Language and Grammar: Persuade

Role-Play Work with a group. Half the group role-plays citizens who are against building houses in a popular wilderness area. The other half role-plays the business people who want to build more houses in that area. One person acts as the judge. The citizens try to persuade the judge to help save the land. The business people try to persuade the judge that they will bring new jobs, services, and money into the community. The judge decides. Use verbs in the correct tense. Trade roles.

We will create about 800 new jobs!

New jobs cannot make up for the damage to the environment and loss of animal homes.

Writing and Grammar: Write About Community Action

Study the Models When you write, you want your readers to understand when things happen. Decide whether the events are happening now, or if they happened in the past, or will happen in the future. Don’t switch back and forth or your writing may not be clear.

Not Ok

Earth has a problem. There is too much trash and we created more each day. We used too many things. So follow the 3Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle. You can recycle paper, metal, and glass into new objects. You can reduce the amount of trash. How? Buy things that will be made from recycled materials. You can reuse stuff and create art from trash. And you will give away old clothes. Don’t throw them out!

The reader thinks: “ This is confusing. It’s about the present, but the writer switches between present, past, and future!”

Ok

Earth has a problem. There is too much trash and we create more each day. We use too many things. So follow the 3Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle. You can recycle paper, metal, and glass into new objects. You can reduce the amount of trash. How? Buy things that are made from recycled materials. You can reuse stuff and create art from trash. And you can give away old clothes. Don’t throw them out!

This is better because the writer sticks to the present.

Add Sentences Think of two more sentences to add to the OK model. Be sure to write about events that are happening in the present.

Illustration of the pen icon WRITE ON YOUR OWN Do people in your school recycle? Write about an action you or your classmates took to recycle at school or improve the environment in another way.

    Remember

  • • Present tense verbs tell about actions that happen now or often.

  • • Past tense verbs tell about actions that already happened.

  • • Future tense verbs tell about actions that haven’t yet happened.