Writing with FRAMEs The Elementary Edition: The Persuasive Essay

Purpose: The purpose of this FRAME is to give students an outline in writing persuasive essays. By providing sentence stems with the FRAME model, we are also providing differentiation and support to EL students, as well as our native speakers who need additional support.

Although I teach in the middle school grades, Suzanne and I help our daughter with homeschooling our grandchildren. This product was inspired not long ago when I came home to find that Suzanne had provided our 2nd grade granddaughter a copy of our 7th grade FRAME for an essay she was writing about the planet Neptune! She was struggling a little (after all, it is 5 grades above her normal work), but she was still being successful! So, we made adjustments.

I teach in one of the top Strategic Instructional Method (SIM) districts in Texas. This graphic organizer/writing FRAME aligns with:

Newly adopted TEKS: Strands 3, 6 and 7, 110.4, 110.5, 110.6, 110.7 Inclusive for all levels.

4.7B, C, D, E, F, G

Aligned to CCSS: ELA.Literacy.W.4.1, 4.2

This FRAME was constructed for my granddaughter but is based on the FRAME provided to my 8th grade Pre-AP, ESL, and Gen Ed students. It is based on the Strategic Instructional Method (SIM) FRAME Routine. The original use was to help guide students in writing a persuasive essay about junk forensic science in death penalty cases after listening to and studying the podcast “Monster”, but has been subsequently used for a number of assignments. The FRAME is used for the first rough draft only, and students do all subsequent drafts on lined paper or using google docs. I do collect and grade the FRAME as a daily grade, with all drafts attached or referenced.

The first step in the FRAME is to have students write out the prompt you are having them write too. When you give them the prompt, have them write it both verbatim and paraphrased; this will help you recognize students who may be misunderstanding the prompt. It is also essential to have the students identify the purpose of the writing – to persuade their audience to a certain action or belief. This is how you focus the students’ writing and any research.

After your scholars have decided on their topic and selected the three (or however many you assigned) arguments to write about, have them move to the “R” portion of the FRAME. This is where they begin their actual first draft. You will notice that unlike my other FRAME routines, the “master” of this one does not include the sentence stems in a permanent format. This is because of the fluid nature of a persuasive texts, as well as to allow individuality in the writing. 

After completing an introductory paragraph, students assemble the body of the essay by advocating for their position in the “A” section of the FRAME. This is a perfect opportunity to also teach the skills of citing one’s research and preventing plagiarism! In this area, I do not care if they are using APA, MLA, or the USPS (just kidding), as long as they are citing their research. You will notice from the student sample that I encourage students to mention additional areas of research related to their topic. I

find this leads to some excellent ideas for future lessons!

In this FRAME, I refer to the “M” as a “merge” for my scholars to bring all of their information together again, and to conclude the essay. Remind students that they are restating a topic, and not a thesis.

As with my other FRAMEs, the “E” is an extension and reflection. Because this FRAME focuses on research for the body information, I have added a Works Cited section.

I have attached a list of sentence starters/stems, annotated B, M and E, for your students to use in beginning new paragraphs.

Yes, Suzanne and I realize that the “expected” work product from a 2nd grade (or 4th!) student is generally expected to be minimal; however, who wants to be minimal?

On a separate note, I would greatly value your feedback! Please let me know how this (and other products you may have gotten from me) worked for you and your scholars/students! Is there any way you feel it could be improved? Email me at elainmiddleschool@gmail.com, or through the feedback at Teachers Pay Teachers ©!

Sincerely,

Matthew

ELA in Middle School

Please Note that on this cover, ELA in Middle School uses a frame from Charlotte’s Clips and a school boy from Melonheadz!