Hooking the Audience

Overview

Lesson 3 of 12 in Persuade with Purpose. Students investigate how persuasive openings attract attention, establish an issue and signal an intended audience. They then draft, rehearse and share an opening for a familiar school or community issue.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify features that make a persuasive opening effective.
• WALT compare openings designed for different audiences.
• WALT use a question, surprising fact, brief story or whakataukī appropriately.
• WALT draft an opening that clearly establishes an issue and engages a chosen audience.

Success criteria

• I can name the audience and issue my opening addresses.
• I can explain why an opening is engaging.
• I can use an opening technique deliberately.
• I can read my opening clearly and improve it using feedback.

Curriculum links

• Creating meaning through writing: planning, drafting and shaping ideas for a clear purpose and audience.
• Using language features: selecting vocabulary, sentence structures and rhetorical devices for effect.
• Listening, interacting and presenting: sharing ideas clearly and responding constructively.
• Developing learner agency: making purposeful choices, collaborating and reflecting on next steps.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–3 min – Engage with a mystery opening Display the opening: “What if the place where you learn every day could become healthier, safer and more fun?” Ask students to predict the issue, audience and likely purpose. Open with the mystery opening slide and accept several interpretations.

2. 3–8 min – Notice the techniques Show four short openings on the four opening examples: a question about rubbish at school, a surprising fact about screen time, a brief story about a wet lunch area, and a whakataukī connected to working together. Read them aloud. As a class, identify what each opening makes the audience think, feel or wonder. Explain that a whakataukī should be used respectfully and only when its meaning genuinely supports the message.

3. 8–12 min – Model thinking aloud Model choosing an audience and issue, such as persuading the school community to create a covered outdoor eating area. Think aloud: “My audience needs to picture the problem, so a short story may work better than a fact.” Demonstrate improving a plain opening (“We need a covered eating area”) into an engaging one. Refer to the modelled think-aloud.

4. 12–20 min – Draft an opening Give each student the persuasive opening planner. Students choose one age-appropriate issue, such as reducing playground litter, protecting native birds, improving the library, or making travel to school safer. They record their audience, issue and chosen technique, then draft two or three sentences. Remind them that the opening should not solve the whole issue; it should make the audience want to listen or read on.

5. 20–25 min – Partner rehearsal and feedback In pairs, students read their openings aloud. Partners respond using the prompts on the partner feedback prompts: “I could tell the issue was…”, “The part that hooked me was…”, and “You could make the audience more interested by…”. Students revise one word, sentence or detail.

6. 25–29 min – Share strong examples Invite three or four volunteers to read their revised openings. After each, the class identifies the technique and intended audience. Celebrate purposeful choices rather than judging topics. If appropriate, ask: “Would this opening work for younger children, whānau or the principal? Why or why not?”

7. 29–30 min – Exit reflection Students complete the final box on the persuasive opening planner: “My opening hooks the audience because…” Collect sheets to inform the next lesson, where students will build supporting reasons.

Resources

• the Hooking the Audience slide deck
• the persuasive opening planner
• Whiteboard or shared display
• Pens or pencils
• Timer
• Optional list of familiar school and community issues

Assessment

• Listen for students identifying the opening technique, issue and intended audience during discussion.
• Check drafts for a clear issue, a recognisable engaging technique and language suited to the audience.
• Use partner feedback and the final reflection to identify students needing support with audience, clarity or sentence construction.

Differentiation

• Provide a choice board of issues and sentence starters, such as “Have you ever…?”, “Imagine a day when…”, or “Did you know…?” for students who need support.
• Allow students to rehearse orally with an adult or record their opening before writing it.
• Support English language learners with visuals, paired talk, key words such as audience, issue, hook and persuade, and permission to draft ideas in their strongest language first.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to draft two different openings for the same issue and explain which better suits the chosen audience. Offer scribing, speech-to-text or enlarged print for students with learning or physical needs.