Lengthening the School Day
The school board of your district is considering making the school day longer by adding an extra hour. The purpose for lengthening the school day is provide more time for instruction and practice in the existing school curricula. They believe that greater student achievement can be achieved by making the school day longer. They point out that there are experts in the field of education who agree with them. The school board is seeking input from all community members.
Your job is to write a five-paragraph essay either supporting or refuting this idea.
Use a planner.
Before you jump in a write from emotion, clearly think through your position. Clearly define it.
Brainstorm ideas that support your thesis. Sort through and write down the three that you feel are the strongest. Remember that the audience is the school board and not your peer group.
Do the same with ideas that support each of the three ideas that will serve as topic sentences for your supporting paragraphs. Again, select and write down those that are the strongest.
Think about how you are going to end the essay. What effective way can you clarify the logic of your stated position? How can you clearly summarize the supporting ideas? Write down the ideas
As you begin to write, take time to formulate the sentences. Think about the sentence that came before and be sure to logically connect each. If the reader loses the logic of you position, you have lost the advantage in a persuasive essay.
Be sure that the sentence structures are varied so that the essay is not one long list of reasons.
Be sure that the supporting paragraphs explain your ideas. Giving examples is a good technique of support.
Do not resort to name-calling. This is never effective.
To promote great logic, be sure that there are transitions between paragraphs.
Go back and reread the essay when you are finished. Try to think of it through the eyes of someone who takes the opposite position. Make any changes necessary.
Be sure that there are no spelling, punctuation, capitalization, tense, or other errors that could distract the reader away from the strength of your position.
