Persuasive Blogs Unpacked

Learning Intention

• Students will understand the purpose, structure, and key features of persuasive blogs.
• Students will explore persuasive language techniques in blogs, focusing on informal yet persuasive tone, personal voice, and audience engagement.
• Students will annotate a model persuasive blog to identify persuasive techniques and structural elements.
• Students will develop skills to plan and write their own persuasive blog post.

Curriculum Alignment

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

• AC9E10LY06: Plan, create, edit and publish written multimodal texts, organising, expanding and developing ideas through experimenting with text structures, language features, and multimodal features for specific purposes and audiences, including persuasive writing.
• AC9E10LY07: Plan, create, rehearse and deliver spoken and multimodal presentations to engage audiences for different purposes, including persuasive purposes.
• Exploration of persuasive language, tone, audience, and purpose in various text types (blog, letter, article) to scaffold future persuasive writing tasks.

Time Duration

60 minutes

Class Size

25 students

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Lesson Outline

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Learning Intention sharing: Briefly explain what a persuasive blog is and what makes it different from other kinds of writing—mainly its purpose to persuade, informal style, personal voice, and focus on engaging the audience.
• Show a simple example of a persuasive blog headline and an excerpt to generate interest.
• Quick oral brainstorming: Ask, "Who reads blogs? What do you like about them?" and "What makes you trust or relate to a blog writer?"

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2. Exploring Blog Features (10 minutes)

• Hand out a dyslexia-friendly printed model persuasive blog (large font, clear spacing, coloured highlights for key features).

• As a class, identify and highlight:

• Informal tone (e.g., conversational style, contractions, colloquial language)

• Personal voice (first-person pronouns like “I”, anecdotes, opinions)

• Persuasive language techniques (emotive words, rhetorical questions, repetition)

• Structure: introduction, body paragraphs with arguments, conclusion with a call to action

• Simultaneously show these features on a projector, annotating them live.

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3. Group Annotation Activity (15 minutes)

• Divide the class into 5 groups (5 students each).
• Each group receives a short selected paragraph from the model blog, printed with space for notes.
• Task: Annotate the paragraph, identifying persuasive techniques and blog features.
• Provide sentence starters for diverse learners, for example:
• "The writer uses the word ___ to make me feel ___"
• "This sentence connects with the audience because ___"
• Assist groups with lower literacy or EAL learners through guided questioning.
• Advanced learners encouraged to find more subtle literary devices like irony or contrast.

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4. Class Discussion and Sharing (10 minutes)

• Each group shares their annotations with the class.
• Teacher records key persuasive techniques and blog features on the whiteboard.
• Highlight the informal yet persuasive tone and how the personal voice helps engage readers.
• Discuss how the blog’s structure helps keep readers interested and leads them to act.

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5. Individual Reflection and Mini-Planning (10 minutes)

• Students individually reflect in writing (using guided questions):
• What makes persuasive blogs effective?
• How does the writer’s tone influence the reader?
• What personal experiences or opinions might you include in your own blog?
• Using a scaffolded planning template with prompts, students begin drafting an outline for their own persuasive blog on a topic of choice (or from teacher’s suggested list).

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6. Conclusion and Homework (5 minutes)

• Recap the learning intention and discuss the next lesson focus on writing and editing their blogs.
• Homework: Students bring a printed or digital copy of a persuasive blog they find online, to be shared next lesson (dyslexia-friendly options encouraged).

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Resources

• Model persuasive blog (dyslexia-friendly format)
• Annotation handouts for group work (with sentence starters and guide questions)
• Whiteboard/chart paper for class annotation
• Planning templates for blog outline with scaffolding boxes
• Access to projector or interactive whiteboard

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Differentiation Strategies

• For diverse learners and EAL students:
• Clear, dyslexia-friendly text (special font, spacing, coloured blocking)
• Sentence starters and graphic organisers to scaffold annotation and planning
• Visual aids and oral explanations during demonstrations
• Peer support pairing for group activities
• For advanced learners:
• Challenge to identify advanced rhetorical devices (e.g., irony, parallelism)
• Encourage use of varied sentence structures and vocabulary in planning
• Extension by comparing persuasive blogs with other forms like letters or articles

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This lesson serves as a strong foundation in persuasive writing tailored to Year 10 students following the WA English curriculum, focusing on scaffolded yet rich engagement with persuasive blogs as a text form. It builds awareness of tone, purpose, audience, and structure, with differentiation ensuring inclusion and challenge for all students.