Writing a Persuasive Essay: Lesson Plan on the Persuasive Essay Writing Process

Writing a Persuasive Essay: Lesson Plan on the Persuasive Essay Writing Process
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The Art of Persuasion in Writing

How do you help your students develop skills in writing a persuasive essay? Guide students throughout the entire thought process with this lesson plan. Help them first come up with ideas, form arguments, debate with other students and finally bring the whole thing together in a finished product.

Make the Concept Clear to the Students

Make a PowerPoint presentation of print ads that they see on billboards or magazines. Then, let the students guess the product endorsed. This is a good opening activity or game to familiarize them with captivating words that advertisers use to persuade the public to support their product or idea. Discuss how persuasive the advertisements are in encouraging you to buy their product. This is a great real life application of the power of persuasion.

Let the Students Form Judgments

After letting the students discover the importance of persuasion, divide them into groups with four members. Then, distribute a piece of paper with a debatable topic. Ask them to discuss what they think of the situation presented, and let them form judgments about it. Afterward, ask volunteers to share with the class what their group has talked about.

Use a Map to Organize Ideas

Upon realizing the different opinions that each person had about the topic, tell the students to defend or strengthen their judgment by writing about it. Teach them how to use a persuasion map in presenting their ideas. Then, provide them with sufficient time to accomplish their map. Have their map printed so that they can use it as a guide in developing their persuasive essay.

Begin Writing

With the printed persuasion map in hand, teach the students how a persuasive essay is expected to appear. Let them refer to the map, and tell them that all they need to do is to simply follow the sequence of the items found within it. They simply have to elaborate on each statement that they formed in the map.

Do Peer Editing

Present to the students the guidelines for editing a persuasive essay. Then, with a partner, let them edit each other’s work according to the standards of a good essay. After editing, tell them to discuss with their partner their feedback on the essay they have edited.

The active involvement of the students from the springboard activity until the editing stage of the essay enables them to fully grasp the lesson. With the right approach, your students will find this topic practical, simple to do, and essential in their lives.

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