Siaosi presents some convincing, well-argued reasons to support his point of view. They flow sequentially and the language and style are appropriate. He speaks directly to his audience, especially towards the end.
The students read a variety of argument texts as part of their reading programme. They discussed letters to the editor about pertinent local issues, and identified the persuasive language features. The teacher wrote a letter about an issue of concern to her, and the class examined how she had used the features of persuasive language.
After The Three Little Pigs was read as a shared book, the students took the wolf's point of view, looking at why he should not be "jailed" for what he did. The teacher modelled the writing process, and the students were expected to produce two or three reasons to support their position.
The next step was to read Goldilocks and The Three Bears as a shared book. The teacher modelled writing an introduction, stating her position on the appropriateness of Goldilocks' behaviour in the house of the three bears. She then put three points to support her position, with reasons to back them up. The students wrote their own arguments about Goldilocks' actions, using the same process. In groups, they shared the arguments they had written.
The class read the School Journal article "Should Animals Be Kept In Zoos?" (1.4.98) as a shared text, and the teacher modelled writing an argument about keeping animals in zoos. She wrote an introduction, some points with elaboration, and a recommendation. She and the students then examined her argument, identifying the persuasive language features and suggesting ways to make the argument more convincing. The teacher drew their attention to elaborating on the points. The students then wrote their own arguments on the topic.
They went on to discuss ways of making an argument persuasive. These strategies were recorded for them to refer to. Their arguments were to include: an introduction, elaboration, humour, repetition, rhetorical questions, and a recommendation.
The teacher again modelled writing an argument on a topic significant to her. The students chose their own issue and used a planning sheet to set out their position, three points with elaboration, and a recommendation. They wrote their draft argument over three days. During this time there was a discussion about beginnings and paragraphing. They recrafted immediately after the draft was complete.
In individual conferences the students read their arguments to the teacher. Her input at this point was to focus on what they might want to improve. They also conferenced with a partner before publishing.
There had been a lot of class discussion about violence in general, and Siaosi was well acquainted with the teacher's own views on aggressive behaviour at school. There had also been discussion about the links between children's television programmes and the aggressive behaviour of children who watch them.
To move Siaosi towards the next learning point, the teacher might help him to focus on:
This could principally be done through: