Persuasive Message

Description

Research and analyze information on a given topic, form an opinion, and construct a research-based persuasive message to convince others of the validity of the position chosen.

Instructional Purpose

Reading: Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be researched. Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.

Writing: Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained, persuasive, and sophisticated way and support them with precise and relevant examples. Presentations: Use organization, graphics, and verbal strategies appropriate to persuade the audience.

Examples

• Will the Real William Shakespeare Please Stand Up?
• Studying the Background of The Crucible

Templates

• Student 1-Page
• Teacher 1-Page

Applicability

Can be applied to any researched subject in which a student can take a position and persuade others of the validity of that position. There must be some areas for disagreement in the issue; controversial issues work best. Students must be given an audience that does not quite agree with them...the audience may be anywhere from neutral to antagonistic.

Limitations

Should not be used in subjects that are too broad and which cannot be covered adequately in the time period allowed. Also, with controversial issues, many times school servers block such sites you may wish the students to use for research. It is suggested for the teacher to select appropriate websites as resources and to speak to the tech coordinator/systems administrator to get those sites cleared on the server for student research.

Variations

This design pattern may also be used for a general research paper in which the student must support a thesis. However, the support in this pattern is geared specifically for the persuasive message...convincing an audience that a certain view is the best.

A variation that may work well with various topics is that of the debate. The teacher must then structure the positions to be taken so that students or student teams will be pit against each other in a classroom debate-type forum. The debate pattern, if structured significantly differently from this persuasive messages pattern, may become its own design pattern for a WebQuest.

This Design Pattern was authored by April Moore