Summary

Before Your Trip

Introduce the topic of persuasive letters to your students.
Inform Hidden Villa staff that you will be using your trip to study persuasive writing.

During Your Trip

Make sure your students
take a writing journal to
Hidden Villa.
Ask guides to provide time for students to record topics that they would like to write about.

After Your Trip

Complete the Persuasive Letters unit.

California State
Content Standards

Grades 2-5
Writing 1.0, Varying Social Science Standards
Grade 5
Writing 2.4

This project supports a variety of writing standards (specifically the 5th grade requirement for persuasive writing). The project could also address, at a variety of grade levels, the social studies standards that deal with governmental and political processes.

Persuasiveletters

When people think about taking environmental action, many think of writing persuasive letters - to elected leaders, companies, organizations or consumers. By learning how to voice their opinions effectively, students become involved in the political process around a variety of issues.

Part I: Overview

Part II: Topic Examples

Part III: Writing Directions

Lesson Plan

Part I: Overview

Persuasive Letters

Duration

2 hours

Objectives

Students will write a persuasive letter by focusing on topics that they learned at Hidden Villa

Materials

Writing journals
Writing Utensils
Writing directions from Part III written on a poster or white board

What exactly your students write about will depend entirely on the topics you have been studying. However, at any grade level for any topic you can guide your students through the following steps:

Find an issue or issues related to what you have studied in class that connects with your students' interests, concerns or passions.
Guide your students in deciding who their audience will be: Who has the power to make a difference in this issue? Maybe it's the class next door or maybe it's the governor.
Brainstorm with your class what actions they want their intended audience to take to improve the ecological or social situation.
Modeling as needed, guide your students in writing their letters.
Aid your students in delivering their letters and remind them to follow up if needed.

Part II: Topic Examples

Here are a few ideas for your students' persuasive letters.

Audience	Topic
Classmates	Use reused paper for scratch paper.
School Peers	Pack Eco-Healthy Lunches for school.
Apartment Neighbors	Use recycling bins.
School Board	Improve nutrition content of school lunches.
City Government	Save local habitat threatened by development.

Part III: Writing Directions

My upper elementary students found the following guidelines useful when writing their persuasive letters:

Introduce yourself (who you are and how you are connected to the issue or to your intended audience).
Briefly explain your issue of concern (why you are writing).
Explain how your intended audience is connected to the issue.
Say what you would like them to do (thesis statement).
Write your body paragraphs, each focusing on a different main point or action you would like them to take. Start with your strongest argument.
In your conclusion, briefly remind your intended audience what action(s) you want them to take and thank them ahead of time for considering your ideas.

Remember, you are trying to convince someone to do something they might not really want to do. You definitely want them to read your entire letter. Therefore, while your arguments absolutely must be strong, it is best to write them in a polite way. Don't offend your reader. Also, when at all possible, integrate the self-interest of your intended audience into your arguments. How can your reader benefit from taking the actions you propose?