Gagne vs. First Principles

First Principles

Gagne's Theory of Instruction

How they compare....

Here's how I'd use the first principles to teach persuasive writing...

First Principle—Problem centered (Let me do the whole task)

ü Show students examples of how persuasive writing will help them achieve goals in real life, i.e. job interviews, letters to government officials, problem solving

ü Explain to students that they will be able to write a meaningful persuasive essay by the end of the unit. Show them examples from newspapers, etc. Define goals and objectives for the students.

ü I will focus on the components of the task like persuasive appeals and words with strong connotations. We will practice these skills individually before building them into a full essay.

First Principle—Activation (Where do I start?)

ü We will focus on situations where students had to be persuasive to achieve a goal. What were the commonalities between their experiences? Where they successful or not? We will also build on the prior knowledge of the writing process, which they will already be familiar with.

ü We will look at examples in real world contexts of persuasive writing, focusing on writing by students close to their age (in order to build confidence that they too can achieve these goals).

ü We will use graphic organizers and flow charts to organize our persuasive arguments effectively.

First Principle—Demonstration (Don’t just tell me, show me!)

ü I will demonstrate several examples, using both written essays and persuasive speeches.

ü We will identify differences and similarities in the examples, highlighting both.

First Principle—Application (Let me do it!)

ü We will begin this process with several practice writings, first small and then lengthier.

ü I will provide guidance and coaching for daily work exercises.

ü Each assignment will be peer edited and graded by me with appropriate feedback (i.e. a detailed rubric).

ü This will culminate in a timed essay, with no teacher coaching, which will be graded as a test.

First Principle—Integration (Watch me!)

ü The end result will be the student creating a piece of persuasive writing that they can use in the real world. This could be a letter to the publisher, a letter to their parents arguing for a later curfew, or a letter to a legislator.