Unit 12.

5: See It My Way English as a Second Language 6 weeks Stage 1 - Desired Results Unit Summary
In this unit, students will explore the persuasive genre through letters to the editor as well as other persuasive writing styles. Students will read and write about issues that are important to them and to their communities. This unit is a natural follow-up to Unit 12.4, as students will have the opportunity to write about current event issues. Transfer goal: Students will leave the class able to use their knowledge of persuasive writing styles to better identify authors point of view, express their opinions, and influence change in their communities.

Content Standards and Learning Expectations

Listening/Speaking L/S.12.2 Listens and responds to material to synthesize, explain, describe, analyze, justify, and debate; answers and formulates closed and open-ended questions. L/S.12.3 Uses appropriate language structure to analyze and evaluate issues, problem solve, explain a process, and express opinions integrating comparison and contrast statements. L/S.12.5 Analyzes and explains the main idea or topic and important details from learned concepts or readings from a variety of persuasive texts; summarizes, evaluates, and judges effectiveness of the text, performance, speech, or literature. Reading R.12.4 Distinguishes between fact and opinion; infers and supports the main idea in a variety of texts; debates the theme or topic using text evidence to justify and validate position. R.12.5 Uses elements of poetry and plays to analyze, interpret, and compare and contrast styles, genres, topics, and themes; debates using text evidence to justify position. Writing W.12.2 Evaluates and applies a variety of organizational techniques to write effective narrative, expository, and persuasive essays using the writing process; demonstrates a preferred style of writing.

Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:

Societal, cultural, and institutional change and growth come from our personal journeys over time. All individuals play important roles in their communities. Persuasive writing and speaking influences individual and community thought. The pen is mightier than the sword.

Essential Questions:
How do our personal journeys shape society and culture? What persuasive strategies do people use to influence their communities? How can an individuals beliefs and actions impact a community? How is writing an effective tool for changing minds and influencing others?

Content (Students will know)

Main idea or topic and important details

Skills (Students will be able to)

Synthesize, explain, describe, analyze, justify, 1

June 2012

Unit 12.5: See It My Way English as a Second Language 6 weeks

Theme, topic in persuasive text Organizational techniques/elements for persuasive essays The writing process Vocabulary and language structures to justify and evaluate evidence and opinions Debate Justify Synthesize, analyze Letter to the Editor Persuasive, persuasion, persuade Idiomatic expressions Evidence, proof and debate information. Use appropriate language structures to express opinions. Analyze and explain the main idea or topic and important details from learned concepts or readings from a variety of persuasive texts. Summarize, evaluate, and judge effectiveness of the text, performance, speech, or literature. Debate the theme or topic using text evidence to justify and validate positions. Debate using text evidence to justify position. Evaluate and apply a variety of organizational techniques to write effective persuasive essays using the writing process.

Content Vocabulary

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence Performance Tasks

Persuading the Principal Students will, in small groups, choose an issue in the school that they believe deserves an action plan. The group will use attachment 12.5 Performance Task Writing Topic Exploration to plan the arguments for their issue. The group will then construct a letter to the principal on the issue they have chosen. They should be sure to incorporate the persuasive techniques studied during the unit. The letters will be edited and revised for grammar, spelling, and content and a final copy will be written. Depending on the school, letters can actually be delivered to the principal. Students will be assessed on a rubric, such as: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resource s/lesson_images/lesson1137/rubric.pdf.

Other Evidence
Literacy Journals: o Daily Quick-Writes o Reading Log Students will record titles and pages read of books read individually. The teacher may choose to add response questions to the daily log or the response questions can be answered in the Response Log. o Reading Response Log Students will respond to what they read individually and what they listen to in the read alouds in this section of the Literacy Journal. o Personal Word Wall Students will record new words learned throughout the unit. Anecdotal evidence of comprehension of topics during group work and class discussions Speech Analyses (in Reflection Journals, see Learning Activities for details) - assess informally along with the other journal entries for the unit. KWL chart about effective speeches Persuasive Speech Students pick a topic important to them (why to be a vegetarian, why school vacations should be shorter, etc.) and present a persuasive speech to the class. Assess on a rubric (see attachment: 12.5 2

Letter to the Editor Students will write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper about a current event issue that is important to them. The students will search newspapers to find news articles on topics that interest them. June 2012

Unit 12.5: See It My Way English as a Second Language 6 weeks

They will summarize the articles main idea and important details using attachment 12.5 Performance Task Article Summarizing Questions. Students draft their letters, then peer review and revise them. Students will use attachment 12.5 Performance Task Peer Review. (Links with information about writing effective letters to the editor are provided in the Additional Resources section of this map.) Finally, the students will publish their letters and mail a copy to the newspaper, if desired. Other Evidence Persuasive Speech Rubric).

Stage 3 - Learning Plan Learning Activities

Persuasive Read Aloud The teacher will read aloud multiple persuasive texts on social issues including speeches. Ideally, the teacher will find texts on both sides of an issue and read both in order to compare them and provide opportunities for lively discussions and debates among the students. http://www.speech-topicshelp.com/speech-writing-tip.htmlhttp://www.speech-topics-help.com/persuasive-speech-ideas.html Evaluating Letters to the Editor Students will use attachment 12.5 Performance Task Peer Review to review published Letters to the Editor. This activity will help students become familiar with the format of Letters to the Editor and judge their effectiveness. Students will analyze and explain the main idea and important details of letters to the editor and other persuasive texts in writing or orally in small groups. Students will read a variety of famous speeches and summarize, evaluate, and judge effectiveness of them. Students will answer questions about the speeches in their reflection journals, such as o What was the occasion for the speech? o Who was the audience? o What were the main points or the speech? o What persuasive tactics did the speech writer use? o Do you think the speech was effective? Why or why not? Students, in teams of 4-5, will debate a topic. The teacher will pair teams up and assign topics and roles in the debate. Student teams should research the topic to prepare for the debate. The following site will be useful both for assigning topics and for researching both sides of the issues: http://www.middleschooldebate.com/topics/topicresearch.htm. If the appropriate technology is available, the teacher can show videos of student debates. Examples available here: http://www.middleschooldebate.com/resources/videoresources.html. 3

Evaluating Speeches

Debate an issue

June 2012

Unit 12.5: See It My Way English as a Second Language 6 weeks

Idiomatic Expressions Students will complete a journal entry from the prompt: What do you know about idiomatic expressions? What idioms do you know already? How are they used/what do they mean? The teacher will lead the students in a discussion about idioms in the English language and discuss their meaning and usage. This site will be useful for this activity: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/. Students choose an idiom that they find especially interesting or entertaining. They will make a page for a class idioms display or book on which they will write the idiom clearly, draw a picture to describe the literal meaning of the idiom, and write a sentence to explain the idiomatic meaning of the idiom. Persuading the Principal: Writing Persuasive Letters About School Issues www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/persuading-principal-writingpersuasive-1137.html Persuading an Audience: Writing Effective Letters to the Editor http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/persuading-audience-writingeffective-929.html Juvenile Justice http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/juvenile-justice Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments http://www.readwritethink.org/classroomresources/lesson-plans/analyzing-famous-speeches-arguments-30526.html Use as reference: o Unit 8.3 Influencing Others to Make Decisions that Matter o Unit 9.4 Its a Matter of Opinion o Unit 10.2 Friendship in Fiction and Power of Persuasion o Unit 11.3 Persuasion Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AP_writing_letters_to_editor Write an Opinion Piece or a Letter to the Editor for Your Local Newspaper http://www.ncte.org/action/write List of Famous Speeches http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lessondocs/SpeechSignOut.pdf Persuasive Writing/Speaking Prompts (see attachment: 12.5 Additional Resources Persuasive Prompts) Rhetorical Devices: o Repetition http://changingminds.org/principles/repetition.htm o Rhetorical Questions http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/rhetorical_questions.htm o Parallel Structure http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/01/ o Hyperbole http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/figures-hyperbole.htm Todays Front Page (Front pages of 500+ different newspapers each day) http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/ 4

Sample Lessons

Additional Resources

June 2012

Unit 12.5: See It My Way English as a Second Language 6 weeks Literature Connections
In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms by Marvin Terban (and other books by the same author) http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=15968 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html http://www.naturalnews.com/teenagers.html Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Theme, Silver o Flowers for Algeronon by Damiel Keyes page 204 (Summarize, First-Person Point of View) o A Glow in the Dark from Woodsong by Gary Paulse page 504 (Make Inferences, Tone) o Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath page 508 (Make Inferences, Tone) o Southern Mansion by Arna Bontemps page 510 (Make Inferences, Tone) o The Bat by Theodore Roethke page 511 (Make Inferences, Tone) o The Story-Teller by Saki (H. H. Munro) page 596 (Make Inference, Theme) o The Medicine Bag by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve pages 602 (Make Inference, Theme) o Animal Craftsmen by Bruce Brooks page 625 (Essay) o Hokusai: the Old Man Mad About Drawing by Stephen Longstreet page 654 (Identify the Authors Main Points, Biography) o Not to Go With the Others by John Hersey page 656 (Identify the Authors Main Points, Biography) o The Trouble With Television by Robert MacNeil page686 (Persuasive Essay) o The America Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. page 689 (Persuasive Essay)

June 2012 Adapted from Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe