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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Persuading an Audience: Writing Effective Letters to the Editor
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| Grades | 9 – 12 |
| Lesson Plan Type | Standard Lesson |
| Estimated Time | Four 50-minute sessions |
| Lesson Author |
Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Publisher |
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STUDENT INTERACTIVES
Grades 3 – 12 | Student Interactive | Organizing & Summarizing
The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.
Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose
The Letter Generator is a useful tool for students to learn the parts of a business or friendly letter and then compose and print letters for both styles of correspondence.
PRINTOUTS
- Newspaper Article Summary Questions
- Letter to the Editor Peer Review Questions
- Persuasion Map Planning Sheet
WEBSITES
- How to Communicate with Journalists, from FAIR
- Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor, from the ACLU
- Write an Opinion Piece or a Letter to the Editor for Your Local Newspaper, from NCTE
PREPARATION
- Arrange for current issues of local, regional, or national newspapers for the classroom. Each student should have a newspaper for this activity. You may ask each student to bring a newspaper from home. If computer access allows, you can also use online newspaper sites. In addition to local newspaper sites, you can use resources from the Newseum collection of Today's Front Pages. Students will need to be able to print articles from online newspapers or to return to those pages throughout this lesson.
- Print copies of the Newspaper Article Summary Questions, Persuasion Map Planning Sheet, and Letter to the Editor Peer Review Questions.
- Review the following guidelines for composing letters to the editor and determine which are appropriate for your class:
- How to Communicate with Journalists, from FAIR
- Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor, from the ACLU
- Write an Opinion Piece or a Letter to the Editor for Your Local Newspaper, from NCTE
- How to Communicate with Journalists, from FAIR
- Test the Letter Generator and Persuasion Map on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.