Help Your Community

  • 1 TRY OUT LANGUAGE

  • 2 LEARN GRAMMAR

  • 3 APPLY ON YOUR OWN

Persuade

What problems do you know of in your community? Maybe there is litter that needs to be collected. Maybe some children need tutors to help them in school. How can you persuade people to take action?

Work with a small group. Brainstorm a problem to solve. State why people should take action. Then list evidence or reasons to support your argument. Use persuasive language that would convince others to do what you want.

Argument: Each of us has something we can teach a younger child. If we each give two hours a week reading to first graders, we can help those kids be more successful in school by the time they reach our age.

    Support

  • 1. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the world to help a child learn.

  • 2. If we read to younger kids, we help them find success and believe in themselves.

  • 3.

Present your argument and support to another group. Then trade roles. Which group was more successful at convincing the other? Why?

How to Persuade

  • 1. Present your argument.

  • 2. Give evidence and reasons to support your argument.

  • 3. Use persuasive language to convince others to agree with your argument and to take action.

I love math, and I’m pretty good at it.

Then tutor a student who has trouble with math. You can help him or her succeed!

Use Verbs in the Present, Past, and Future Tense

When you make a persuasive argument, you need to use verbs. Use the correct verb tense to show when an action happens. If it happens often or now, use the present tense. If it already happened, use the past tense. If it hasn’t happened yet, use the future tense.

In the Present:Some kids need help with their school work.
In the Past:We learned the same things when we were their age.
In the Future:We will help kids do better in school.