Using the App Store for Persuasive Writing

CONTEXT 

This year all the pupils in year 6 are using their own iPod in lessons, and they all have their own blog space (http://6aclasswall.posterous.com) as part of our class blog (http://year6scps.posterous.com). In order to make the most of this technology and potential audience we have introduced several new features to the way we teach. One of these developments is the introduction of a weekly “Guest Marker” project (http://guest-markers.posterous.com), where the blog is used to share written work with people from varied and specialist backgrounds who have agreed to provide feedback for the pupils. This is based on an idea discussed in Jim Smith’s excellent Lazy Teacher’s Handbook. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lazy-Teachers-Handbook-Independent/dp/1845902890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350249196&sr=8-1)

Guest Markers

The idea of teaching persuasive writing using the APP store was designed to be part of the Guest Marker Project and the “guest” who had kindly agreed to mark the work was Katie Hart, Head of External Sales at 2Simple Software (@2SimpleKatie).

TASKS

Using Apple TV and an iPad, the App Store was mirrored onto the Interactive Whiteboard. A screenshot of FIFA 2013 and The Room was opened in Skitch. The pupils were asked to highlight and identify language features of persuasive advertisements as the iPad was passed around the children used the highlight tool in Skitch to identify persuasive words, phrases and rhetorical questions. 

FIFA13: Persuasive language in the App Store

The Room: Persuasive language in the App Store

The pupils choose a Catagory of App they were interested in (most chose games!) and went to the App Store on an iPod and investigated persuasive langauge used by other app companies and made notes, using the question on the sheet below.

Identify the Key Features of advertisements in the App Store

The pupils used their notes to draft a design their app for the App Store, using a checklist for persuasive writing, which culminated in a Big Writing Task 'Persuasive Advertisement for an app'.

Template created in Pages for persuasive advert for an app

AUDIENCE & OUTCOMES

The impact and importance of a real and relevant audience has been clear to see in terms of pupil focus, motivation and progress. With this task, the pupils knew they were writing for Katie, they knew exactly who she was and what she did and what was expected.
A selection of 6 completed pieces of work was scanned and posted on the blog (http://guestmarker4.posterous.com/) and Katie returned her feedback via the blog.

All feedback was shared and discussed and ways forward explored as the pupils prepared for their next piece of writing.

An example of a persuasive piece of writing for the App Store

An example of feedback from Katie Hart at 2Simple Software

An additional impact of this task was that following Katie Hart’s feedback, 2Simple’s award winning educational resource Purple Mash (http://www.purplemash.com/) asked the class to create a video to explain the activity to users of their award winning educational resource. This reinforced the power of the audience and gave the children an opportunity to prepare work for a much greater number of viewers.

Invitation to create a persuasive video for Purple Mash

To plan the video, the pupils wrote a script in Pages and used a success criteria, that they had previously used for the Big Writing Task 'Persuasive Advertisement for an app', so that each success criteria became part of the video. For each success they had to think of a example e.g. 'You should include a rhetorical question, for example, have you ever wanted to play the most awesome app ever?'

Success Criteria for Persuasive Writing

The pupils used Strip Designer app and created a storyboard, which they used in conjunction with their scripts, so that they were clear when it came to filming who was saying which part of the script.

The Digital Leaders' storyboard

The video was filmed and then edited in iMovie. 

The video below was created by the Digital Leaders in the school.

© 2013 MrAndrewsOnline