Best for
Letters, opinion pieces, school proposals, issue responses, and bridging from oral argument into structured writing.
English • Years 5-9 • Argument writing
Persuasive Writing
Use this handout to help ākonga argue in writing with more than opinion. Persuasive writing becomes teachable when students can see how a claim, reasons, evidence, counterargument, and conclusion fit together.
Free argument scaffold, premium class-issue path
This page already gives the structure, planning prompts, and revision check. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want the same writing frame rebuilt around a class novel, inquiry issue, school submission, or a more scaffolded writing level.
- Swap in a real local issue, class motion, or school decision.
- Generate a junior simplified version or a more formal editorial version.
- Save the adapted version in My Kete and refine it later in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 1 lesson for planning or 2 lessons for a draft and revision.
- Grouping: Whole-class modelling, then independent or paired writing.
- Prep: Choose one issue with a realistic audience and evidence base.
- Teaching move: Keep asking “What is your evidence?” whenever a claim stays vague.
Resources already provided
- Argument structure guide
- Claim and evidence planner
- Counterargument prompt
- Drafting space and revision check
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
If the lesson mentions claim, evidence, or writing structure, the core scaffolds are already here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how to organise a persuasive text clearly.
- We are learning how evidence and examples make an argument stronger.
- We are learning how audience and purpose shape writing choices.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can state a clear position.
- I can support my position with at least one reason and evidence.
- I can include a conclusion or counterargument that strengthens my writing.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
The companion page links this resource to English expectations around argument writing, audience, structure, and deliberate language choices.
Why persuasive writing matters
Students meet persuasion everywhere: school notices, speeches, ads, campaigns, social posts, and editorials. Good teaching helps them see the difference between a strong case and empty volume.
Through a mātauranga Māori lens, argument should stay connected to responsibility, relationships, and place. The point is not to “win” by any means, but to make a case that is honest, purposeful, and accountable.
Basic persuasive structure
Opening
Introduce the issue and state your position clearly.
Reason and evidence
Give one strong reason and support it with evidence, an example, or a fact.
Counterargument
Acknowledge another view and explain why your position still stands.
Conclusion
Leave the reader knowing what matters and what should happen next.
Plan your argument
Issue or topic:
My position:
Reason + evidence:
Another view I need to answer:
Sentence stems that help
To state a position: “I strongly believe that ...” / “Our school should ...”
To add evidence: “This matters because ...” / “One clear example is ...”
To address another view: “Some people might argue ..., however ...”
To conclude: “For these reasons ...” / “It is time to ...”
Draft your opening paragraph
Quick revision check
- My position is clear from the start.
- I used at least one real example or piece of evidence.
- I explained why my reason matters.
- I thought about another point of view.
- My conclusion leaves the reader with a clear next step or judgement.
Tautoko / Support
- Use one reason only for the first draft.
- Build the paragraph orally before writing it.
- Provide a short evidence bank for students to choose from.
Whakawhānui / Extend
- Add a second paragraph with a stronger counterargument.
- Turn the piece into a formal letter or editorial.
- Use the same topic for both a written and spoken argument.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
English — Te Reo Pākehā
Level 3–4: Read and interpret a range of texts for meaning and purpose; identify author intent, text structure, and language choices; write clearly for specific audiences and purposes using appropriate conventions.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how texts construct knowledge and perspective; evaluate the credibility and purpose of different sources; communicate ideas and findings effectively in written and oral forms.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to build core literacy skills — reading comprehension, writing craft, and oral language — grounded in the rich storytelling traditions of Aotearoa New Zealand and the literacy practices that empower rangatahi voice.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can apply the literacy skill or strategy featured in this resource with growing independence.
- ✅ Students can connect this resource's literacy focus to authentic texts, contexts, or purposes from their own world.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, word banks, or graphic organisers for entry-level access. Model think-alouds before independent tasks. Offer extension challenges that deepen analysis — for example, comparing the author's craft choices across two texts or writing an additional stanza or paragraph.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary before reading. Allow students to annotate in their home language first, then translate key ideas. Use shared reading and think-pair-share structures to lower the stakes for language production. Bilingual glossaries and visual text supports help bridge comprehension.
Inclusion: Chunk reading and writing tasks into manageable steps. Offer multimodal options — oral, visual, or digital — for students to demonstrate understanding. Neurodiverse learners benefit from clear task structures and explicit success criteria. Affirm diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds as assets, not deficits.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Literacy in Te Ao Māori encompasses tātai kōrero (the arrangement of speech), waiata, whakataukī, and the deep art of kōrero — storytelling as knowledge transmission. Encourage students to see their own family stories and community knowledge as valid literacy texts. Karakia opens and closes learning with intention. Tātai kōrero honours the voice.
Prior knowledge: Adaptable across year levels. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Teachers may wish to pre-read the resource and anticipate vocabulary that needs pre-teaching.
Curriculum alignment
- Reading — Making Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to identify, form, and express ideas across a range of texts.
- Writing — Creating Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to write in a range of text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.