persuasive writing

play4heat · **persuasive writing** 10-30-2009, 06:01 AM

I'm trying the naked turkey project and I want to have the students wite a persuasive essay why we shouldn't eatthe turkey. Did anyone do this? AQny tips to include? Any pitfalls? Thanks

jaybird95 · 10-30-2009, 08:34 AM

Sounds cute. What is the naked turkey project?

rm206 · **turkey** 10-30-2009, 03:47 PM

Here's a link that explains the naked turkey project:

http://www.proteacher.net/discussion...d.php?t=208153

chalkdusty · **persuasive writing** 10-30-2009, 05:57 PM

We always talk about how the President does an official pardon of a turkey at the White House each Thanksgiving. We have the students write to the President (pretend, we don't really send the letters) as if they were the turkey. They have to include 3 good reasons why they should be the turkey to be pardoned. I intend to combine that with the turkey incognito project that I read about here a few days ago. Should be very motivating for the students and a lot of fun for us to read/share.

sweetmilker · **Love this project!** 11-02-2009, 03:04 PM

I just did the naked turkey project last week and my kids LOVED it! I got so many neat turkeys back...Elvis, a dancer, Albert Einstein, a pilgrim, a hula dancer, an army man, a baby, a peacock, a swan, a skunk, etc. I had the kids pretend they were the person/animal they chose as their disguise and write a "speech" persuading everybody else that they were NOT a turkey!

I had the kids write at least a paragraph (5 sentences), but many of the kids wrote more. For example, my student who made an army man started out her speech by writing, "Hut, 2, 3, 4, hut, 2, 3, 4....Hi! My name is Lt. Longhenry and I have been in the army for the last 10 years. As you can see, I am NOT a turkey! I sleep in an army barrack, I shoot guns, and I can do 50 push-ups in a row. Can a turkey do that? Of course not!"

I was really impressed with the kids' writing skills and the turkeys make such a CUTE display! Note: I would definitely have the kids make a sloppy copy beforehand so you can check spelling/grammar since they'll be on display. I also disguised a turkey beforehand for modeling (I made a clown), then wrote a clown speech. This way, the kids can see exactly what I'm expecting of them. Have fun!

I've also attached the directions I found on this site...I had to tweak them a bit for my 4th graders.