Audience and Purpose — Who Are We Persuading?

Children share their territory and the AUDIENCE they named in lesson 1. Teacher asks: what does that audience care about?

• Listen for audience that is too vague ('everyone') and gently redirect
• Affirm specific audiences (principal, town council, family)
• Name the bridge: 'Persuasive writing is always TO somebody.'

Today you sharpen the AUDIENCE and PURPOSE of your argument. An argument is always written FOR somebody and TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. The same claim ('our school should keep winter recess') reads differently if your audience is the principal (formal, with evidence) vs. a classmate (casual, with personal example) vs. the school board (data-heavy, with cost analysis). Today you pick the audience — and you adjust your TONE accordingly. PURPOSE is what you want the audience to DO or BELIEVE: change a rule, allocate money, approve a project, change a habit. Watch teacher model two intros for the SAME claim — one to the principal, one to a classmate — and notice the differences.

• Notice the formal tone with the principal uses cited evidence; the classmate version uses observation. Both are persuasive — they match the audience.

  model Audience = PRINCIPAL: 'Did you know the AAP recommends 60 minutes of outdoor play daily? I argue that our school should keep winter recess because students focus better afterward, fresh air supports health, and indoor-only days hurt morale.' / Audience = CLASSMATE: 'Have you noticed how everyone is grumpy by 2pm on indoor-recess days? I think we should fight to keep winter recess because we focus way better, we get fresh air, and we don't feel like prisoners.' Same claim. Different tone. Different evidence types.

  prompt Teacher models same claim with two audiences.

• What changes when you switch audience from principal to classmate?
• What is YOUR essay's purpose — what do you want the audience to DO?

M-4-F-WR-05-A Chart

11x17 anchor showing the same claim (winter recess) with two intro versions side by side: PRINCIPAL audience (left, formal blue panel with cited evidence) vs. CLASSMATE audience (right, casual yellow panel with observation evidence). Differences highlighted in both versions: formal/informal vocabulary, type of evidence, tone of voice. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Pick your audience. Write 2 sentences naming the audience and the purpose (what you want them to do or believe).

  scaffold Audience-icon card deck; sentence frame 'My audience is ___. I want them to ___.'
• Revise your introduction so the TONE matches the audience.

  scaffold MG-2 anchor; partner-check

M-4-F-WR-05-B Illustration

Photo grid of 6 audience-icon cards: principal (with office desk), town-council member (with podium), school-board member (with meeting agenda), parent (with family photo), classmate (in school hall), family elder (at dinner table). Each card has the audience label, a 'cares about' line, and a tone-hint line. Print-ready 8.5x11.

• Name your audience and purpose in one sentence each.
• Move status-tile.

• Star your purpose sentence.

• Tell a family member your audience and purpose. Ask: 'What would convince YOU if you were that audience?' Bring back one suggestion.