Lesson 5: Persuasive Letter

tpobuda

Active Learning Exercises

Lesson 5: Persuasive Letter

Write a Persuasive Letter

Watch

Explore the following videos and discuss the messaging. These videos are intended to engage students in this subject of Vaccine Equity by presenting the issue in a simplified way.

Strategy to Achieve Vaccine Equity Globally | United Nations | World Health Organization (WHO)

COVID-19 vaccines: race against time, WHO https://bit.ly/3LuCGpA

COVID-19 vaccines – Pandemica series, WHO COVID-19 vaccines – Pandemica series: Package

You may want to record the main ideas the videos communicate on the board for students to refer to when drafting their persuasive argument.

Explain that students will be writing a persuasive letter (3-5 paragraphs for grades 5-6; 5 paragraphs for grades 7-8) to the Prime Minister’s office advocating the government to support vaccine equity. A quick review of the Canadian government structure may be necessary to explain that this is an international issue which is why the student letters are addressing the Prime Minister at the Federal level of government.

The following World health Organization websites provide research opportunities for students. Depending on grade level, students should also be expected to locate 1-3 additional sources for their own research.

Covid-19 Vaccines https://bit.ly/3rZVrJL

Vaccine equity https://www.who.int/campaigns/vaccine-equity

Persuasive Letter to Canada’s Prime Minister

This persuasive writing task is written in the form of a letter. A letter written to the leader of Canada must follow specific expectations**. As such, you need to include the following details as they are shown.

Date

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.

Prime Minister of Canada

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

Then begin your letter following the structure detailed below.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Your first sentence is called the HOOK, it is meant to lure the reader in so they are immediately engaged. A hook is typically 1-3 sentences long. It may use Facts or Statistics, a Quote, a Bold Statement or an Anecdote.

The second sentence is your THESIS STATEMENT. It is very important as it is the roadmap for your letter. It directly tells the reader your viewpoint on the issue you are presenting.

The thesis statement also tells the reader how you plan to organize your ideas in a very specific and straightforward way.

Your 1st body paragraph presents your 2nd strongest reason, your weakest reason is 2nd and the strongest reason for your viewpoint is presented in the 3rd body paragraph.

When you write your thesis statement, these reasons must be listed in this order, otherwise your roadmap to your letter won’t make any sense.

Paragraph 2-4: Body

The body is made up of 3 separate paragraphs. This is where your viewpoint is presented and explained.

Each paragraph focuses on one reason that supports the main viewpoint presented in your thesis statement.

Each body paragraph has a topic sentence that tells the focus of each paragraph. As you are writing 3 body paragraphs, you should have 3 different topic sentences – 1 to introduce each paragraph.

Include 2-4 supporting details with examples and further explanation in each paragraph

Each paragraph includes a concluding or transitional sentence.

Transitional words and phrases are included to signal to the reader that you are moving on to your next idea.

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

This paragraph summarizes the essay.

Restate your thesis but do simply repeat the wording in your introduction, say it in a different way.

Your conclusion is meant to inspire your reader to consider your viewpoint by making them think about the topic and question their own thinking about it. It’s meant to give a specific call to action.

Your final salutation should read:

Sincerely,

Your Name

Use the graphic organizer to write your first draft.

Introduction:

Hook: 1-3 sentences long ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thesis Statement: Clearly state your opinion and write your supporting reasons in the order suggested.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Body Paragraph 1:

Topic Sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________