Find Your Powerful Idea

Overview

In this first lesson of Persuade with Purpose, students explore possible speech themes and learn how a broad topic becomes a focused, arguable claim. They select an issue, identify their intended audience and purpose, and rehearse a clear position for a persuasive speech.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify a compelling issue suitable for a persuasive speech.
• WALT turn a broad topic into a focused, arguable claim.
• WALT explain how audience and purpose influence a persuasive position.
• WALT communicate an idea confidently through discussion and oral rehearsal.

Success criteria

• I can choose a focused topic rather than a very broad subject.
• I can state my opinion clearly as an arguable claim.
• I can identify who I want to persuade and what I want them to think or do.
• I can explain why my idea matters.

Curriculum links

• Writing to persuade: introducing a preferred position and organising reasons clearly.
• Writing to persuade: supporting a stated position with clear reasons and relevant evidence from trustworthy sources.
• Writing to persuade: organising reasons and evidence logically to strengthen an argument.
• Communicating and presenting: selecting appropriate examples and sources for a persuasive audience.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Hook: What should change? Teacher displays a striking image or question from the introduction and hook slides: “If you could change one thing about school or our community, what would it be?” Students silently write one possible change, then share with a partner. Explain that persuasive speakers begin with an idea that matters to a particular audience.

2. 4–9 min · Explore five themes. Teacher introduces five age-appropriate themes on the five speech theme slides: school life, technology and wellbeing, the environment, fairness and inclusion, and community choices. Students discuss which theme connects with their experiences and note one possible issue on the powerful idea organiser. Prompt with questions such as: “What is happening?”, “Who is affected?”, and “What could be improved?”

3. 9–15 min · Model topic to claim. Teacher models the progression on the topic-to-claim modelling slides: technology → mobile phones at school → Students should be allowed to use phones at lunchtime because responsible use can support communication and wellbeing. Think aloud: the final statement takes a position, could be challenged, and suggests reasons. Students help improve a deliberately weak example, such as “The environment is important”, into a claim such as “Our school should reduce single-use plastic at events.”

4. 15–22 min · Brainstorm and narrow. Teacher asks students to generate two or three possible issues using the prompts on the brainstorming prompt slides and the question bank on the powerful idea organiser. Students complete a quick brainstorm, then test each idea: Is it focused? Is there more than one possible view? Does it matter to an identifiable audience? Confer with students who are unsure and help them narrow broad ideas such as “fairness” to “Our school should make lunchtime clubs available to everyone.”

5. 22–27 min · Select and rehearse. Teacher models the oral frame, “I believe that ___ should ___ because ___; I want to persuade ___.” Students select one issue, complete their position, name their target audience and purpose, and rehearse it to a partner. Partners respond: “I understand your position because…” and “One question I have is…” Students may dictate ideas or use speech-to-text.

6. 27–30 min · Share and exit check. Teacher invites three or four volunteers to share their claims and uses the sharing and plenary slides to revisit the success criteria. Students complete the final box on the powerful idea organiser: “My claim is… My audience is… I want them to…” Collect responses to plan the next lesson on reasons and evidence.

Resources

• the complete Find Your Powerful Idea slide deck
• the powerful idea organiser
• Whiteboard and markers
• Pens or pencils
• Devices with speech-to-text, where available
• Optional audio or teacher-read version of the worksheet
• Dyslexia-friendly printed copies: uncluttered layout, sans-serif 14–16-point text, clear headings, short lines and high contrast

Assessment

• Listen during partner discussions for students distinguishing a broad topic from an arguable claim.
• Check organisers during brainstorming and conferencing: focused issue, clear position, audience and purpose.
• Use the final claim as an exit check. Identify students needing support to narrow a topic or clarify their intended audience before Lesson 2.

Differentiation

• Provide theme cards or a displayed theme list, question prompts and a vocabulary bank including issue, position, persuade, audience, purpose, claim, reason and opposing view.
• Offer sentence starters, teacher modelling, oral rehearsal, partner talk and individual conferencing. Allow students to dictate, scribe, draw first, or use speech-to-text.
• For dyslexic learners, provide audio or teacher-read instructions and ensure all handouts use high contrast, short lines, clear headings and an uncluttered sans-serif font at 14–16-point size.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to develop a nuanced claim that acknowledges an opposing view, for example: “Although phones can distract us, students should be allowed limited lunchtime use because…”