Persuasive Writing Digital Resource

Without a doubt, persuasive writing 

is the most valuable writing skill of our time.

Have I convinced you? Not yet? Well, perhaps I need a bit more reasoning, a few more examples, and a few high modality words sprinkled into my writing. 

In a media-focused world, being able to both clearly state an opinion AND analyze the opinions of others is an important life skill. It's no wonder curriculum often includes so many persuasive writing units! However, with so many persuasive skills to be mastered, which ones should students focus on first?

In my classroom and tutoring sessions, I always make a point to focus on three persuasive techniques: 

1. A strong, clear introduction

2. Explanation of evidence

3. High modality/transition words

To help you do the same, I've created a Persuasive Writing Resource that can be used in your classroom (or in your virtual classroom) right now!

The topic? Should schools switch to virtual learning snow days during inclement weather?

Students are passionate about this topic because it directly affects them! Use the prewritten paragraphs in your mini-lessons or small groups. Interactive notebook handouts are included too! Keep scrolling to see what else is included...

This Google Slides resource is the perfect tool for teaching students how to write engaging introductory and body paragraphs each with strong, persuasive language.

You'll find:

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Writing Valuable Student Comments + Student Friendly FREEBIE!

Digital communication is synonymous with 2020. Maybe more so now than ever before, being able to clearly and professionally chat online is something students should be practicing. Adults too for that matter. Let's be honest...were we ever really all that impressed by emails and comments left by our coworkers? 😜

Comments and emails need to be direct, concise, and professional. This can TOTALLY be taught at the elementary level and beyond!

Sure, we're working to encourage a generation of texters that short notes can be both grammatically correct and detailed even if they're brief. Will they be resistant? Probably. But as soon as they start receiving clear and meaningful messages from their classmates,  they'll be hooked! Trust me on that one. 

In my 1:1 classroom, I used Google Slides and Google Docs daily. Even when we weren't separated by distance learning, having students leave comments on each other's digital work amped up our classroom community so much! 

So how do we encourage this? First things first! We need to make sure our learners are comfortable with the tools for leaving comments. Here's how it's done: 

This information and more is included in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE. 

Click the image at the bottom of this post to get your copy today!

Leaving Comments on Google Slides/Docs

Step 1: 
Click the comment button in the upper-righthand corner.

Step 2: 
Select “Comment” 

Step 3: 
Write an AWESOME comment! 

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OK, now that we know how to leave a comment, what kinds of things do we want our students to write about? Remember, this reaches way farther than the classroom (my favorite kind of skills to teach!). 

Social VS Scholarly

There's a time to be social and there's a time to be professional. Comments on our classmates' work are definitely something to take more seriously. After all, we want to make them feel good about their work, don't we? 

Knowing someone took the time to read something you've written AND to leave a thoughtful, well-crafted comment can really brighten someone's day **cough cough...feel free to do so at the end of this post 😉 **

Social Comments are more appropriate for Instagram and texting. It's the kind of writing that doesn't offer much in the way of feedback or effort. Here's an example from my TPT resource: 

Scholarly Comments, on the other hand, offer so many different things! These all-important types of comments are...

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Get Your Writer to Write More with Twin Sentences!

Elementary-aged writers are always finished with their writing --

"I added a word!" 

"But I can't think of anything else!"

"Oh come on! I'm DONE!"

Getting my fourth graders to add more to their stories was always a herculean task... That is until I heard about the glorious Twin Sentences strategy! It's quick and so easy for kids to understand.

So What Are Twin Sentences?  

For every sentence they write, it must be followed by a sentence that adds more detail. This lets us SHOW our readers, rather than TELL them what's going on in our stories. We want our readers to see a movie in their heads, not fall asleep while reading.

For example...

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