PERSUASIVE ESSAY: A Trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Lesson 1:  Research
 

Aim:  How can we use the Internet to research a subject?

Instructional Objectives:  Students will be able to find web sites about a subject and get background information on a subject;  students will be able to report on the findings they have made.

Time:  40 minutes

Advanced Preparation:  Teacher prepares a list of search engines, such as AskJeeves, Yahoo, etc.

Materials:  computer with Internet access and a word processing program, notebook, pen

Vocabulary:  inductee-- a person being brought formally into a society

Motivation:  Teacher asks one of the students to go to the board and be the recorder for a web map based on baseball.  The students are asked:  what words or ideas come to mind when you think of baseball?

Development:

1. Teacher explains that the students are to do research on baseball.

2. Next they are to surf the web and find web sites about the subject.
Teacher explains how to use "" quotation marks in the search
screen to improve search performance.  That is if you enclose your search
       word(s) in quotation marks, it narrows the search field,  example "Mickey
                   Mantle".

3. Students are reminded to look up baseball in the on-line encyclopedia for historical background information on baseball.

4. They will try to find websites and information related to:  history; rules and    object of the game; current champions; scandals; Japanese baseball; Hall of Fame inductees; news or current events information; Babe Ruth; Little League; Local High School Teams; Women's baseball.  Others may be added from the map prepared at the beginning of the lesson.

Examples of web sites:

http://megsinet.net/peggysue/awba/index.html

http://womenplayingbaseball.com

http://thebaseballpage.com

5. As they are surfing, they take notes on web sites and information that they learn.

6. Teacher facilitates and assists students.

Extension:  Students report orally on their findings for the day.

Homework:  Students summarize their findings for the day's work using the notes they took.

Evaluation:  Homework is graded based on completeness.
 
 

Lesson 2:  Writing a persuasive essay

Aim:  How can we persuade someone to agree with our opinion?

Instructional Objectives:  Students will be able to list the methods that may be used to accomplish a persuasion;  students will be able to model these methods for their own purpose.

Time:  40 minutes

Advance Preparation:  Teacher prepares samples of different advertisements using a variety of techniques.

Materials:  computer with Internet access; word processing program; notebook, pen.

Vocabulary:  advertising terms such as:

Motivation:  The students will be asked to look for advertisements on the Internet and describe the techniques used to persuade the reader to buy the various products that are being advertised.

Development:

1. In cooperative groups, students create lists of advertising techniques.

2. The groups are given the task of the writing assignment, that is,

 

You are a member of the school's baseball team and have been
elected by your teammates to write a persuasive letter to your coach recommending a trip to Cooperstown, New York to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

       After reading the task the group must add features to their persuasion list
        specifically designed for a high school baseball coach.

3. Each group is asked to present their lists.  As each group gives their ideas, only the new ones are added to the first one.

4. Students go to the web site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame to surf and become familiar with the site  http://baseballhalloffame.org.  To focus their reading, they may be given the standard who, what, where, when, why, how questions to answer, such as:

Who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame? or  What is the mission of the Hall of Fame? 

They should print out a section that they may be useful in composing the letter.

Extension:  Students orally share the information they have uncovered.  If any of the students have been to the Hall of Fame, they should be asked to tell the class their impressions of the trip.

Homework:  Review the printout and write down any information that may be used in your letter.
 

Evaluation:  The students are judged by their participation in the group work and presentation.
 
  
 

Lesson 3:     Drafting

Aim:   How can we draft our letter?

Instructional Objectives:  Students will be able to make final inquiries to prepare their argument;  students will be able to freewrite about the trip;  students will be able to draft the persuasive letter.

Time:  40 minutes

Materials:  Computer with Internet access and a  word processing programming, notebook, pen.

Vocabulary:  

Motivation:  The students are asked to write any information they were not able to find in their research.

Homework review:  Students share what, if anything they found in their homework which they feel they could use in the letter.

Development:

1. Students are directed to e-mail the Hall of Fame with any questions they had which they were not able to find when they were researching.

2. As the prewriting activity, the students are directed to freewrite about the trip to the Hall of  Fame.  This usually takes the form of the students writing without stopping or editing their writing for three minutes.  Any thoughts that come to mind may be used.

3. Students write a draft of their letters using the word processing program.  They are reminded that they must refer to the section of the article they chose and to a map or diagram from the Hall of Fame site.  The draft should include three main arguments that demonstrate academic advantages to the reader. 

4. Students print out  the drafts of their letters.

Extension:  They read each other's drafts to get new ideas.

Homework:  Students review their drafts and write a different conclusion so they have two different concluding paragraphs for their letters.

Examples of endings:  Summarize
                                  Rephrase the first sentence
                                  Get an endorsement from a parent, and quote it in the letter
                                   A rhetorical question

Evaluation:  The homework is assessed with attention to the requirement of two endings.
 
 
 
  

Lesson 4:     Editing and Peer Review

Aim:    How can we judge the effectiveness of our letters?

Instructional objectives:  Students will be able to edit their compositions electronically;  students will be able to write from someone else's point of view;  students will be able to help each other improve their letters.

Time:  40 minutes

Advance Preparation:  Teacher grounds the students in the etiquette of constructive criticism.

Materials:  Computer with Internet access and a word processing program, notebook, pen.

Motivation:  Teacher asks the students to write down the three most important things students really want on a field trip. 

Homework Review:  Students switch homework papers with a partner and read the two different endings. Constructive criticism is offered and an opinion of which of the two endings is better.

Development:

1. Students edit their letters with the spellcheck and grammar tools on the computer.  They also are reminded to use the thesaurus if they find they repeat  a particular word over and over.

2. Next, the students e-mail the letters to one of their classmates.  As each student receives another student's e-mailed letter, he or she is to pretend to be the baseball coach and answer the request of the letter.  A decision is not to be given but only further questions and concerns that the student must address.

3. Students print out their letters and the answers they received from their "coach".

Extension:  Students role play the parts of the student and coach and use the ideas in the letter to create a dialogue about the advantages and drawbacks of going on the trip.

Homework:  Students write the final version of their essays.

Evaluation:  Students are evaluated on successfully e-mailing their letters and responding from the point of view of the coach.
 
 
Lesson 5:  Publishing and assessing

Aim:  How can we assess our own writing?

Instructional Objectives:  Students will be able to describe a rubric;  students will be able to use a rubric to evaluate their writing

Time:  40 minutes.

Materials:  Copies of a writing assessment rubric; computer with word processing program, notebook, pen.

Advance Preparation:  Teacher prints out examples of rubrics from http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html 

Vocabulary:

Rubric -- a task with a corresponding set of scoring criteria.

Motivation:  Students are given a copy of the first draft of an anonymous classmates letter and are asked to grade it.

Homework Review:  Students are asked to read over the final version of their letters and make any last minute corrections or changes using the word processing program.

Development:

1. Students are directed to write an explanation of the grade they gave to their classmate's letter and hand it into the teacher.

2. Students read the assessment rubrics in groups of four.  Together they come up with a check list of  writing elements to be used to evaluate the letters.

3. Using the rubric grading style of 1 through 4 (one being the worst, 4 representing the highest level of performance)  students evaluate their own letters. (TIP -- students should be reminded that they must review their own work on the specific tasks from the rubric, not holistically)

Assessment:  Student writing is graded by the teacher based on the rubric.  Class performance and successful completion of classwork and homework are included in the final grade.

Extension/Follow up:  Teacher and individual students have conference to review writing; assessment; suggestions for independent study.

Have a coach come in and comment on their letters.