Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's lovely to see you today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton I'm going to guide you through your learning journey today.

Today's lesson is called Writing an Effective Article.

Our task for today is to write an effective article about an issue that's important to teenagers.

So we're spend a little bit of time at the beginning of the lesson, think about how we can craft a convincing argument throughout our article.

Then we're gonna remind ourselves what the article form looks like before you end the lesson by writing your article.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you for this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson you'll be able to use anecdotes, hyperbole and statistics to write an effective article.

So we have five words today we're gonna focus on as our keywords.

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point that right result, succeed in being used in context.

So our first keyword is argument.

In this context we mean a reasonable set of reasons given the support of an idea, action or theory.

When we're considering how to craft an argument, we mean how can we craft a series of reasons and present them to a reader and we'll convince them that our opinion is correct.

Our second keyword is persuade and that means to make someone do or believe something by giving them a good reason to do or believe it.

We're going to be thinking about how we can use techniques in order to persuade the reader and make them believe that our opinion is correct.

Our third keyword is elicit, and that means to evoke or draw out a reaction, answer or fact from someone.

Persuasive writing is all about listing a certain response for the reader.

We're going to think about how we can evoke or draw out the reaction we want through certain techniques.

Our fourth keyword is credible and that means able to be believed or trusted.

We're going to specifically be applying this idea of statistics and how statistics we use in persuasive writing have to be credible.

So they have to be able to be believed.

Our final keyword is convincing and this means able to make you believe something that's true or right.

The first part of our lesson is all about creating a convincing argument.

So creating an argument the reader can believe.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic, let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to think about how we can craft convincing arguments.

We're gonna specifically think about how we can use techniques, anecdotes, hyperbole, statistics, in order to help us craft that convincing argument.

So we're gonna define the terms and practise using them.

For our second learning cycle, we're gonna spend a moment just to find the article form before you end the lesson on writing your own article about an issue that's important to teenagers.

So today we're gonna be writing an opinion article about an issue that affects teenagers.

Now an opinion article's an article we're writers present their perspective on a topic whilst trying to get their readers to agree with them.

So in order to get the readers to agree with us about our topic, we need to present a convincing argument.

So what I'd like you to start off by thinking about is what techniques might you use to craft a convincing argument? Now these are two of our keywords.

convincing me something that's able to make you believe something is true or right.

An argument means a reason or set of reasons given the support of an idea, action or theory.

So in order to craft to commit the argument, we need to think about how we can present a series of reasons that'll make someone believe our opinion on a subject.

So what techniques might help you achieve this? Now, if you going through to someone else, you might talk over ideas with them.

If going through this by yourself, you might just think your ideas.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now here are just a few examples of what you might have said.

So you might have thought about anecdotes, a short or amusing, interesting story about a real instant or person.

You might have thought about hyperbole.

These have exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally or statistics, a piece of factual data gathered from a large quantity of numerical data.

Now there are many persuasive writing techniques.

These are just a few examples of what you might have said.

We're gonna spend the rest of this learning cycle thinking about these three techniques in more detail and practise using them.

So let's begin by focusing on anecdotes.

As I said, an anecdote is a short, amusing or interesting story about a real instant or person.

So what I'd like you to start off by thinking about is how might using an anecdote help persuade the reader of your argument? So how I, using a personal story makes someone believe what you're saying.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

So you might have thought the sharing a personal story about something that happened to you in real life might help people to see how a topic affects real people in real life situations.

For example, if we're writing an article about school uniform and how uncomfortable it makes you feel to wear something you don't like or don't believe fits you properly, then other people might start to understand how issues like uniform affect school children.

In doing so, this creates an emotional connection with a reader.

They might not have been in your specific scenario, but they will understand the emotion behind the anecdote and that will forge a connection.

Emotion's ultimately one of the best tools you have persuading people.

That's something we can all understand and we can all relate to.

So let's consider how we might use anecdotes in practise.

Now, Izzy's chosen to write an article how we should delay the start of the school day order to improve changes in health and wellbeing.

And Laura suggest she might use the following anecdote.

Maybe you could talk about how slept through alarm clock and were late.

Now what I'd like you to think about is why might Laura's anecdote not be the most effective one to choose? Remember that anecdote is designed to make the reader see the real world impact of issues and to evoke emotional response, pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

Now while Laura's anecdote does relate to ideas of being tired, an anecdote for how you slept through alarm clock and we're late, it's likely too mundane to evoke an emotional response in the reader.

It's something that's too commonplace, it's unlikely the reader will feel too emotional about the idea of someone simply being late.

So what I'd like you to think about now is what anecdote might you use instead? So what sort of personal story could you tell that would evoke an emotional response in the reader? Pause a video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now, rather than simply being late, you could instead share a story about how having to wake up early result in sleep deprivation that caused you become physically unwell.

Sleep deprivation is a really serious issue.

The camera's on a serious health problems and the idea of being physically unwell is likely to evoke a sympathetic response in the reader and that'll make them see how serious the issue is and what sort of real world consequences it might have.

Now for a quick check for understanding, so which of the following is an anecdote that's likely to create an emotional reaction in the reader? Is it a a story of waking up late and skipping breakfast B, a story of being so sleep deprived you nearly crashed your bike, or C, a story of being told off by teacher for being late.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone now telling a story of how you nearly crashed your bike.

A scenario that's gonna provoke a heightened emotional reaction in the reader while the other two are more commonplace and less likely to evoke an emotional reaction.

So very well done if you got that right.

So now let's move on to our second technique.

Hyperbole is use of exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

So say something like I've told you a million times is an example of hyperbole.

It's exaggeration designed to show just how many times someone's told you something rather than a literal statement about the amount of times.

So what I'd like you to think about is how do you think using hyperbole might help you persuade the reader of your argument? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's talk through what you might've said.

Now by using exaggeration, you might make the reader feel the issues more urgent and widespread.

It's more effective to say that something affects millions of people rather than hundreds of people because it makes it feel more significant.

By making it feel more significant, you also make your arguments seem more memorable and emotionally impactful.

Now as we said earlier, Izzy is writing about sleep deprivation in teenagers.

What I'd like you to think about is what hyperbole might Izzy used to try and show the urgency and importance of the issue.

So how might she use exaggeration to show the importance of sleep deprivation.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone, some fantastic ideas there.

Let's talk through Laura's idea.

So Laura said, millions of teenagers are endangering their health by being forced to wake up at the ungodly hour of 6:00 AM in order to get to school.

Now, Laura's used the common phrase millions of, what I'd like you to think about is how else she created an exaggerated sense of urgency.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

Now, as well as millions of, Laura's also used other particular phrases or word choices in order to use hyperbole effectively.

So Laura has used the word endangering and that heightened sense of risk involved.

It gives a statement a sense of tension.

Laura has also used the word forced and that's connotations of coercion.

And as this tense atmosphere, she's also used ungodly and that's just something immoral is happening.

So we can see here Laura has used language to enhance the hyperbolic millions of in order to make the reader see the urgency and importance of the issue.

Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? That using exaggeration makes your argument seem less convincing.

Pause the video, make your selection now.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said, hyperbole can be an effective persuasive technique since it makes the issue seem more urgent and widespread and it causes the reader to feel emotionally attached.

So very well done if you got that right.

Finally, another way to make your argument seem convincing is to use statistics.

We've talked about techniques that appeal to the emotional side of the reader.

Be using statistics a way of appealing to people's logical side.

A statistics piece of factual data gather from a large quantity of numerical data.

For example, in the UK, 68% of schools have an 8:30 AM start time.

Here, we're giving the reader facts and data to support our argument.

Now in order to be convincing, a statistic has to be credible, so in order to make people believe your argument, your statistic has to be believable too.

Now to make your statistics credible, you could state where the statistic comes from.

So for example, what organisation, here, we're showing the reader we're not just plucking the statistic from thin air, it's been researched and found out by an organisation.

You should think about what type of organisation you're using, just try and make sure the organisation itself is believable.

So for example, if you're writing about sleep and sleep deprivation, you might use an organisation that relate to the medical profession in some way, you might also give the date of the study.

This helps the audience to see the study is recent, therefore relevant to today's society.

If you cite a study from 20 years ago for example, it's less likely to help your argument 'cause it won't feel as relevant to what's happening at the moment.

You should also create believable figures.

So for example, avoiding things like 99.

1%.

Very few things in life are completely black and white.

Human beings are all very different and individual.

So you're unlikely to have extremely large sample of people all doing and acting the same way.

You should also use statistics to support your particular argument in relation to the statement.

So make sure statistic supports rather than contradicts your point.

For example, if you're trying to set the sleep deprivation effects teenagers, you want to use that shows it meaningfully affects them rather than saying 2% for example.

So what I'd like you to think about is what credible statistic could Izzy use to show that many teenagers are getting less than eight hours sleep? Pause a video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said something like a 2023 study by Cambridge University discovered that 74% of teenagers get less than eight hours sleep per night.

So here we've used a date that shows a statistic as recent and therefore relevant.

We said it comes from Cambridge University, which is very well known, incredible university.

We said the statistic itself is 74%, which is large enough to support our argument, but not large enough to become unrealistic.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So which of the following statistics appear credible? Is it A, most teenagers, about 97% have poor mental health, an alarming percentage.

This poor mental health means they can't concentrate properly.

B, Spire Healthcare suggests only 22% of teenagers are currently getting the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep per night.

Or C, a survey secondary school teachers shows that 44% have had a pupil fall asleep in their lesson.

So pause the video, make your selection now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now for statement A, while the statistic supports an argument about sleep deprivation, use a percentage too large to be realistic.

For statements B and C, B comes from an organisation that relates to healthcare which makes it seem more believable.

Use a percentage that's realistic and supports the argument.

Statement C, while it doesn't reference specific organisation, it does reference secondary school teachers who are credible source when it comes to school matters.

And again, it references a percentage that supports the argument about sleep deprivation and it's a believable percentage.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work everyone from the first task of the lesson.

Today you're going to be writing an opinion article about an issue that affects teenagers and what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions.

So number one, what issue are you going to write about? What is your main argument going to be? So perhaps you might write about something school related, such as exams, absences, uniform, mobile phones, or perhaps you could write about environmental issues such as climate change, pollution or social issues such housing or social media.

You can write about anything you like, as long as it's something that's important to teenagers or something you feel strongly about.

Then I'd like you to think about what ideas you have, but how you might use anecdotes, hyperbole and statistics in your argument to make it convincing and credible to the reader.

So how might you use a short personal story to make an article feel relevant and forge an emotional connection? How might use exaggeration to make the issue seem important and how could you statistics to make your argument seem relevant and believable? So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone, some amazing work there.

Now what I'd like you to do is share ideas with a peer and consider the following questions.

So what do you think of their chosen topic? What response to their main argument elicit for you? Do you agree or disagree? What do you think about their chosen techniques? Do you think it makes their argument seem convincing and credible.

Pause the video, peer assess your answers now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I know it can seem intimidating to share ideas with someone else, but an opinion article is designed to convince someone else your opinion is correct.

So we need to share our thoughts with other people.

See if they'd be convinced by our argument, particularly it comes to using techniques such as anecdotes, hyperbole and statistics.

We need to see if our use of them is evoking the response we want it to.

So now we have our ideas, we're gonna spend a little bit of time thinking about the form of the article before you have a go at writing your own opinion article.

You're all doing amazingly well everyone.

We're now do our second learning cycle where you are going to go writing your own opinion article.

Now, before you have a go writing your article, we're gonna spend just a little bit of time think about the form of an article.

As well as crafting a convincing argument, in order to write an opinion article, you also need to adhere to the form of an article.

The article has a very specific way the information has to be structured and organised.

You need to consider how you can write your argument into this form.

So the article starts with a headline.

It's the title of the article.

Now the headline's designed to grab the reader's attention, give you a hint about what the article's about.

Newspapers and other publications have hundreds of articles competing for the reader's attention.

So you need to think about how you can make your article stand out and make someone read it.

You might state each as alliteration or a question in order to make your headline effective.

You then have the strap line, that's a summary of the article in one or two sentences.

Designed to tell the reader what your main argument is about.

Then you have the introductory paragraph.

Now your paragraph should focus on one idea in support of the main argument.

Remember to stick to one clear main idea per paragraph, as that will make your argument more convincing to the reader.

If your ideas are bouncing around all over the place, the reader will find it hard to concentrate and follow your argument.

So try to make sure you organise your ideas in a cohesive manner.

Then you have a subheading and that gives you a summary of the next paragraph.

Designed to tell the reader what the main focus of the next paragraph be so they're primed to follow your ideas.

Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is fill in the blanks to complete the article template form.

So the is the title of the article.

The is a summary of the article.

A paragraph focuses on one idea in support of the main argument and is a summary of the next paragraph.

So pause the video, fill in the gaps now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now the correct answers are the headline is the title of the article.

The strap line is a summary of the article and the subheading is a summary of the next paragraph.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Fantastic work everyone, we're now onto the final task of the lesson where you are going to write your article about your chosen issue that affects teenagers.

Now remember to create a convincing argument through the use of anecdotes, hyperbole and credible statistics.

So create a convincing argument through the use of a short personal story, through exaggeration and through the use of numerical data.

You should also the article form by creating a headline that grabs the reader's attention.

A strapline that summarise the argument and subheadings that summarise the next paragraph.

So pause the video, write your article now.

Welcome back everyone, fantastic work there.

Now for the final part of the lesson, I'd like to reflect on your article.

So I'd like you to read back through your article and reflect on the following questions.

So did you use anecdotes to show the real world implications of the issue and to create an emotional connection with a reader? Did you hyperbole to make the issue seem urgent and important? And did you use credible statistics to make your argument seem convincing? And did you stick the article form? So pause the video, reflect on the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now it's such a good habit to get back into reading through your work and check it's creating the effect you want it to, especially when it comes to constructing an argument.

You want to make sure the reader can follow your train of thought.

So you just take a moment to read back through your work and make sure that someone else can follow your argument in order to make it convincing, to make them agree with your point of view.

Amazing work today everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

In order to write a convincing argument, you might include techniques such as anecdotes, hyperbole and statistics.

So techniques such including short personal story, exaggeration and numerical figures that support your argument anecdote made the issues seem relevant to the real world, they create an emotional reaction from the reader.

Hyperbole makes the issues seem urgent and important.

To make artistic credible, you might state the organisation it came from, the date and a believable percentage.

The article form includes a headline, strapline, subheadings and paragraphs.

The headline is the title of the article.

It needs to grab the reader's attention.

The strapline is a one or two sentence summary of your main argument that comes after the headline.

The subheadings show the reader what the main focus of each paragraph will be, and the paragraphs themselves contain one main focal idea that supports your argument.

I really hope enjoyed the lesson everyone.

You can take these ideas and use them in any future opinion writing that you do.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon, goodbye.