When I taught 8th grade, we had to prepare the kids for the state writing exam, which could ask kids to write a persuasive piece, a narrative piece, or an expository piece. Mostly, though, the prompts required a persuasive response, so I spent a lot of time on persuasive techniques with my 8th graders. I remember really liking persuasion because the introductory elements were concrete and easy to teach, which was such a nice break during my first year of teaching. Below are some of the introductory persuasion materials that I used with my 8th graders around 2006-2007.
About 5 years after this I started teaching AP Language & Composition, where we really got into the more advanced work of persuasion. It will take a bit of time until I am farther enough along to post those materials, but when I do, I will link them to the bottom of this post. Also, after looking back, it makes me realize how elementary my 8th grade lessons were, and I think my 8th graders at the time could have handled more advanced work, but, live and learn.
Learning Persuasive Techniques
Logical vs. Emotional Appeals Note-taking Guide for Elements of Language
"Note-taking Guide: Discovering Language Arts"This was a note-taking guide for a video that I had students watch through a streaming service the school had purchased at the time. It was made by Discovery Education but I have not been able to find the video. You can still use this handout by having kids Google the terms.
Spongebob "Chocolate With Nuts" episode (Season 3; Episode 12)
Persuasive Appeals in An Inconvenient Truth. The first time I watched An Inconvenient Truth it was while I was teaching this unit. I was watching it for personal reasons as I was trying to learn about global warming, and it just so happens that I found it very persuasive and showed it as part of my unit. I had one kid whose parent opted him out because his father worked for an oil lobby.
Persuasive Articles
Persuasive Essay Writing Materials
Persuasion Tests & Quizzes
Persuasion is such a giant category, but if you have an introductory materials that you would like to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments section.
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