Don't Let The Students Run The Classroom!

This lesson works best as an introduction to the world of persuasive writing. First, tell the students that you want to share a book with them, then read the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus out loud. Don't tell the students that you will be talking about how the pigeon tries to persuade the reader. After reading the book, have volunteers share thier thoughts about the pigeon. Next, have the students take out their writing notebooks. Tell them that you are going to read the story again, and this time, they are to write down all of the things the pigeon does to try to persuade the reader to let him drive the bus (bribery, begging...). After the second reading, have the students share what they noted. Ask the students to share thier thoughts about the different methods. For example, Does begging ever work? How about threatening someone? Your students will love to share personal stories about trying to persuade mom and dad to let them do things. Next, tell the students that they are going to create a similar book. Ask the students to come up with ways they would convince the reader to let him/her run the classroom. The first page of the book would have the teacher saying that he/she had to leave for a minute, and would you (the reader) please watch the class, and whatever you do .... don't let the students run the classroom! Each subsequent page would be a photo of each student acting out his/her line. I have had my teacher's assistant take each student out in the hallway to take the photos, and I have also had the students take pictures of each other. The students then typed their lines onto a page with thier own photo, and all pages were assembled into a book when done. Follow the original story to see how your book should end. I have also done this on iPhoto as a "living storybook" but it could just as easily be done in PowerPoint. This way you are able to record the students' voices as well. Share your book with as many people as possible, and have your students discuss the power of persuasion.