High School Persuasive Writing
Lesson plans and teaching resources
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30 Writing Topics: Persuasion
Prompts for a persuasive paragraph, essay, or speech for high school and above.
"The American Forests" by John Muir
Text of the August 1897 persuasive essay that helped prompt the creation of the U. S. Forest Service, a model of persuasive writing.
Can't Complain? Writing About Pet Peeves
How can students express their complaints in articulate and constructive ways? In this lesson, students read the New York Times "Complaint Box" series and use descriptive and persuasive writing strategies to communicate their own pet peeves succinctly and productively.
Decoding text types: One of these things is not like the others
This blog explains the difference between opinion writing, persuasive writing, and argument.
Developing Persuasive Writing Strategies
This strategy guide describes the techniques used in effective persuasive writing and shares activities you can use to help students understand and use persuasion in their writing and critical thinking.
Don't Throw Away that Junk Mail!
Students use old junk mail to identify persuasive techniques used to attract and hold the reader's attention.
For the Sake of Argument: Writing Persuasively to Craft Short, Evidence-Based Editorials
In this lesson the NY Times offers suggestions on how to guide students through the writing process when writing editorials, from brainstorming a topic to publishing their work.
Good Magazine
: Writing Prompt
This activity asks students to consider the ethics and language of good works.
Logic in Argumentative Writing
This resource covers using logic within writing—logical vocabulary, logical fallacies, and other types of logos-based reasoning. Follow the links on the left for the complete resource. Part of the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, this resource is appropriate for high school students and older.
Logical fallacies
Definitions and examples of faulty thinking.
Movie Trailers As Persuasive Texts
This page is a resource for teachers who wish to consider using trailers to teach students about persuasive texts and techniques.
Persuasive Writing Prompts
100 prompts for a range from middle to high school.
Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues
Looking for a resource that presents both sides of an issue? Try here!
To Buy or Not to Buy
The students will research, analyze, and communicate important information about advertising techniques and propaganda. Students will work in groups to create an original advertisement to share with the class. The lesson is designed for grade 9.
Which Books Would You Ban?
This blog outlines a potential lesson or unit based on an actual incident that took place in Chicago. Students can watch in a video in which people outside a bookstore were offered an opportunity to vote for books they would like to see banned. Scroll down for links to the American Library Association and Banned Books Week.
Just for fun:
