Secrets of the cereal aisle…
Heya, Reader
Okay, so, I always say I love teaching persuasive techniques, right?
But really, students are already swimming in persuasive techniques and have been their whole lives:
- Kids’ cereal boxes with BRIGHT colors and energetic characters, right at eye-level?
- Commercials that show “cool kids” playing with even cooler toys?
- Insanely pretty influencers telling them about this hot new product?
Yeah, they’ve been exposed, over and over.
Our job is to give them language to identify these techniques and then help them learn to leverage them in writing and speaking.
We’re not teaching persuasive techniques… we’re bringing what students inherently know to the surface.
You need a Persuasive Techniques unit grounded in doing. Students need to analyze the world around them, yes - and also create, create, create.
With a good unit, students build skills like:
- Adapting an argument to a specific audience
- Balancing ethos, logos, and pathos as needed
- Convincing and selling through symbolic visuals
That’s the whole goal.
That’s why people love my Persuasive Techniques and Media Literacy unit.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I loved this resource because it was easy-to-follow and visually-appealing. It was also very thorough and engaging for my students. Definitely recommend!” -Kate C.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students were very engaged with all of the opportunities to apply and enhance their understanding of persuasive techniques. The notes sheets were excellent!” -Melissa U.
Not sure yet? You can sample this unit by grabbing the Introduction to Rhetorical Appeals Visual Notes activity.
This is an easy way to get your students “hooked” and it’s a great stand-alone lesson if you have little time for media literacy. Basically, it’s still a huge win.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Happy teaching,
Danielle
Danielle Hall
I make inclusive classroom resources and book recommendations for Secondary ELA.
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