Understanding by Design Unit Template – Lesson Plan

Title of Unit / Big Persuasive Writing Year 9

Idea
Curriculum Area English Time Frame Double lesson (2x 45 minutes) = 90 minutes
Developed By Imogen Misan
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Descriptions
Language
Understand that authors innovate with text structures and language for specific purposes and effects
Explain how authors creatively use the structures of sentences and clauses for particular effects

Literature
Analyse texts from familiar and unfamiliar contexts, and discuss and evaluate their content and the appeal of an individual author’s literary style
Analyse text structures and language features of literary texts, and make relevant comparisons with other texts

Literacy
Listen to spoken texts constructed for different purposes, for example to entertain and to persuade, and analyse how language features of these texts
position listeners to respond in particular ways
Interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups are constructed to serve specific purposes in
texts
Explore and explain the combinations of language choices that authors make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments

Achievement Standards
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 9, students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect. They analyse and explain how images, vocabulary
choices and language features distinguish the work of individual authors. They select evidence from texts to analyse and explain how language choices
and conventions are used to influence an audience.

Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)

Students understand how to use a variety of language features to create different levels of meaning. In creating texts, students demonstrate how
manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts. Students create texts that respond to issues, interpreting and integrating ideas
from other texts. They edit for effect, selecting vocabulary and grammar that contribute to the precision and persuasiveness of texts and using accurate
spelling and punctuation.
General Capabilities Cross-curriculum Priorities
- Literacy - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT) The first persuasive speech that will be explored ‘Here I Am’ by Tania
- Critical and Creative Thinking Major incorporates ideas around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
cultures and history. It includes insights into the disadvantages of Tania’s
- Personal and Social Capability
local community and a plea for this to change.
- Ethical Understanding
Understandings Essential Questions
Overarching Understanding Overarching Topical
The purpose of persuasive writing is to persuade a reader to a point of
view on an issue. Persuasive writing may express an opinion, discuss, How does one persuade or How can persuasive techniques
analyse and evaluate an issue. It may also entertain and inform. entertain an audience in writing? be utilised to harness and deliver
The style of persuasive writing may be formal or informal but it requires a particular idea?
the writer to adopt a sense of authority on the subject matter and to What are persuasive texts and
develop the subject in an ordered, rational way. A writer of a persuasive what are their purposes? What are the structural
text may draw on their own personal knowledge and experience or may components of texts that aim to
draw on detailed knowledge of a particular subject or issue. How does one share their point of persuade, inform or entertain?
view on a topic or argument?
How can personal knowledge and
Lesson Aim/Intentions experience be drawn upon in
By the end of this double English lesson, students will have an response to an issue?
understanding of how authors create persuasive speeches and apply
techniques to enhance their texts. With this, students should gain an
understanding of text audience and purpose. Students will learn and
become familiar with the structure of a persuasive text, will choose a
topic and begin planning and writing their own persuasive piece.
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description
Formative Students plan and create a persuasive text by selecting one of the four prompt options on a worksheet.
Other Evidence
Notes from persuasive speeches and instructional video
PPT from last week on persuasive techniques
“Weekends should be three days long” and “Open the book on reading” worksheets from last week
 Lesson Plan (Stage 3)
Contextual Asides/Timings: Double Year 9 English (Tuesday), Location: Room 9.1 below library

Introduction
5 mins Lesson Structure/Content explained

- Greet students and complete the roll, clarify whereabouts of students not present
- Tell students they will need their Pearson English textbooks so as not to disrupt the lesson later
- Summarise unit… Continuing our topic of Persuasive writing and techniques
This hook will jog students’ memories on - Will observe some real life examples of persuasive writing in print and visually, then will have a
our current unit in English and what they chance to do some of our own persuasive writing working with different prompts
have learnt so far/last week. - HOOK: Let’s re-call some persuasive techniques and some persuasive forms of writing
- Students volunteer suggestions when recalling
- Questions Ideas: Has anyone thought of any more examples clichés? Idioms? ‘Kill two birds with
one stone’

10 mins Guided Discovery (Content and Structure)

- Begin by inviting the class to turn to page 101 of their textbooks to read a polished version of a
persuasive speech as a class
- Students asked to read and follow along in their books as the speech is read out loud on page 101-
102 ‘Here I Am’ by Tania Major
- While reading out loud, pause to explain/make sense of the techniques or stylistic features and
ensure students are following along with the reading/engaged
- Read the pre-text
- Read without stopping once but tell students they can keep and eye out for the annotations
- Draw attention to the annotations only as you move through, explaining their effect
- Ask students to complete some answers to the nominated questions after the text
- Students handwrite answers
- Questions focus on the audience and the purpose of the speech.
- Set clear time limit: 15 or so minutes.
15 mins - Page 102: Breakaway tasks: Understanding no. 3- What does Major want from the Prime Minister?
- Questions on the board: Questions to complete as follows (3, 6 and 8 only) - Understanding no. 3,
Analysing no. 6 and Analysing no. 8.
If possible, prepare the YouTube videos so - When completed, view the following videos:
that ads do not disrupt the lesson (Ask students to make notes on phrases or techniques that stand out)

Leonardo DiCaprio 2014 United Nations “Climate Change Summit Speech”: 3 mins 30 secs
10 mins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka6_3TJcCkA
Emma Watson “Gender Equality” : 4 minutes
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwU-9ZTTJc

5 mins - After each video, draw links to the particular features of the speech and the evident techniques
- How did the speech persuade you? Made to feel guilty or inspired?
Make notes
- May lead to small class discussions about particular covered content, different opinions or stimulate
student’s ideas that they wish to share

10 mins May need the 5-minute break here, depending on time.

Play YouTube video on how to write a persuasive text, this will move students into the mindset of
persuasive writing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqwzYoThUpg (Opinion Essay or Persuasive Essay
– 6 mins)
- Ask students to make notes on these points

Give students a 5-minute break, explain when they return they will have a turn at writing their own
persuasive piece.

Exploration (Individual learning activities)

- When students return from the break, complete the roll for the second lesson of the double
- Explain to students they will use the next lesson to attempt writing their own persuasive writing
- Reiterate that as NAPLAN is hand written, students should write in their creative writing books
- Reiterate that this is just a practise, formative task and that it will not be a summative assessment
30-35 mins to plan and begin the task - Go through the task with students in detail, once they have a copy to follow along
- Each student should receive a handout of the task sheet titled “Persuasive Writing Stimulus” with
the different topics on offer for them
- Read through the task sheet and explain the 4 writing prompts further: write a persuasive text
responding to one of the four topics on the worksheet. The text should be thoroughly planned (and
can be researched)
- Explain that students can begin demonstrating an understanding of a range of written persuasive
techniques as learnt last week and can refer to the made PPT made
- Explain to students that they should attempt to follow the appropriate structure of an exposition as
detailed in the video (worksheet guidelines also explain)
- Ask students to take the time to select a topic, to think about their opinion and plan their argument
first, linking back to the instructional video just observed
- Re-iterate points of introduction, body and conclusion
- Remind students that this is their chance to have a say on things they feel strongly and passionate
about
- Give an explicit time that students have to work on their tasks for – or can simply say – you have
now until the end of the lesson
 - Ask students to write a few paragraphs – no set word count as further lesson time not yet decided
- Tell students that there is no expectation that they need to finish the piece in this lesson, just make
a solid start on the task
- Important that they plan, take time to plan argument, may need to do some research, and
either write out a plan/their points of argument
- However, the actual text must be hand written as practise
- Circulate and check students have made a start, progressed, offer assistance to any students
struggling, answer any questions

2 mins Conclusion
Share/reflect/content Summary

- Give students a 5-minute warning before the end of the lesson

- Reiterate that they do not have to have completed their work and that it is just a formative task
(they may have only begun the planning sides of things thus far)
- Summarise with students and suggest that you hope their planning has allowed them to discover
how to argue a certain position
- Re-cap that they now have the opportunity to start thinking about techniques they can include in
their writing
- Worked well in lesson
- Remind students that the NAPLAN practise booklet is on SOCS should they wish to do some further
NAPLAN preparation in their own time
- Remind students that the links are on SOCS for all videos if they would like to watch them again
- The task will be collected on Thursday for formative assessment.

Student Assessment: How will you know if students have learnt or not?

As this task is a low-stakes practise and formative, work will not need to be handed in for assessment at
the completion of the lesson. Rather, when students have had some time to work in the individual learning
activities section, hover over and check students have made a start with their planning, and then repeat
this process towards the end of the lesson to ensure students have made some progress. Do not linger too
long reading students work, otherwise students can think there is something wrong with their work and
become self conscious. A quick read plus encouraging comments such as “very good so far” or “check your
grammar here” or “you’re developing a strong argument, keep going” will allow students to know they’re on
task or ask questions. This process (when repeated) will ensure each student has made some form of
progress and learnt from the guided discovery content and structure.

Learner Diversity in Class:

There are several students (5) in the class with learning needs and/or ILPs (Individual Learning Plans).
These students have Dyslexia and one student is Auditory Processing Deficit. The following considerations
 were added to the lesson to cater for these specific students’ needs.

Provided adjustment in response to learner diversity:

In the lesson, content will be delivered clearly to the students and visuals will be provided. When reading
the speech to the class at a moderate speed, students can follow along as they have their own textbooks
with a copy of this speech as a visual aid. The videos shown will have accompanying audio and the
instructional video has prompts appearing up on screen that students can easily note and copy from. The
four prompts on the worksheet are clearly stated in a bold font and the options cater for student interest
and ability. Students will be more comfortable with certain areas of background information so this choice
allows for them to utilise prior knowledge in specific areas, overall working towards their strengths.

See worksheet below:

From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ISBN # 0-87120-313-8
(ppk)