills as determined by the student’s progress chart or by the teacher. A challenge skill could also be included for more advanced writers. Choose between two and six focus skills for each assignment. ©DGP Publishing, Inc. (www.dgppublishing.com)
1/24 2/7
Notes to session participants: * Other interesting options to allow for lessons in voice and style: Student is a literary character writing to another character. Student is himself or herself writing to younger students. Student is an historical figure writing to his or her best friend. Be creative! ** The form could be just an introductory paragraph, just one body paragraph, just a works cited, etc. Each assignment doesn’t have to be a complete work. *** Some skills are non-negotiable because they lend themselves specifically to the assignment. For differentiation, however, these particular skills may be replaced with other skills as determined by the student’s progress chart or by the teacher. A challenge skill could also be included for more advanced writers. Choose between two and six focus skills for each assignment. ©DGP Publishing, Inc. (www.dgppublishing.com)
