Lesson video

Hi, everybody, I'm Ms. Gardner.

Welcome to your next lesson from our unit, "The Day the Crayons Quit": Reading and writing persuasive letters.

In this lesson you will need a copy of "The Day The Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, as we'll be referring to it throughout the lesson.

If you need to, you can pause video now and go and get the text so that you have it for the lesson.

Okay, great.

Hopefully we've all got the text ready so then we can get started with today's lesson.

Off we go.

In today's lesson from our "Day The Crayons Quit" unit, we are going to be exploring the features of a persuasive letter.

So, your learning outcome today is I can identify the layout and linguistic features of a persuasive letter.

So let's start with looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Purpose.

Persuasive writing.

Layout.

Persuasive techniques.

Let's have a look at what these mean.

The purpose of a text is the aim of the text, the reason it was written.

In persuasive writing, we are trying to convince someone to do something or to change their mind or their behaviour.

Layout refers to the way a text is structured and persuasive techniques on language structures or devices used in writing to try to change someone's mind or behaviour.

So there are two sections for our lesson today.

In the first we'll be thinking about the purpose and the layout of a persuasive letter, and in the second we'll be looking at the linguistic features of a persuasive letter.

So let's start with purpose and layout.

So first of all, let's think about what is a persuasive letter.

Pause the video now and have a go at discussing this with your partner or whoever you're with.

So, a letter is a piece of writing that someone sends to someone else.

The purpose of a persuasive letter is to try to convince someone to do something or to change their mind or behaviour.

The crayons in "The Day The Crayons Quit" wrote persuasive letters to Duncan, their owner, to try to change the way he was using the crayons.

They were trying to persuade him to do something different and to act differently and to use them differently.

So checking for understanding.

What is the purpose of a persuasive letter? Is it A, to tell a fictional story? B, to try to convince someone to do something or to change their mind or behaviour? Or C, to tell other people about your life? Pause the video now.

That is B.

The purpose of a persuasive letter is that you're writing to someone to try to convince them to think differently or act differently.

Well done.

So you are going to be writing a persuasive letter to the owner of the crayons and you are not writing as yourself.

You will be writing in character as one of the crayons.

You will be trying to persuade Duncan to change the way he is using the crayons and you will use different persuasive techniques to be as convincing as possible and we're going to be looking at these persuasive techniques in today's lesson.

So, we are going to start by reading a model persuasive letter.

I'm going to read it out loud now and as I'm reading I wonder if you can spot any of those persuasive techniques I've used to try and persuade the reader to change their ways.

Dear Owner, I have been thinking about whether I should say anything to you, but I just can't stay quiet any longer.

Listen up! This is the saddest I have ever felt.

I love being a crayon and drawing with you.

Remember the time we made that cool beach with the sandcastle? That was so fun.

Although now, I have noticed, started to notice that you don't use me as much as the other crayons.

It makes me feel a little bit underappreciated because I'm not being used for things I should be.

I know I'm not as flashy as the other colours like Red or Blue, but I can do the coolest stuff too! Why are you forgetting about me? I am actually very useful because I could be used in your drawings of deserts, horses, or even fluffy teddy bears! Give me a chance! If you continue to ignore me, I am going to have to move somewhere else.

Your forgotten friend, Beige.

So, persuasive letters follow a specific structure and layout.

Structure and layout refer to the way the writing is organised on the page.

We are going to examine the layout features of the Beige character's persuasive letter.

So, checking for understanding first.

What does the structure and layout of a text refer to? A, the type of language used.

B, the genre of writing it belongs to.

Or C, the way the writing is organised on the page.

Pause the video now.

That is C.

Structure and layout refers to the way the writing is organised on your page.

Well done.

So, let's have a look at this a bit more closely.

This is the model letter in one page, so we can see it all together rather than on two slides.

You can see here at the start of my letter it says, Dear Owner, and this is called and we're gonna do my turn, your turn, a salutation.

A layout feature of a persuasive letter is a salutation, which is always dear and then the name, and then it has a comma after it.

It's really important the salutation because then the recipient, the person who receives the letter, knows that the letter is aimed for them.

Another layout feature of a persuasive letter is paragraphs.

Paragraphs are used in a persuasive letter to organise your points cohesively.

That means they make sense.

You'll have one paragraph about certain theme and then a second paragraph about another theme.

So you're not having random ideas all over the place.

You want your writing to be cohesive.

So paragraphs are a really good tool for organising your writing.

Another feature of the layout of a persuasive letter is a sign-off.

A sign-off comes at the end of your entry.

You can see at the bottom there in purple it says, your forgotten friend, comma, Beige.

These are personal so they can vary from every letter.

And they're really important so that the reader, the recipient knows who sent the letter.

If you don't have a sign-off and then the reader gets to the end of the letter, they're not going to know who it's from.

So the sign-off is a really important layout feature.

So checking for understanding.

True or false? Persuasive letters follow a specific structure and layout.

Pause the video now.

That is true.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, they include a title and summary.

Or B, they begin with a salutation then they explain their points over two paragraphs, and then they finish with a sign-off.

Pause the video now.

That is B.

Really well done.

Okay, so it is time for task A.

You need to answer the following questions to demonstrate your understanding of a persuasive letter and the purpose of a persuasive letter, and its layout features.

So your first question is what is the purpose of a persuasive letter? And this is a talk task so you can discuss this with your partner or whoever you're with.

Question two, you need to number the following to show the order in which they appear in a persuasive letter.

So your four layouts features are paragraph one, salutation, dear, sign-off, and paragraph two.

So you need to number these one to four in the order in which they appear in a persuasive letter.

So pause the video now and off you go answering questions one and two.

Well done, everybody.

So, welcome back.

What is the purpose of a persuasive letter? Here is what one response could have looked like.

Don't worry if yours isn't exactly the same but hopefully it was along these lines.

The purpose of a persuasive letter is to try to convince someone to do something or to change their mind or behaviour.

And then two, number the following in the order in which they appear in a persuasive letter.

Number one was your salutation, dear and then the name.

Two was paragraph one, three was paragraph two, and then four was your sign-off, so the reader knows who wrote the letter.

Great job, everybody.

Well done.

It is time for the second section of our lesson where we are looking at the linguistic features of the persuasive letter.

Persuasive letters have distinctive linguistic features in order to achieve their purpose, so in order to be able to convince someone or persuade someone to do something.

These include first person, let's do my turn, your turn.

First person.

Your letter is a personal piece of writing.

So it uses words like I, we, me.

You are going to be writing in character as one of the crayons.

So you will not be calling the crayons Red or Blue.

You'll be saying, I feel, me 'cause it's in the first person.

Exaggeration.

An exaggeration is used to make an issue seem even bigger than it is.

Writers use exaggerations to persuade the reader that the issue is so important that it needs to be sorted quickly.

We also use rhetorical questions.

Rhetorical questions are questions that do not require an answer.

The reader does not need to give a reply or a response, but they are used to engage with the reader directly and encourage them to reflect on your point.

So if you're asking a rhetorical question to the reader, you want them to think about what you're asking and what you're saying.

Opinions and reasons.

Opinions and reasons? Opinions and reasons present how the writer is feeling.

The reason gives the reader a reason to agree with the writer.

So if you're saying how you feel and then you're saying why you feel it, so that the reader might then agree with you.

And then finally, command and warning.

Command and warning.

The command instructs the reader to do something.

The warning tells the reader what the writer will do if their command isn't followed.

So these are all really effective linguistic features of a persuasive letter that help to make your writing even more persuasive.

So checking for understanding.

Which of the following are key linguistic features of a persuasive letter? A, first person.

B, speech sentences.

C, rhetorical question.

Or D, exaggeration.

Pause the video now.

So three of the key linguistic features were A, a first person.

So I, me, we.

Rhetorical question and exaggeration.

Well done, everybody.

You wouldn't include speech sentences because we're not writing a narrative.

Great job.

Okay, so let's have a look at these linguistic features in a bit more detail.

A feature of a persuasive letter is that it is written in the first person, therefore it uses the words I, me, my, we and you can see that.

So a couple of examples there in the example letter.

So checking for understanding.

Which of the following are written in first person? A, I am very bored.

B, he used the wrong pencil.

C, we are so tired.

Or D, it is a lovely colour.

Pause the video now.

So the sentences written in first person were A, I am very bored and C, we are so tired.

Well done.

Okay, another linguistic feature of persuasive letter is exaggeration.

You can spot exaggeration by words that are in capital letters.

So that really emphasises the word ever and that it's not just, I'm not just feeling sad now, this is the saddest I have ever felt.

It might not be, you might actually have felt more sad, but the fact that you're exaggerating it makes a point to the reader and that makes the issue seem even bigger.

You also could use superlatives.

So for example, saddest, the fact that it has est at the end means it's not just sad, I'm not just feeling sad, this is the most sad I have ever been.

Okay, so you're really making the issue bigger than ever and extreme emotions.

The saddest you've ever felt is a very extreme feeling of feeling really sad.

So hopefully the reader will read that and be like, oh gosh, okay, I better listen.

So checking for understanding.

Which sentence uses exaggeration? A, I am quite bored.

B, I am the most bored crayon in the entire world.

C, I am bored.

Or D, that is so boring.

Pause the video now.

It is B.

We have two words in capital letters, most and entire, which shows that they're exaggerating just how bored they are.

Well done.

So another feature of a persuasive letter is a rhetorical question.

A rhetorical question engages directly with the reader.

However, readers do not, are not expected to answer the rhetorical question.

Instead it encourages the reader to reflect on the point that they're making.

So when when the character asked the owner, "Why are you forgetting about me?" They're not expecting the owner to reply.

Instead the owner is then expected to pause and think, oh gosh, yeah, why am I forgetting about them? So they're being encouraged to think and reflect a bit more about the point that the writer is making.

So check for understanding, true or false.

The reader is expected to answer a rhetorical question.

Pause the video now, That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, rhetorical questions do not require an answer.

They are used to engage the reader and encourage the reader to reflect on their point.

Or B, rhetorical questions do not require an answer.

Pause the video now.

That is A.

Well done.

Another linguistic feature of a persuasive letter is an opinion and reason.

So the opinion presents how the writer feels.

So in the example in the letter, it makes me feel a little bit underappreciated.

That is the opinion.

Then the reason is given for feeling this way.

Because I'm not being used for things I should be.

So they're explaining why they're feeling the way, feeling that way.

And then the reader can read that and be like, oh, okay, I understand why they're feeling that way, that makes sense.

So it's a very effective persuasive technique.

Another linguistic feature is a command and a warning.

So a command instructs the reader to do something.

In this example, give me a chance is the command.

And we know it's the command as well because it starts with the imperative verb give.

So give me a chance, that's the command.

Then you have your warning and that's warning the reader what might happen if the writer doesn't do anything.

If you continue to ignore me, I'm going to have to move somewhere else.

And the warning might be a really effective way of persuading the reader to change their ways.

So, checking for understanding.

Match the linguistic feature to its example.

You have warning, opinion, reason, and command.

And then your examples are, stop ignoring me! If you don't use me, I'll leave.

` I feel upset.

Because I'm never being used.

So draw lines from the feature to its example.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

Welcome back.

So let's go through these.

Your warning was if you don't use me, I'll leave.

the opinion, I feel upset.

The reason because I'm never being used.

And then the command stop ignoring me.

We can tell that it's a command 'cause it starts with the imperative verb, stop.

Great job, everybody.

So it is time for task B.

You need to read the persuasive letter in the additional materials.

Then you need to answer these five questions.

One, find and copy one example of the first person.

Find and copy one example of exaggeration.

Find and copy one example of a rhetorical question.

Four, find and copy one example of an opinion and reason.

And five, find and copy one example of a command and warning.

So pause the video now and off you go completing task B.

Well done, everybody.

Welcome back.

Let's go through these.

Now, you might not have exactly the same examples, but these are an example that you may well have found.

So the first person.

I love, it makes me feel, if I should say anything.

These were all examples of the first person.

An example of exaggeration.

I can do the coolest stuff too and I found the exaggeration by looking for a word in capital letters.

Coolest and the superlative.

It wasn't just cool, it was the most cool, the coolest.

An example of a rhetorical question, remember the time we made that cool beach with the sandcastle? And I looked for the question mark to help me.

An example of an opinion and reason.

I am actually very useful, that's your opinion because I could be used in your drawings of deserts, horses, or even fluffy teddy bears.

That's your reason.

An example of a command and a warning, give me a chance, that's your command.

If you continue to ignore me, I'm going to have to move somewhere else.

That's your warning.

If you need to, you can pause the video and go back through your persuasive letters and add in any examples that you may not have found, but otherwise, really well done.

So here's the summary of everything we've learned today.

The purpose of a persuasive letter is to try to convince someone to do something or change their mind or behaviour.

A persuasive letter has a specific layout.

Persuasive letters have distinctive linguistic features in order to achieve their purpose.

And a persuasive letter is written in the first person.

Great job, everybody.

Well done.