Persuasive Blogging Skills

Year Level

Year 10

Duration

60 minutes

Curriculum Alignment

This lesson aligns with the Western Australian Curriculum for English Year 10, specifically addressing:

• ACELY1751: Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas effectively.
• ACELY1752: Analyse and explain the use of text structures and language features, including persuasive devices, to influence audiences.
• ACELY1753: Evaluate how language features and images in texts designed to persuade influence responses.
• ACELY1762: Use interaction skills including considering and evaluating others’ ideas and perspectives, and recognising how these may differ from their own.

This lesson supports students in developing skills in persuasive writing through the specific medium of blogs, focusing on audience, purpose, tone, structure, and persuasive techniques, scaffolding toward successful mastery of persuasive texts.

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Learning Intention

Students will understand how to construct a persuasive blog by identifying key persuasive techniques, considering audience and purpose, and using an effective structure and tone appropriate for an online blog.

Success Criteria

• Identify persuasive language features and techniques used in blogs.
• Analyse a model persuasive blog, annotating purpose, tone and structure.
• Plan a persuasive blog using a scaffold with clear topic choice.
• Use teacher feedback during writing to improve language, tone, and structure.
• Complete an exit activity to demonstrate understanding of persuasive blogging elements.

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Lesson Overview

1. Starter – Retrieval Quiz (10 minutes)

• Purpose: Activate prior knowledge about persuasive writing elements.
• Format: Short multiple-choice quiz (5 questions) focused on:
• What is persuasive writing?
• Types of persuasive techniques (e.g., emotive language, rhetorical questions, repetition).
• Differences between blogs, articles, and letters in structure and audience.
• Delivery: Students answer individually using paper or digital devices; teacher reviews answers collectively.

2. Explicit Teaching with Modelled Blog Annotation (15 minutes)

• Show a sample Year 10-appropriate persuasive blog text on a relevant topic (e.g., "Why School Uniforms Should Be Optional").
• Teacher guided annotation highlighting:
• Persuasive language features (e.g., emotive words, facts/statistics).
• Structure (introduction with hook, body paragraphs with arguments, conclusion with call-to-action).
• Tone and word choices relevant to the audience.
• Discuss with class how language and structure suit the blog’s purpose and audience.
• Provide dyslexia-friendly reading version of the blog:
• Clear font (e.g., Arial or Comic Sans), generous spacing.
• Highlighted persuasive words in colour.
• Short paragraphs and bulleted lists for readability.

3. Guided Planning with Scaffold and Topic Choices (10 minutes)

• Provide students with a blog planning scaffold with prompts under the following headings:
• Topic choice (offer 3 age-appropriate topics such as “Should mobile phones be banned in schools?”, “Why community sports should be free for teens”, or “The importance of recycling”).
• Audience identification.
• Purpose statement.
• Five persuasive points with supporting evidence or emotions.
• Suggested language devices to include.
• Blog structure outline.
• In pairs, students discuss topic choice and begin filling the scaffold.
• Teacher circulates to guide and assist with scaffold completion.

4. Writing Time & Teacher Conferencing (20 minutes)

• Students begin writing their persuasive blog using the scaffold.
• Teacher rotates peer conferencing or individual conferencing:
• Prompts for teacher feedback:
• “What is your blog’s main purpose, and is it clear?”
• “Have you used persuasive language to engage your reader?”
• “How does your tone suit your intended audience?”
• “Check your paragraph structure – does each point have evidence or emotion?”
• “Let’s look at your opening sentence; how could it hook readers better?”
• Encourage students to edit as they write and use a checklist from success criteria.

5. Exit Ticket – Quick Reflection (5 minutes)

• Each student writes on a sticky note or digital form:
• One persuasive technique they included in their blog.
• One question they still have or one area they want to improve.
• Collect exit tickets to inform next lessons.

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Differentiation Strategies

• For diverse learners:
• Provide a differentiated scaffold with sentence starters and vocabulary banks.
• Allow oral planning or mind-mapping instead of written for some students.
• Dyslexia-friendly materials and use of text-to-speech software options.
• For students requiring additional support:
• Pair with a peer buddy for planning discussions.
• Teacher models persuasive sentences individually.
• For advanced learners:
• Encourage use of complex persuasive devices (e.g., anecdote, irony).
• Challenge them to experiment with multimodal elements if blogging online (images, hyperlinks).
• Task extension: write a counter-argument paragraph after their blog draft.

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Resources Needed

• Printed or digital quiz sheets.
• Sample persuasive blog text (standard and dyslexia-friendly format).
• Blog planning scaffolds.
• Writing tools or devices.
• Exit ticket materials (sticky notes or digital forms).

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Final Notes

This scaffolded, explicit, and interactive lesson will support Year 10 students to build confidence and critical skills for persuasive writing in modern formats such as blogs, in alignment with the Western Australian Curriculum’s focus on audience, purpose, and persuasive language. The lesson balances direct instruction with individualised support and opportunities for challenge to cater to a wide range of learners while enhancing engagement through relevant topics.

Teachers are encouraged to personalise topic choices to suit their students' interests and current events in their communities for optimal motivation.