Tip #171 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents: Persuasive Writing
Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.
Tip #171
Persuasive Writing
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.
~Goethe
Chances are your child has resorted to begging when she really wants you to give in on something. Now you can give your child permission to beg—in an articulate way. Challenge him to persuade you, verbally at first and then through writing, to see his point of view.
For example, imagine that your child is trying to persuade you to believe that he absolutely has to have a $60 pair of jeans. Ask him to stop and collect his thoughts, reasons, and ideas about why he feels he needs them. Have him write his arguments down on paper and practice what he will say to you before he tries to persuade you. Suggest that he remember his target audience (parent) when giving his reasons. Right away he should know that "they’re cool" will not suffice.
This not only allows him to put his reasoning into articulate sentences, it gives him practice at a real life skill. Even as adults we try to persuade people to help with the housework or grant us a much-deserved raise or more vacation time. Very often, children will have difficulty coming up with valid arguments and may stop begging or perhaps arrive at a better solution such as doing chores to earn the money.
Once your child has had practice persuading you on issues most important to him, encourage him to tackle more involved and thought-provoking issues such as persuading:
● people to vote;
● family and friends to donate blood;
● people to wear seatbelts or bike helmets; or
● smokers to quit.
He might enjoy taking on issues more closely related to his school or town such as the advantages or disadvantages of:
a longer or shorter school day/year;
after school programs;
school dress codes; or
curfews for adolescents.
When your child has had practice verbally persuading you or others, he will be ready to write down his arguments. A persuasive paper starts by identifying the argument and then detailing the pros or cons. His paper should be written so that anyone reading it will understand his position and begin to see things "his way." Remind him of his target audience. He will write a paper differently for adults than he would for his peers.
If his paper is well thought out and contains valid points, he may want to consider asking it to be published in the school newsletter or even the local paper! Who knows, simply writing a persuasive paper for fun could bring about a positive change for your family, town or school!
*Try the editorial section of any newspaper for examples of persuasive writing.only one), click HERE.
Cindy McKinley Alder Patti Trombly
For excerpts from more books, click HERE.
For more excerpts from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents, click HERE.For more posts about books about parenting, click HERE.
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