Essential Question: How do you write a persuasive letter to your representative to urge them to take action regarding your chosen issue?

Agenda:

1. Check your letter to your representative through both Grammarly and Hemingway.

2. Spend 15 minutes polishing and tightening your writing. Check every sentence for anything you could say in fewer words or in more precise language. Make sure you have used at least three sources to back up your claim.

3. Self-Assess your work. Copy/paste the Letter to Representative Rubric into the bottom of your document, then assess and score yourself for each category.

4 - I could teach this skill.
3 - I did what the rubric asked me to and feel pretty good about it.
2 - I still need some help here.
1 - I tried.

Be honest about your scoring and on the bottom, explain why you gave yourself the score you did in 3-5 sentences.

4. Using the rubric, ask two others to give you feedback on your letter. Use comments and suggestions to do this.

5. Polish your letter. Make sure to double-check it against the Letter to Representative Rubric.

6. Format your letter: 12 pt. Times New Roman, single-spaced. Include your and your representative's contact info (typically their contact info at the top, and your contact information [name, email, and address] after your closing.

​Send the letter/email/use your representative's contact form and take a screen shot of your sent confirmation.

Add your screenshot into the bottom of your draft (copy/paste) and submit your letter on Canvas.

Assignments:

• Submit the final, edited and polished version of your Letter to Representative (include the screenshot showing that you sent it) on Canvas

Essential Question: How do you write a persuasive letter to your representative to urge them to take action regarding your chosen issue?

Agenda:
1. Finish the rough draft of the Letter to your Representative (make sure to turn this in on Canvas for the 12/13 assignment).

2. Check your letter through both Grammarly and Hemingway.

3.  Add the following highlights and comments:

• Highlight one area that you feel is the most effective in your letter. Comment with what specifically is effective and going well.
• Highlight and comment on two areas that you need to improve. List some ways to improve this.

4. Find two other people to give you feedback on your letter.

Leave comments and suggestions on the following:

• What's working?
• What's confusing?
• What do you need to see more of to be convinced of their claim?
• For each paragraph, leave a comment paraphrasing (in your own words) what the letter is saying and comment on how credible the sources used are.

5. Implement your feedback and double-check that you have correctly used the following:

• Claim: should be in the first paragraph, should be specific, should show research and should tell what you want your representative do about this issue.
• Format your sources correctly.
  • Example: According to [Source], "..."
  • [Name] states in "Article Title" that, "..."
• Call to Action: What do you want your representative to do about this? What specific actions do you expect from them?

Assignments:
Submit your Letter to Representative Edits

Essential Question: How do you write a persuasive letter to your representative to urge them to take action regarding your chosen issue?

Agenda:
1. Work on the Rough Draft of your Letter to your Representative.
 Use these sources and examples to help you write this letter:

• Sample Letter Template (use this to start rough-drafting your letter)
• Tips and Sample Letters

Your Letter to Representative should contain the following:

• A clear opening about who you are and why you feel passionate about the issue you are writing about.
• Information about your chosen issue and an argument about what you want your representative to do about this. Make sure your argument is based on well-researched information.
• Should be clear, polite, and professional throughout
• End with a clear call to action
• Include contact information and use correct format and grammar

Requirements for your Letter to Your Representative: Follow this checklist.

2. Check your claim in your letter to yoru representative. Make sure to follows these guidelines:

• Claims are statements, not questions
• Your claim should be specific and show your knowledge of the subject matter
• Your claim should answer the following questions:
  • Who do you want to do something?
  • What do you want them to do?
  • When do you want them to do it?
  • Where do you want them to do it?
    • Example: I am writing you (who) to vote no on the upcoming tax bill (what) on Friday, December 1 (when) at Congress (where).
• Your claim should go against the status quo (current beliefs, policies, rules, behavior or institutions) to create controversy
• An effective claim should promote a pro/con argument
• Try to sum up your claim in one sentence; use no more than 25-30 words.

3. Example Claims:
Note whether these claims are effective or not. List everything that is going wrong/well with the claims below:

1. I am writing to urge you to pass measures to end poverty across the United States.
2. I urge you to vote yes on the upcoming bill to levy a bond to increase property taxes to benefit school improvement.
3. You should impeach Trump. 

4. How to cite sources in your letter: Check and highlight sources used in The Warrior Ledger.

5. Finish the rough draft of your letter to your representative.

6. Exit Ticket: Highlight and comment on the following in your draft:​

• Highlight your claim in one color
• Highlight all sources you used for research in a different color
• Highlight your call to action in a third color
• Comment on one are of your letter you feel works especially well
• Comment on two areas of your letter you feel need to be improved. Add ideas of how you want to improve this.

Assignments:

• Finished draft of your letter
• Exit Ticket

Essential Question: How do you write a persuasive letter to your representative?

Agenda:
1. Finish up your research for your letter to your representative. You need at least 3-5 sources. Analyze and list the following for each of your sources:

• Currency
• Relevance (list the parts of your sources you are going to use in your letter)
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose (make sure the purpose of your source is to provide information)

2. What is your claim for your letter to your representative? What do you want your representative to do about the issue you have chosen and why?

3. Write a rough draft for your Letter to Your Representative. Use these sources and examples to help you write this letter:

• Sample Letter Template (use this to start rough-drafting your letter)
• Tips and Sample Letters

Your Letter to Representative should contain the following:

• A clear opening about who you are and why you feel passionate about the issue you are writing about.
• Information about your chosen issue and an argument about what you want your representative to do about this. Make sure your argument is based on well-researched information.
• Should be clear, polite, and professional throughout
• End with a clear call to action
• Include contact information and use correct format and grammar

4. Requirements for your Letter to Your Representative: Follow this checklist.

5. Exit Ticket: Highlight and comment on the following in your draft:

• Highlight your claim in one color
• Highlight all sources you used for research in a different color
• Highlight your call to action in a third color
• Comment on one are of your letter you feel works especially well
• Comment on two areas of your letter you feel need to be improved. Add ideas of how you want to improve this.

Assignments:

• Letter to Representative Research
• ​Letter claim
• Letter to Representative Draft
• Highlights and Comments from Exit Ticket

Essential Question: Who is your representative and how do you conduct research to advocate for an issue you are passionate about?

Agenda:

Title your Google Doc: Representative and Research 12/5/19

1. Who is a representative or advocate for the issue you are going to write about?Note: This person or organization needs to be credible and be a representative or advocate for the issue you have researched. You should find out their email contact info. List it in your Google Doc and make some notes about anything else you find out about the representative you chose and how they can best advocate for your chosen issue. 

Some possible representatives/advocates to research are:

• For National and International Issue: Congress (House of Representatives): Find Your Representative
• For Utah-specific issues: Find your Representative in the Utah Legislature
• Advocate/Human Rights groups
• Spokespeople for a specific issue
• School District/Board Members for Granite School District, or Utah State Board of Education for state-wide issues

2. What else can you find out about your representative? List at least 3-5 key points about them and/or their current or past positions regarding the issue you chose.

3. Continue researching your chosen social issue. Make sure you have at least 3-5 credible sources. Sources MUST pass the CRAAP test. Check for and list the following for each source:

• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose

In your Google Doc, list the following for EACH of your sources:

• The link to the source
• The Author
• The Publisher/Website Name
• Date Published
• Any quotes or statistics or other parts you are planning to use from this source so you can easily cite it laterr

4. Exit Ticket: List the following:

• Who are you writing your Letter to Representative to? Include their contact (email).
• Why did you choose this particular representative?
• What is/has been this person's position on your chosen issue in the past?
• What is your main argument for the issue you chose?

Assignments:

• Details about your representative
• Letter to Representative Research and CRAAP test list (3-5 sources)
• Exit Ticket

Essential Question: How can you use issue assessment questions to determine how an issue affects individuals and groups of people?

Agenda: 

​Vote on a Rule for Cellphone Use:

1A Rule Votes
4A Rule Votes

1. Browse current news for ten minutes and make a list of the following:

• 3 issues that are currently in the news (make sure these issues are credible and relevant).
• 2 issues you feel people should know more about.
• 1 question regarding current events and news you have always wondered about.

To find current events from credible sources, check out one or more of the following:

• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• The Wall Street Journal
• NPR
• Huffington Post
• The Salt Lake Tribune
• The Deseret News

2. Use one of the issues you have listed above (or another issue of your own choosing) and complete the Issue Assessment Worksheet for this issue.

3. After completing the worksheet, highlight the areas you feel show how individuals and groups of people are the most affected by this issue. Highlight at least one bullet point per section to identify areas you should focus on in your research.

4. Start researching more information about this issue. Copy the links for your research into your GoogleDoc. Include how you made sure that your sources are credible (use the CRAAP Test) and list any pieces (statistics, quotes, etc.) from your research that you're planning to use in your document for today.

5. Exit Ticket: What is the most important piece of information you have found about your chosen issue?

Assignments:

• Current Events 3-2-1 List
• Issue Assessment and highlights
• Research
• Exit Ticket