When Your Child Want a Pet: Persuasive Writing with Purpose
This summer, our daughter started asking for a pet rabbit. I didn’t want to give her a flat out “no” when I really knew nothing about rabbits. It didn’t seem fair. We needed to make an informed decision.
A pet persuasive writing project was born.
We asked our daughter to persuade us that getting a rabbit was a wise decision. That meant she needed to first, get the facts about rabbits, and secondly, explain why a rabbit would be a good addition to our family.
We scribbled down questions for her to consider, but left a lot of the process up to her. After she presented her first draft, we gave her more questions, asking for additional information.
Because my daughter was highly motivated, she gave the project her all. I’ve never seen her so eager to research something. She read blogs and watched YouTube videos at every spare moment.
Is your child asking you for a dog? A cat? A snake? Eeks!
Then you have the perfect opportunity to teach research skills and persuasive writing with a writing project that your child will find intrinsically motivating.
Photo by Chevanon Photography from Pexels
For younger kids, writing a persuasive/research paper can be daunting. What do they include? How do they organize their findings and thoughts? They’ll need guidelines and support to help them research, take notes, and write an organized proposal.
Steps for Completing a Pet Persuasive Writing Project
- Determine what you need to know about the pet. You can brainstorm a list of questions together with your child.
- Organize your questions by topic.
- Decide what sources to use to gather information. Do you want your child to use books from the library or search online? How many sources should be consulted? We had our daughter use a variety of sources, including interviewing a friend who had a pet rabbit.
- Discuss the meaning of plagiarism. Teach your child how to paraphrase and how to quote a source.
- Provide a graphic organizer for note taking.
- Talk about introductory paragraphs and read some samples, if needed.
- Show your child how to write a sample paragraph from research notes, if needed.
- Discuss how to write a closing paragraph that both summarizes information in the paper and uses language of persuasion. “Why is this is a good pet?” “Why should my parents get me one?” Use guiding questions, like these, to help your child write her proposal clearly and convincingly.
- Help your child write a bibliography. Middle school kids can learn about correct citation structure, while younger kids can simply list titles and authors. You can make it as formal or informal as you wish, but be sure to emphasize the importance of crediting those people who provided the information.
- Have your child write a first draft, then revise and edit as needed.
- Give expectations for a final copy. Do you want it hand written or typed?
- Read your child’s pet persuasive writing project and make a decision about whether to get the pet or not. Let your child know your verdict.
The Rest of the Story
After several weeks of work, my daughter presented her final paper and waited eagerly for our response. She did a tremendous job at the research and writing a compelling proposal. She became a rabbit expert! It was definitely a great example of persuasive writing with purpose.
After careful thought on our part, we sadly told her that we didn’t think getting a rabbit was the best decision. I felt like a terrible mom, bringing my daughter to tears. But, in the end, she agreed with us, admitting she had hesitations about getting a rabbit, too.
Now she’s researching a new pet, a dog, which we all agreed would be the best next step for our family.
Conclusion
When your child starts begging you for a pet, it’s time for a persuasive writing project with purpose. Just think about all the different research and writing skills they’ll use! They’ll discover that using facts to support their opinions can make a strong case for convincing others of their opinion. And a pet writing project will show them that getting a pet is not something to take lightly. It takes effort to make a careful, thoughtful decision, but one that no one will regret.
Next Steps
Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you a packet of printables to help you start your own pet persuasive writing project. We’ve included worksheets for brainstorming questions, organizing questions, note taking, and how to write a bibliography.
