Persuasive Techniques Uncovered

---

🧠 Lesson Snapshot

Unit Title: Persuasive Power Play
Lesson Number: 3 of 15
Lesson Title: Identifying Persuasive Techniques
Duration: 60 minutes
Year Level: Year 5
Subject: English
Curriculum Area:
Australian Curriculum: English – Year 5
Strand: Literacy
Sub-strand(s):

• Interpreting, analysing, evaluating
• Creating texts
  Content Descriptions:
• ACELY1701: Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative, and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text.
• ACELY1702: Navigate and read texts for specific purposes applying appropriate text processing strategies.
• ACELY1704: Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience.

---

🎯 Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Recognise and define the persuasive techniques: ethos, pathos, and logos
• Identify examples of ethos, pathos and logos in persuasive texts
• Justify why a particular technique may be effective for a given audience

---

✅ Success Criteria

Students will demonstrate success by:

• Using correct terminology when discussing persuasion
• Annotating a short persuasive text with identified techniques
• Participating in group discussion to explain how the techniques influence readers

---

🧰 Materials & Resources

• Printed short persuasive text: “Why School Uniforms Should Stay” (included in teacher’s print pack)
• Sort and Stick Cards: examples of ethos, pathos, logos (teacher-provided)
• Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
• Student workbooks or lined paper
• Highlighters (3 colours per student – one for each technique)
• Persuasive Power Play Anchor Chart (teacher-made, introduced in Lesson 1)
• Timer or clock

---

🧩 Differentiation & Adjustments

• EAL/D Learners: Provide visual aids to reinforce the techniques (emojis, icons), sentence stems for explanations.
• Higher-ability students: Challenge to identify more than one technique in the same sentence or paragraph.
• Students with learning needs: Allow use of partner reading, visual scaffold of technique definitions, highlight key terms in instructions.

---

⌛ Lesson Breakdown – 60 minutes

1. Welcome & Warm-up – 10 mins

Activity: Persuade Me! Quickfire Game

• Students pair up. One chooses a weird item (e.g., carrot, umbrella, giraffe sticker).
• The other has 30 seconds to convince their partner why it’s essential to own this item.
• Variations: use different tones (serious, funny, dramatic).
• Debrief: What made that argument convincing? Chart student responses linking to emotion (pathos), trust/expert (ethos), and logic/facts (logos).

☀️ Purpose: Activate prior knowledge and set the tone with humour and creativity!

---

2. Explicit Teaching – 15 mins

Anchor Presentation: “The Power of Three – Ethos, Pathos, Logos”

Present concepts using the Persuasive Power Play Anchor Chart. Use student-friendly definitions:

• Ethos (Credibility) – “Trust me, I’m an expert!”
• Pathos (Emotion) – “Tug on the heartstrings”
• Logos (Logic) – “Facts, figures, and reason”

Example Sentences on the board:

• “Doctors recommend this toothpaste.” (Ethos)
• “Think of the helpless puppies suffering.” (Pathos)
• “Studies show this cuts cleaning time by 50%.” (Logos)

Students label the examples using whiteboards.

🔍 Teaching Tip: Use emojis to help students remember techniques!
🔵 👨‍⚕️ Ethos | 🔴 😢 Pathos | 🟢 📊 Logos

---

3. Guided Practice – 15 mins

Activity: Sticky Sort – Match the Technique

• In teams of 4, students receive a set of Sort and Stick Cards with short persuasive statements.
• Working collaboratively, they match each card with one of the three technique labels.
• Discuss as a group which cards caused disagreement and why.

Example Cards:

• “I’ve been farming for 30 years. I know what our land needs.” (Ethos)
• “It’s unfair that children go to school without breakfast.” (Pathos)
• “Research shows students learn better with later start times.” (Logos)

👥 Purpose: Encourage peer explanation and consolidate understanding in a collaborative setting.

---

4. Application – 15 mins

Activity: Text Detective – “Why School Uniforms Should Stay”

• Students receive a printed persuasive paragraph to analyse.
• Individually highlight examples of ethos (blue), pathos (red), and logos (green).
• In pairs, students review and explain why they think each technique works.

Sample Text Tools:

“As a teacher for over 20 years, I have seen how uniforms create equity.” (Ethos)
“Imagine the embarrassment of not having the ‘right’ clothes.” (Pathos)
“A 2023 report showed improved results in uniformed schools.” (Logos)

🎯 Student Accountability: Students annotate technique used, with a one-line justification in the margin.

---

5. Reflection & Wrap-up – 5 mins

Reflective Exit Slip – Each student writes answers to:

1. Which persuasive technique is the most powerful? Why?
2. Where have you seen ethos, pathos or logos outside of school?

Collect for formative assessment.

💡 Extension idea: Display slips on a class “Persuasion Wall” to contribute to future lessons.

---

💬 Assessment Opportunities

Activity	Skill Focus	Assessed?
Sticky Sort	Identification & discussion	Formative – group
Text Detective	Analysis & justification	Formative – pair
Exit Slip	Reflection and personal connection	Summative – individual snapshot

---

🔄 Looking Ahead

In Lesson 4, students will explore advertisements and slogans, using their understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos to dissect real-world persuasive messages.

---

🧠 Teacher Insight: Why This Works

This lesson carefully scaffolds abstract rhetorical concepts into concrete, relatable, and discussion-driven learning experiences. By connecting techniques to real-life scenarios and peer games, persuasive tools come to life in age-appropriate and memorable ways. The multi-modal approach (speaking, reading, writing, movement) ensures all learners are supported and engaged.

---

📎 Additional Teacher Notes

• Consider laminating Sort and Stick Cards for re-use.
• Track common misconceptions from Exit Slips to inform the intro of Lesson 4.
• Encourage students to bring in real-life examples of advertisements or speeches that show these techniques for future lessons.

---

Let’s unleash their persuasive power—one compelling argument at a time!