Practise persuading a reader through a controlled voice and technique. Attempt each before revealing; the prompts are our own original material.
1Write the opening of a persuasive piece encouraging readers to switch off their screens for one hour a day.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Hook with a vivid claim or image; establish a warm, confident voice; hint at your central appeal.
Model opening: You will spend a large slice of your life looking at a screen. I am asking for one hour of it back, starting tonight.
Checklist:
- Vivid, engaging hook
- Controlled persuasive voice
- Clear central appeal
- Aimed at a real reader
2Write a persuasive paragraph urging your community to protect an old woodland from development.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Combine an emotive appeal with a reasonable point. Use rhetorical technique deliberately, not endlessly.
Tried these practice tasks? A teacher can mark your child's attempt and explain the next step in a paid one-hour trial.
Model opening: Ashen Wood has stood longer than every building around it, and it asks for nothing but to be left alone. Are we really willing to trade three centuries of oaks for a car park?
Checklist:
- Deliberate rhetorical technique
- Balances emotion with reason
- Register suits the audience
- Technique serves the argument
3Write the closing of a persuasive piece asking readers to donate books to under-resourced schools.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Build to a memorable, motivating final appeal. Make the action easy to picture and simple to take.
Model opening: The book gathering dust on your shelf could be the one a child reads under the covers for the first time. Box up five this weekend; that is all it takes to begin.
Checklist:
- Clear, motivating final appeal
- Action made concrete and easy
- Memorable closing line
- Consistent persuasive voice
See the worked annotated model response for persuasive writing, or the method in our persuasive writing skills guide.