Persuasive Writing: Let's Vote!

 Near election day, we learned the art of persuasive writing by creating a proposition to vote for, or by running for a government office, and persuading others to vote for us!  We discussed that each short essay should have an introduction, a body paragraph with more detail, and a conclusion with a "sell it"/persuasive sentence included.  Enjoy these great ideas!

  Prop 333 by Armin (5th grade)

Have you ever seen homeless people on the streets just sitting and suffering? Prop 333 will give the homeless places to live, food, clothes, dietary needs, and a community that cares.

First, Prop 333 will give homeless people places to live by using tax money to build more shelters. There will also be a service created to drive around and gather them to be later transported to a shelter. We will also create a donation to pay for the clothes, food, and dietary needs. Several people have volunteered to live at the shelter with the homeless and take care of them along with many doctors keeping them healthy. 

Ultimately, this will get the homeless off the streets and a place that they can call home. If you want to stop seeing people suffering on the streets, vote yes on Prop 333.  

Elise for President! (5th grade)

        Can you imagine what it would be like if a smart, productive, and collaborative GIRL president was elected for office?  Well, that will happen if you wisely vote for Elise!

        Have you ever walked outside of your house and smelled the very unhealthy smell of smoke?  Voting for me would completely get ride of that horrible smell.  If you're a person that likes the smell of smoke, consider it again for it has been proven that smoke is toxic and damages your lungs.  I would also have a more prioritized goal of protecting the Earth than any other presidents, because I believe that having a healthy and eco-friendly planet for the next generation is crucial.  Next, I will create a goal to fight fairly for rights.  It doesn't matter matter what you look like or any other things that you think is negative, because everyone is created equally by God.  Finally, an issue that I will address is also the problem of low pay rates for jobs.  For example, some teachers are not paid like other teachers are, which is not fair.  This can cause lives to deteriorate (make or become worse).  I will address all these issues, and many other ones.

        So if you want a president who makes your job super fun and fights for the fair rights of the people, vote for the ultimately awesome Elise!

Titus for President (4th grade)

Hi, I’m Titus, a hardworking and focused, and I’m running for president. Although I’m going to need your help to get votes. I’m going to tell you some things I’ll probably do if I win.

 

I think we should increase fines for littering on nature, or on city property, and promote recyclable material. Think about it! If you litter, that means more repairs, which cost MONEY$$$, meaning I, the president, get less money to spend on more important things, like funding and productions. Do you want that? Definitely NOT right? I know I’m so smart.

Anyways back to what I was saying, if you want a happy, stress free environment, then I STRONGLY encourage you to vote for me, TITUS!

Persuasive Writing: Amazing Inventions!

 To celebrate Thomas Edison's birthday, students were asked to come up with an invention they thought could change the world for the better.  To convince the reader that this invention is an absolute necessity (and perhaps even possible!), they had to write a five paragraph essay outlined like this:

I. Brief Intro on the invention, perhaps including a scenario or hypothetical question

II. More detail on how the invention would work

III. Whom this invention would benefit

IV. Extra details (cost, size, various options)

V. A conclusion sentence with a snappy "sell it" sentence.

Enjoy these samples!  I bet you'll want to buy these inventions to have for yourself!

 CancerCancelator2000

By Adeline (4th grade)

If I could create a new invention, it would be the “CancerCancelator2000.” My invention would be able to cure cancer using a laser, and you would save a lot of money doing it. Then cancer patients wouldn’t have to worry.

The “CancerCancelator2000” would be easy to use. It is a two inch long device, and if you press the on/off button, it turns on or off. If you press the yellow button, a dark blue laser shoots out. When you aim it at the cancer patient, the tumor will disappear, and they will be healthy again.. 

This invention would help cancer patients. If they are sick, they will get better. Doctors are helpless in curing cancer. This invention will make things easier and will save a trip to the hospital. 

The “CancerCancelator2000” comes in any color, and is only $11.99. Returns are allowed, but you won’t need to return it because this invention is so helpful. The “CancerCancelator2000” is very obliging and will help you save money. When it cures the person, confetti shoots out to celebrate! This will make the cure even more exciting. 

This invention will help many people and hospitals. And it is not expensive. Buy it to cure cancer!

"The Personal Temperature/Weather Control," by Jayden (5th grade)

If I could create a new invention, it would be the ‘Personal Temperature/Weather Control™’. Have you ever overheated in a greenhouse on the equator or hypotherminated on the North Pole? Or maybe just wanted to change the weather for your own well-being? Well, there isn’t any way to control the natural weather, but you can control your own personal weather/temperature with this new invention!

All you need to do to use the Personal Temperature/Weather Control™ is to push the power button. Because your neurons communicate with electrical signals, the Personal Temperature/Weather Control™ can detect them. Using a lot of AI training, it can detect what you are thinking. After this stupendous invention reads your mind, it automatically changes your personal weather/temperature to what you want. You sense the whole world as it would be if it were the weather/temperature that you want. For example, you could be in a snowstorm but want a sunny, warm, but not too hot day. You think, “I WANT A SUNNY, WARM, BUT NOT TOO HOT DAY!!!” The Personal Temperature/Weather Control™ then reads this and changes your weather to a sunny, warm, but not too hot day. This means you can see no snow at all, feel it, or interact with it, but instead feel and interact with a sunny, warm, not too hot day. This invention does not affect any other people’s senses or weather(for anybody who is absurdly evil and wants to control the whole world’s weather).

This invention would help people who like outdoor spaces, but hate the weather. Also, people who live in extremes could use this, for THEY could definitely live at the North Pole or in a greenhouse on the equator. And everyone has experienced guessing wrong with the daily weather, or ignoring the forecast altogether.

The regular price of the Personal Temperature/Weather Control™ is $50. If you want others to see your weather (maybe on a very bad day), you can get that version, which costs $10 more. Also, you can switch it off if you want your weather to be private. Another option is the tints modification, which can give your world any color tint. This costs $10 more. The last version you can get is the day/night version, which costs $15 more. These additions are all stackable.

Everybody has experienced a situation where they hoped that winter was warmer or that summer was cooler. By using the Personal Temperature/Weather Control™, every single aspect of the unreliable, natural weather could be changed into a blissful, realistic version of the earth!

 The Lost and Found KeyChain

 by Jessie (5th grade)

Have you ever lost something and felt depressed about it? My newest invention, “The Lost and Found KeyChain.” will fix that. A “Lost and Found KeyChain” is a small convertible keychain that when you click a button, your lost object, as stated in the name, will be found.

This Lost and Found KeyChain would be extremely simple to use. First, when the owner of this keychain realizes they have misplaced an object, they would simply take out their keychain and press the a button. Take into consideration that there are two buttons: the blue one is for finding a person, and the purple one is for finding an object. After pushing the a button, make sure to say what you want to find, or else your KeyChain will give you everything anyone has lost. Thanks to the mechanical functioning in the KeyChain, your lost objects won’t be lost for long.

This creation will help all the kids or grown-ups find their lost objects. The sadness in your mind for losing something valuable to you will soon be replaced with the joy of getting it back. A lost cell-phone, Apple Pencil, water bottle or even sibling at a busy amusement park, will all be solved with my creation. But the “The Lost and Foundkeychain” does not only specialize in finding objects, it also helps find people!  For example, have you ever seen a parent running around, terrified trying to find their kid?  Well this little piece of backpack decor will fix it all up. “The Lost and Found KeyChain” would save so much money otherwise spent replacing important objects, with just a push of a colorful button.

For only  $4.99, the “Lost and Found KeyChain” not only provides you with the joy of finding a lost object or person, but so much more. This keychain can come in customized colors of your pick on a website for free. From red to purple, and gold to silver, this KeyChain can also come in the form of a bracelet, necklace, headband, choker and even anklet. 

The Lost and Found KeyChain can help even the clumsiest person find their lost objects. Next time you wish upon a star to find your lost object, you know that you can just wish upon a The Lost and Found KeyChain.

Persuasive Writing: Happy Father's Day!

 We showed the dads some love as we worked hard learning how to write organized essays that persuaded our readers that OUR Dad was the best!  Outlining is such an important skill to have.  If students can outline, they can quickly turn their outline, which is in notes form, into an organized essay.  Our outlines for this project looked like this:

I. Intro: Thesis (Something like, "My dad is the greatest dad in the world.")

        A. Reason #1 

        B. Reason #2

        C. Reason #3

II. Reason #1 with evidence

III. Reason #2 with evidence

IV. Reason #3 with evidence

V. Conclusion- a very persuasive sentence to end the writing

    I was told all dads LOVED their essay gifts.  Tyler (rising 7th grader) offered to share his letter with the world!

    The Best Dad Ever

    I am so lucky to have such a loving dad.  For example, he coaches my baseball team.  My dad also plays with me and jokes around with me.  Everyone should have a dad like mine.

    My dad has been coaching my team since I was five.  He helps me get better so I can reach my goals.  My dad also asks me if I want to practice.  He also asks me if I need new batting gloves and other equipment.  All of this will help me to make it to the Major Leagues one day.

    My dad also plays with me.  He sometimes plays video games with me when he gets home from work.  My dad also plays board games with me.  He wants to spend time with me by playing with me.  This makes me feel happy.

    My dad also makes me laugh.  He does this because he loves making me happy.  My dad also chooses movies for us to watch together.  I love it so much when my dad makes me laugh and smile.

    Clearly, my dad is the best I could ask for.

Critical Thinking/Persuasive Writing

Critical thinking, and being able to persuade others, are such valuable skill sets! In March 2021, my students were presented with this assignment:

It’s been about a year since Covid-19 caused schools to shut down and youth sports to be canceled. How do you feel about that?  Today, you will persuade the reader that your opinion is the right one, and one that governmental leaders should act upon. We will learn how to use three Aristotelian appeals to make an argument for opening up schools and sports, keeping them closed, or any hybrid model you can come up with.  If you feel strongly things are going just as they should, it will be your job to convince us that it should continue that way.  If you feel there should be any change in policy, your job is to convince us that you are right and we should change things!  

There is no wrong or right opinion.  Your job is to convince us, to sway us, to persuade us, your readers!

Pathos: a quality that invokes strong emotion

Ethos: a quality that appeals to ethics

Logos: a quality that appeals to logic and reason (includes facts or statistics).

Each of these is used in an argument to convince an audience.  The argument may be heavier in one over another.  However, a strong argument will contain some of all three of these concepts.

My students put a lot of thought and heart into this assignment. I was so impressed, as I watched their critical thinking skills grow. They first outlined an introduction with three points, then wrote body paragraphs for each point (as they attempted to include ethos, pathos, and logos), and then a conclusion.  

Enjoy these samples. This is a blog entry for the history books, for sure!

Why We Should Reopen Schools and Sports

by Kevin (6th grade)

Schools have shut down due to Covid-19. We have all been doing distance learning and have discontinued sports for the past year. Covid-19 has been around for a long time now, and I think it’s time to reopen schools and start in-person sports.

We should reopen schools and sports because students want to play sports.  Their happiness depends on it!  Students will get fatter and fatter as they exercise less and eat more. Also, playing sports is healthy for the body. Immune systems get stronger when people are healthy and they exercise regularly. I, for one, am a student who wants to compete in sports. Also, surveys have shown that 69% of girls and 75% of boys participate in youth sports. You’re basically taking away something from these students if sports are still closed. Obviously, schools and sports should reopen because students want to play sports. 

Also, we should reopen schools and sports because distance learning is worse than in person learning. Don’t you feel bad for the students who get A’s in in-person school, but then get B- in distance learning? I know people that aren’t doing as well with their grades as they were before Covid-19 hit. Also, sometimes students can’t ask questions. Since when teachers are sharing their screen on zoom, they cannot see the students’ faces, and therefore cannot see when the students have a question.

Finally, we should reopen schools because students can then see their friends again. They can play with them and have fun with them. Also, parents don’t have to make lunch for their child at home. Students can have hot lunch at school instead of parents spending time they don’t want to spend cooking for their child because they are stuck at home.

In conclusion, schools should reopen because students want to play sports, distance learning is worse than in person learning, and because students can see their friends again. 

6th Graders Deserve Better

By Penelope (6th grade)

Do 6th graders get to play ball, make friends, socialize, learn better and just have as many rights as the graders below? That’s just it, they don’t! The three main reasons 6th graders deserve better is because of the anger inside them, the need for socialization and time to play, and the need for more time on campus for better learning - I should know since I’m an 11 year old 6th grade kid myself! 6th graders deserve better, please!

Imagine all of those poor kids, standing in the cold heavy rain, hearing the laughs and screams of kids playing, and watching them play 4 square climbing on the playground, running around the black top with the yard duty chasing after them because it’s raining. Sitting in their chairs at home, staring blankly at their screens, unsure of what to do next. 6th graders now don’t enjoy school the way they used to before the events of covid-19, they barely even do enjoy it. 6th graders now think school is unfair and boring. Their lack of everything makes them angrier day by day. Most of them don’t even think P.E. is fun anymore! In fact, about 48% of 6th graders are depressed because of loneliness and such because of what’s happening to schools caused be covid-19. 6th grade anger is not because of them, it’s because of what teachers are choosing wrongly for them!

The 6th graders sit in their classrooms as their teacher teaches a long boring lesson that takes up most of their time on campus. There are still kids outside running around, messing, playing, climbing… yet the 6th graders don’t even get to play. Even their recess time is only 10 minutes when it’s supposed to be 15. This is what happens every day on campus at this school. The same boring cycle over and over again. 6th graders don’t even get to play a fun game of ball with each other. All they can do now is walk around the general area of the classrooms 6 feet apart and come back when the teacher calls. This makes them very bored and unfit. They barely even get to socialize because of the lack of students in the class. 8 at most! Some kids don’t even have friends in their classes. 6th graders need to socialize, or depression will become more likely. In fact, the average number on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being “I don’t like people” and 10 “I need people” 8 was the average! 6th graders deserve better with playtime and social time.

The 6th graders try to make the most of their 2 hours and 15 minutes on campus. They return home, barely smarter than they were the day before. They get picked up and driven home where they face a big bright screen of terror. No teachers can help them there. They face the remaining 3 hours and 45 minutes staring at a screen, trying their best to learn as their eyes redden. 6th graders don’t have enough time on campus to learn the way they need to. The teachers think they’re old enough to deal with it on their own, but no, It’s not like that! We may be half way through school… but we’re only half through school! We still need a little help and we also need more time to learn. Unfortunately, all of this is because teachers believe that 6th graders “bodies are different”.  But there is not enough proof for this reasoning! Most kids in 6th grade are 11, and even a lot of 5th graders are 11, too! 12 year olds have very strong immune systems, and also are not that contagious to it! Over 1 million kids lack connectivity and brain cells because of this! 6th graders deserve better with learning and time on campus.

As you can see, the graders aren’t being treated fairly when it comes to school, just because of their “age group”. Just imagine what it’s like for us! 6th graders deserve better… and that’s FINAL!

                                                                Hybrid is the Way to Go!

                                                                        by Dylan (5th grade)

    Schools and sports should be opened but with restrictions for Covid-19.  Covid-19 is bad for kids. Kids are getting bored without interaction with other kids. Kids are getting fat without exercise. And, virtual classes don't give the same one-on-one experience.

First, kids get bored without interaction. imagine being full of energy, and not getting any chance to let it out? Kids are trapped in a room for a whole day! That might not be tough for adults, but on kids, that's torture. Imagine how terrible kids feel! The emotional impact of the Covid-19 quarantine was assessed for children from Italy and Spain. Participants  included 1143 parents of children aged 3 to 18 years who completed a survey about the effects of the  quarantine on their children, compared to before the home confinement period. The study found 85.7% of parents reported changes in their children’s emotions and behaviors during the quarantine. The most frequently observed changes were difficulty concentrating (76.6%), boredom (52%), irritability (39%), restlessness (38.8%), nervousness (38%), loneliness (31.3%), uneasiness (30.4%), and worries (30.1%). About 75% of parents reported feeling stressed about the quarantine situation. Parental stress was associated with increased reports of emotional and behavioral symptoms in their children. Kids are changing for the worse. During covid, I personally noticed that I feel a lot more depressed and bored than I usually would on a normal day. I feel lonely and out of reach from everyone. The few days I do get to talk with them, I feel SO happy. I am in a better mood, and I leave all bad feelings and stress behind. These changes are not just me. The entire world is changing.

Second, kids are getting fat without exercise. I am a kid, and I know that during the pandemic, I was not the only kid to be much more tempted to eat junk food. I saw the lines at baskin robin’s grow, A LOT during the pandemic. If we eat more bad food, we will make our body weaker and not able to fight the virus. Kids need sports. Not only do they let your energy out, it also gives you exercise! Exercise is vital for everyone, and during covid, nobody can get it. Kids get sad because of no chance to show all of their practice! Try to imagine working SO hard for a competition, and then it gets cancelled at the last moment! How depressed do you think those kids feel? In addition to that, Severe Obesity from ages 2-19 has increased from 5.2% to 19% in the last 20-30 years. Imagine how much it has increased NOW because of Covid-19 and no physical sports? It has increased A LOT.

Finally, Virtual classes are not the same. We come to the classroom to learn and have fun. During the pandemic, we can't do either. Kids are separated from their friends, and they can't learn because the teachers can't give feedback! The kids must feel so sad because of interaction limits, and parents would also be sad because their kid is not learning anything.

A team of researchers at Stanford University crunched NWEA test scores for students in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reached a terrible conclusion this fall. The average student had lost a third of a year to a full year's worth of learning in reading, and about three-quarters of a year to more than a year in math since schools closed in March, the report estimated.  Through 5th grade, I have noticed a bad change in school. During the pandemic, kids don't get enough 1-1 time. This is bad because teachers don’t get to look at the students' work, and students don't get feedback to improve. This defeats the whole purpose of learning, because you don't get any better.

   In conclusion, hybrid is the way to go because in virtual, kids get bored without interaction, kids get fat without exercise,  and virtual just isn’t the same. If we keep this up, hopefully covid will end and we won't become emotionless zombies. So vote hybrid.

Persuasive Writing: Election Time!

      Check out these awesome presidential candidates and propositions!  Would you vote for them?  In this lesson on persuasive writing, the students were taught to write an introduction, body, and conclusion that explained their views clearly and packed a punch with persuasiveness through strong and emotion-filled language.  Enjoy these selections!

            PROP 1234: Get a 3 day weekend and a 4 day school week!!!

                                            By Seoyoon (3rd grade)

   Prop 1234 is the best prop in the USA. Prop 1234 means having more free time to spend on the weekends. Also, this proposition will create a shorter school week!!!

First, getting a 3-day weekend is important because we can get more time to finish school homework. There is not much time to play with our families as the schedule is now. We can get more time to spend time with our families with a 3-day weekend. If you are a teacher, you get to have more time to plan fun activities for students to do!  Finally, there will be more time to plan extra work for some students that need more education. 

If you want to have more time to finish homework, plan activities for school, and spend more time with your family, be sure to vote YES on Prop 1234.

                                                            Kyle for President

                                                            by Kyle (4th grade)

     Vote Kyle for President because I'm smart, cool, and awesome!

     If I get elected, it will only cost $1,000 to live in America for a lifetime!  There will be more military forts, so the country will be more protected.  Paper will also be free!  Everyone will have a pet, and they can bring it to school every day.

     If you want an awesome president, vote for Kyle!

Vote for Jessie!  (4th grade)

If you want a caring, supportive and considerate president, and if you care about the people around you ,vote for Jessie. I will try hard to be considerate and make fair decisions.  Here are some more reasons why you should vote for me.

Voting for me will not only help people who are fortunate, but also the people who aren’t fortunate. I will work on making services for food, if restaurantes have extra food, I’ll get that to the people in need, instead of the good food going to the garbage and creating large landfills. I also will build a large orphanage building.  It will be a fun place, and a school will be built right next to it, just for orphans.  That way they can learn like the people around them and won’t feel left out. The last important thing that I will do is build homeless shelters.  They will receive  donated things, and some will be made new.  The taxes will pay for these things just like public schools, libraries and other buildings.

Imagine if you didn’t have a home, food or parents, you would feel terrible, hungry or discouraged. If you want to help those people vote for Jessie.

Prop 39: Get to Wear What You Want in School!

By Anay (4th grade)

Prop 39 is one of the best props in the world. It allows students to wear whatever they want to school, and not wear uniforms.  It lets you be free in school!  Let me tell you more about Prop 39. 

Have you ever felt itchy in school  because of your uniform?  Well Prop 39 will get rid of that. Have you ever felt that you want to express how you are feeling that day, and you couldn’t express yourself because of your uniform? Well Prop 39 will change that and will let you express yourself.  Students also get to wear what they choose.  If they want to wear more thin shirts and thin shorts because it was going to be a hot day, they can choose that instead of their thicker uniforms.   

 You should vote Prop 39 because it will let students wear comfortable clothes in school and let them express themselves in school by wearing clothes of their choice. So vote for Prop 39 for true clothing freedom! 

                                                            Behold  the future 

                                  By: Rylin (6th grade) 

              

I want to help our electric future so it won’t be like the past. I believe in better learning conditions for our future students, and better wifi! So please vote YES on Prop 51 . 

This proposition will help students learn better by providing discounted wifi that actually works. My prop would solve that annoying problem of having your partner drop out of your breakout room, and it would help your teachers to stop dropping like flies. Lastly, my proposition will at the beginning of every school year make all internet companies  give a 80% off to you! 

So please help the future in a brand new way by supporting Prop 51. 

                                    Prop 123456789 : No More Dangerous Fires

                By Hari (6th grade)

Prop 123456789 provides a key component that will help the face of the Earth. It makes it so that big fires and lighters are banned. This prop is important for many reasons.

The first reason is that in October 2020, there were 44,000 Fires. All of these fires were caused by lighters and other fires. The second reason is that there are children and toddlers who die or get hurt from the use of lighters. They grab onto the lighter, and because they have no safety cap, they start a fire and burn themselves. My last reason is that I created an invention that bypasses the issues. 

This invention creates a spark that has a strong keyhole cap. The only way to unlock it is if you use the designated key given to you. You need to go through a big process to use this tool so that you don't misuse it. It only can be opened for ten seconds before getting locked for one minute. 

Vote yes on Prop 123456789 if you want to save acres of our beautiful land, as well as children, by using this incredible invention.