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• Discuss with students how advertisers use persuasive techniques. Show approved commercials in class and display newspaper or magazine advertisements. Have students work with partners to develop a persuasive argument for buying a particular product -- either an existing item or one they have concocted. Students must back up their arguments with facts and present their ads to classmates.
  
  

Fact versus Opinion

• To succeed in writing persuasively, students must understand the difference between statements of fact and opinion. Ask for volunteers to offer suggestions of each type. Distribute a list of sentences to the students, composed of both facts and opinions, and ask them to label each sentence. Arrange students in groups of three or four to discuss and defend their sentence labels.
  
  

Opposing Views

• Help students understand that effective persuasive topics are not simply opinions, but controversial issues containing two distinct sides. Without giving them time for discussion, ask students to write “yes,” “no” or “maybe” responses to a question such as “Should students be paid for having good grades?” Arrange students in a horseshoe shape, with “yes” responders on one side, “no” responders on the opposite side and “maybe” responders in the middle. Have students lightly toss a koosh ball to classmates who are seated on the opposite side -- or the middle. Whenever a student catches the ball, he presents his side of the argument.
  
  

Persuasive Devices

• Have students work in groups of three or four. Each group chooses a persuasive topic and individual members cover different angles on the topic: get an expert opinion, appeal to emotions, relay anecdotes or present cause and effect. Students present their findings to their peers. The topic can later be developed into a full essay.
  
  

Community Problem

• Discuss issues that plague the school or community. Perhaps apartment complexes don’t use recycling bins or Styrofoam is used for school cafeteria containers. As a class, compose a letter to the proper authority explaining the class position on the issue and encouraging change.
  
  

Planning Sheet

• When students are ready to develop persuasive essays, provide a planning sheet to guide them. They should research both sides of the issue and outline it. In the introduction, they’ll include background information and a position statement. They must determine a minimum of three reasons for their stance, opposing viewpoints, discussion and defense of each. The closing summarizes a powerful statement of opinion. Students work with partners to critique and support one another’s outlines.