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Year 3 - English

Writing the second paragraph of a persuasive letter

'The Day the Crayons Quit': reading and writing persuasive letters

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils write a persuasive letter, using the picture book 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt as their starting point. They learn about persuasive writing devices, including flattery and rhetorical questions. Pupils learn and apply a variety of conventions of letter writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to write the second paragraph of a persuasive letter.

Key Notes

  • Persuasive letters have distinctive linguistic features in order to achieve their purpose.
  • An adverbial complex sentence is a main clause and an adverbial clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.
  • The subordinating conjunction 'because' introduces a reason.
  • Oral rehearsal of full sentences helps to ensure they are structured accurately.
  • First person perspective is the point of view where the writer is the 'I' character.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • first person: the 'I/we' perspective
  • complex sentence: a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause
  • text flow: how a text is written to keep the reader engaged
  • sign-off: indicates who wrote the letter and that the letter is coming to an end
  • persuasive techniques: language structures or devices used in writing to try to change someone's mind or behaviour

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may shift into writing from the third person perspective.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Persuasive letters have distinctive linguistic features in order to achieve their purpose. An adverbial complex sentence is a main clause and an adverbial clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'first person'

the 'I/we' perspective.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may shift into writing from the third person perspective. Correction: Pupils are going to be writing a persuasive letter written from the first person perspective of the red crayon in 'The Day the Crayons Quit'. Ensure that pupils have a word bank or display with 'I', 'me', 'my', 'we', 'us' and 'our' prompts.

More Lessons In This Unit

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