Persuasive Elements

Overview

In this lesson, students identify key elements of persuasive texts: an opinion, reasons, evidence, and a call to action. They analyse a sample persuasive text together to see how these elements work as a convincing whole.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify the difference between an opinion and supporting reasons in persuasive writing.
• Students will recognise evidence as information that supports reasons.
• Students will explain how a call to action links to the reader and purpose.
• Students will analyse a sample text to label persuasive elements accurately.

Success criteria

• I can state the author’s opinion from a persuasive text.
• I can find at least two reasons that support the opinion.
• I can identify evidence (facts, examples, or expert statements) used to strengthen reasons.
• I can locate the call to action and describe who it targets and what action it asks for.

Curriculum links

• English: Analysing and interpreting texts by identifying purpose, audience and persuasive techniques.
• English: Creating texts that communicate ideas clearly using appropriate structure and language features.
• English: Using text evidence to support claims about how a text persuades.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 2 min – Activate knowledge Display the unit hook: “Persuasive Power”. Ask: “What does a persuader want the reader to do or think?” Students turn-and-talk with a partner.

2. 5 min – Teach the element framework Introduce and model four elements using sentence stems on the board:

• Opinion: “The author believes…”
• Reasons: “This is because…”
• Evidence: “For example / This is supported by…”
• Call to action: “So you should…” / “Join us to…”

3. 10 min – Shared text analysis Provide a short teacher-selected persuasive text (appropriate for Year 5) about a familiar school/community topic (e.g., bringing lunchboxes, reading daily, wearing sports shoes). Read aloud once, then reread with pauses. Students help label:

• Opinion in one clear sentence
• Two reasons (circle or highlight)
• Evidence used for each reason (underline)
• Call to action at the end (box it)

4. 6 min – Whole-class reasoning check Ask guiding questions and record answers under each heading:

• “How do you know this is an opinion rather than a reason?”
• “Does the evidence make the reason stronger? How?”
• “Who is being addressed in the call to action, and what action is requested?”

5. 5 min – Quick practice: “Sort and stick” Give students a small set of text snippets (e.g., 8–10 sentence strips) mixed between opinions, reasons, evidence and calls to action. In pairs, they place each strip under the correct heading on their page. Teacher circulates and prompts students to justify their choices using a short evidence phrase from the snippet.

6. 2 min – Exit reflection Students complete one sentence on a mini exit slip: “In the persuasive text, the author’s opinion is ___. One reason with evidence is ___. The call to action asks the reader to ___.”

Resources

• A short sample persuasive text (teacher prepared or printed for students)
• Projector/whiteboard for element stems and headings: Opinion, Reasons, Evidence, Call to action
• Highlighters or coloured pencils (or digitally, if using devices)
• Printed “sort and stick” sentence strips (clearly readable)
• Student analysis sheet with a simple four-box layout
• Mini exit slips or half-page reflection sheet
• Timer for transitions
• Teacher notes for anticipated answers and prompts

Assessment

• Teacher observation during shared analysis and pair sorting, using the success criteria language (opinion/reasons/evidence/call to action).
• Review of the exit reflection sentence to check students can name the opinion, one reason with evidence, and the call to action.
• Identify common misconceptions (e.g., confusing a reason with the evidence) to inform Lesson 4.

Differentiation

• Support: Provide a partially completed example analysis (e.g., opinion and call to action already labelled) so students focus on locating reasons and evidence.
• Support: Offer sentence frames for justifications, such as “This is evidence because…”
• Extension: Challenge students to rewrite one reason using stronger evidence or to suggest an improved call to action that targets a specific audience.
• EAL/SEN: Pre-teach key words (opinion, reason, evidence, call to action) with brief examples; allow responses using oral explanations if writing is a barrier.