Age: 11-12 years

Duration: 80 min

Objectives

• Identify persuasive techniques such as appeals to emotion, logic, and credibility.
• Map claim-evidence pairs across a short article.
• Respond with a structured rebuttal paragraph.

Vocab

• persuade: "The writer tries to persuade readers to act."
• claim: "A claim is the point the writer wants you to accept."
• counter: "A counter answers the other side's argument."
• audience: "Writers change their tone to fit the audience."

Warm-up (5min)

Show a short ad slogan and a fact-based line. Ask "Which one is trying to persuade you, and how?" Introduce three appeals in kid terms: heart (emotion), head (logic), trust (credibility).

Main Activity (65min): "Critical Reading: Persuasive Articles"

"Persuasion X-Ray" — Round 1: read a persuasive article (~350 words) and note the main claim. Round 2: technique tag — reread and label margin notes: heart / head / trust for each persuasive move. Round 3: claim-evidence map — chart each claim with its support and rate the support strong/weak. Round 4: spot the gap — find one claim with weak or missing evidence and explain the flaw. Round 5: rebuttal build — write a 5-sentence structured rebuttal: name the claim, concede one fair point, then counter with evidence. Two students share rebuttals.

Wrap-up (10min)

Round-robin: each group names one persuasive technique and one weakness they found. Exit ticket: "The strongest appeal was ___ because ___ ."

Teacher Tips

• Reuse the concede-then-counter frame from G5 counterargument work.
• Keep topics familiar (homework, uniforms) so analysis, not content, is the challenge.
• This is the bridge from editorial reading (04) to policy debate (10).