The week before Thanksgiving break we worked on our first persuasive writing piece. We followed the steps in the writing process, beginning with brainstorm. The prompt was what you should eat on Thanksgiving instead of turkey. First they brainstormed a list of foods that people should eat instead of turkey, picked one food to write about, and then wrote three reasons why someone should eat that food rather than turkey. Throughout the week we began writing our first draft, discussing using an opening sentence, transition words, and a closing. I also introduced the rubric. Students worked on their writing throughout the week, making sure to include each item from the rubric. Finally, they had a buddy check their work and then had a one-on-one conference with me to go over it. Once it was ready, they rewrote a final copy and made their turkeys. These turned out great!
