Alicia Osborne

Spring Practicum 2017

Persuasive Writing for Grade 2 Lesson Plan

Content Area- Literacy

Developmental Domains- Social, Emotional, Cognitive

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy

Writing Standards, Grade 2:
1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing
about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words
(e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section. (MA DESE, 2011)
5. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen
writing as needed by revising and editing. (MA DESE, 2011)
Language Standards, Grade 2:
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage
when writing or speaking. (MA DESE, 2011)
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing. (MA DESE, 2011)
Speaking and Listening Standards, Grade 2:
1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful
ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and
texts under discussion).
b. Build on others talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks
of others.
c. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts
under discussion. (MA DESE, 2011)

Goals
1. Write an opinion piece in which they introduce the topic they are writing about,
state the opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words to
connect opinion and reason, and provide a concluding statement or section.
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2. Focus on a topic of interest and strengthen writing as needed by revising and

editing.
3. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners in small and
larger groups.
4. Demonstrate the commands of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Objectives
1. Second grade students will participate in collaborative conversations about their
opinions on various issues of interest.
2. Students will demonstrate command of standard English writing conventions
and strengthen their writing through a process of revising and editing.
3. Students will write an opinion piece about an issue or topic that is of interest to
them in which they will introduce the topic they are writing about, state the
opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words to connect
opinion and reason, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Materials
Large chart paper
Post-It notes
Pencils
Writing paper
Marker
Graphic organizer for opinion writing

Resources
Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.
(2013). Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing (firsthand:
Portsmouth, NH).
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (March 2011).
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy.
(DESE: Malden, MA).
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Procedures
1. The second grade students have been practicing writing opinion letters about books
that they have read, which is a unit based on Lucy Calkins Writing about Reading.
This lessons purpose is to build upon what they have learned about opinion writing
and use these skills to engage in persuasive writing about a topic or issue of interest.
2. I will hang up chart paper with yes/no questions written on the top and two
columns- a Yes and a No column, around the classroom. Some examples of potential
questions are:
o Should Heath School students have e-learning days instead of snow days?
o Should recess time be longer than 30 minutes?
o Should the school year be longer than 180 days?
o Should second graders go on more field trips?
o Should any changes be made to our cafeteria or school lunches?
3. Each student will have a small stack of Post-It notes and a pencil. I will instruct
them to answer each question by writing their name on a Post-It, then placing it
under the Yes or No column. Students will rotate in small groups to the different
questions. After each person in the group has put up their Post-It, I will ask the
small groups to discuss their reasoning for the way they answered the question.
After a short discussion time, the students will rotate to the next question and
repeat this activity until students in all groups have had a chance to answer and
discuss each question.
4. The whole group will come together and discuss what we just did- using evidence
and reasons to discuss our opinions. I will connect this activity to the opinion
writing about books that we have been doing.
5. I will pose the question to the class: What are some other issues about Heath
school or second grade that you have an opinion about? I will ask students to
volunteer to share and list their ideas on chart paper.
6. I will have students turn and talk with their writing partners about what topic they
will choose to write about.
7. I will remind students about using linking words to connect their opinions with
their reasons. I will introduce the term persuasive writing and discuss that good
authors use persuasive writing to: 1. Convince someone to do something, 2. Make
someone believe in something, 3. Change someones mind.
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8. Students will go to their desks and begin independent writing by outlining their
ideas using a graphic organizer.
9. A teacher will assist in making sure that each student has completed their graphic
organizer with a topic, opinion, three supporting reasons, and a conclusion, before
the student begins writing their draft.
10. Once students have had adequate time to write, they will meet with their writing
partner to receive feedback.
11. With teacher and peer support, students will edit and revise their persuasive writing
until they feel confident that they have a final draft worthy of publishing. Final
drafts may be displayed outside the classroom or made into a class book. This
lesson should be completed in two days during Literacy block.

Accommodations
I will provide extra support to ELL students that will need simplified instructions
and extra assistance with spelling and grammar. ELL students will especially benefit from
discussing their idea with a partner before beginning their writing. Sentence stems can be
used to model connecting opinion to reason: I believe that ________ because __________.

Extensions
I will challenge students who finish their drafts quickly to add additional reasons to
their argument and stronger, more attention-grabbing vocabulary. They can highlight the
opinion statement, reasons, and conclusion to self-assess if all of the components are there
and underline adjectives.

Assessment
During the interactive discussion parts of the lesson, I will be observing students
conversations with one another to gain information about their ability to engage in
collaborative conversations and their knowledge about how to use persuasive language to
discuss an opinion. After students have completed their writing, I will use the Lucy Calkins
Rubric for Opinion Writing- Second Grade as an assessment of their overall structure, lead,
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transitions, ending, organization, and development of elaboration and craft. I will also be
looking at students use of English language conventions, including capitalization,
punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

Persuasive Writing Lesson Plan Reflection

On February 15, 2017, I implemented a lesson that I planned on persuasive writing for

second grade students. Students in the class had been practicing writing opinion letters about

books based on the Lucy Calkins unit Writing about Reading, which is used to meet to MA

Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy Writing Standard (1): Write

opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an

opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to

connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section (MA DESE, 2011).

After having had spent a couple of weeks on opinion writing about books, some children had

begun to lose interest, yet many had not mastered using multiple examples and evidence to

support their opinions. Allowing children to write about a topic or issue of interest that impacts

their school experience got students re-engaged in opinion writing.

I felt that the structure of my lesson was mostly very effective. I began with having the

children move around the room in small groups to answer and discuss questions that I posed for

them, then we had a whole group discussion, then they met with partners before going back to

their desks to begin writing. I felt that my lesson was very effective in terms of engaging the

students and providing them with a purpose for becoming good persuasive writers. One thing

that I would have done differently was preview the lesson with the ELL students that need extra

support with writing. My lesson supports included working with them in a small group or one-
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on-one to support their writing by simplifying instructions, providing them with sentence

starters, and helping with spelling and grammar, and normally I would have pulled the one or

two students who needed the most support to work with me at a table or out in the hallway to

start their writing. In this situation, where I had to leave the room while children were writing

in order to have the post-observation meeting, I think that it would have benefitted one of the

ELL students in particular if I had had time to meet with him individually prior to introducing the

lesson.

I feel that I could have been more clear in expressing my expectations that students

need to stop talking when I am talking and that students need to be prepared for writing by

already having a sharpened pencil prior to literacy time. I was excited to see that many students

in the class chose to write their persuasive pieces in the form of letters and their audience for

these letters included their teachers, the school principal, the governor of MA, and our

countrys president. When students chose a topic that they were actually passionate about to

write about, it really showed through in the way that they described their reasoning. Overall, I

think that the lesson I planned was meaningful and well organized and I will use the insight I

gained from the things that did not go as smoothly as I would ideally like in order to improve my

lesson delivery in the future.