Engaging lower ability learners in persuasive writing presents unique challenges. Engaging them in a way that fosters understanding and appreciation for persuasive writing requires tailored resources and strategies. In this blog post, I have a free PowerPoint presentation lesson resource designed specifically for this purpose. So let’s explore some strategies to unlock success for all of our learners, with a focus on building skills for lower ability GCSE students.
Understanding the Needs of Lower Ability GCSE Students
What do students find challenging about writing tasks?
Low-ability GCSE students often struggle with complex texts and may have limited confidence in their reading and analytical abilities. And so they may encounter multiple challenges when it comes to writing tasks. These difficulties can stem from factors including cognitive, linguistic, and motivational aspects. Here are some common challenges low-ability students may face in writing tasks:
1. Limited Vocabulary
Students may have a restricted vocabulary, which can hinder their ability to express ideas effectively and precisely. They may struggle to find appropriate words to convey their thoughts.
2. Lack of Organisation
Organising ideas coherently can be challenging for low-ability students. They may struggle to create a clear and logical flow in their writing, making it difficult for readers to follow their thoughts.
3. Limited Writing Stamina
Students may have a shorter attention span and find it challenging to sustain focus during extended writing tasks. As a result, their writing might lack depth and detail.
4. Difficulty with Punctuation
Proper use of punctuation marks, such as commas, full stops and quotation marks can pose difficulties for students. Incorrect punctuation can impact the clarity and readability of their writing.
5. Lack of Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and critical thinking skills are essential for producing well-structured and persuasive writing. Low-ability students may struggle to analyse texts, evaluate arguments, or generate original ideas.
6. Spelling Errors
Poor spelling can undermine the overall quality of their writing. Low-ability students may misspell words frequently, leading to misunderstandings and reduced their confidence.
7. Limited Motivation
Low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in their writing abilities can demotivate students. They may feel discouraged and avoid writing tasks altogether.
8. Difficulty with Proofreading and Editing
Identifying and correcting errors in their own writing can be challenging for low-ability students. They may overlook mistakes during the revision process.
Planning lessons to support lower ability students in writing
Many students in this category benefit from a more scaffolded and interactive approach to learning. Here are some tips for lesson activities to build those key skills of confidence and enthusiasm for learning (I know, maybe enthusiasm is sometime a stretch, but let’s be positive!):
- You’ve heard it many times but give your lesson a clear objective/learning intention. It helps to focus your mind on the purpose of the lesson, and helps students to know what they are supposed to be doing.
- Build vocabulary – start lessons with short vocabulary build tasks to equip students with the words they need to take part fully.
- Select manageable texts. Remember that read longer texts is an important skill, but be selective with the vocabulary you use. If using a longer text, such as the one I have included here, ensure the language is simple.
- Read, re-read, skim, find, highlight, underline, question, explore, etc… The more students engage with the text in front of them in different, shorter activities, the more confident they will feel with it at the end of a one hour lesson.
- Recap material from previous lessons. Retrieval practice helps students to build their working memory. It brings forward the most important information to use in today’s lesson.
- Focus on one skill per lesson e.g. one lesson on devices, another on idea generation, another reading an example, another building paragraphs, another on spelling and correction. Trying to do all of these skills at once is too much, so build it up over a series of lessons.
Free Lesson Resource: Presentation for Low-Ability GCSE Class
This simple lesson resource is a reminder that you don’t have to be an educational expert to teach good lessons. In fact, it’s back to basics: starter, development, plenary. That’s how I learned to teach a long time ago, and it’s what I always come back to.
And I know, I know … sometimes teaching can be death-by-powerpoint! But it keeps me on track and allows me a visual support. It means my focus is on the kids in front of me who often need my full attention
Plus, this powerpoint format means you can download and edit for yourself. Sometimes, a starting point to adapt is better than a perfect, finished product (or that’s what I tell myself!)
Download lesson resources here:
Lesson structure and overview
Starter:
Introduce the learning objectives so that students know where they are going.
Vocabulary builder (5 minute task): give students a persuasive word and ask for synonyms. You could do this timed, or as a competition to increase the liveliness of the activity. I keep the time strict on these tasks 3-4 minutes and two minutes for sharing words.
You could adapt this by changing the word, or by giving out a thesaurus to each pair.
Development:
Read the sample speech. Get pupils to read a sentence each around the room to get them involved, or read it to them.
Ask students to find 3 or 5 devices for themselves. This works well if you put meanings or examples on the board. You could also give out or display a copy of my PERSUASIVE BOOKMARK to support learners.
Another option is to highlight the devices yourself and ask students to label them. Or you could ask them which sentences have the most impact to create discussion.
After some device spotting, which can only ever be a starting point for analysis, ask students to answer the questions on the next slide. These questions delve a little deeper.
Plenary:
Ask students which devices have not been included that could make the speech better e.g. statistics, expert opinions, signposts, metaphors, etc.
A closing note: these resources are far from perfect. I know that you are probably able to make better, more engaging and more though-provoking resources and lesson plans yourself. And so my purpose is not to teach you how to teach, but more to spark ideas. When I look for resources online, I usually want to adapt them to suit my class specifically. So feel free to make changes. I hope the materials here are useful to save you time and/or to get your own creative juices flowing!