Elf Application Christmas Persuasive Writing Christmas Activities 5th grade

Persuasive essays meet Christmas whimsy in this differentiated project that lets you teach essay structure, revision, and creative writing to your older elementary students. They’ll choose from three open positions at the North Pole – Toymaker Elf, Reindeer Caretaker Elf, and Delivery Elf. Each job has very different requirements to appeal to the diverse personalities in your classroom. You’ll decide whether they should write simple one-paragraph essays or more complex five-paragraph essays complete with thesis statements. Detailed lesson plans and mentor texts are provided for both types. Your students will fill out graphic organizers, revise their rough drafts, and finally produce keepsake Christmas essays. You can print this resource for in-person instruction or you can assign it digitally through TpT’s Easel.

This resource includes:

• Three “Help Wanted” job descriptions/writing prompts that detail three open positions at the North Pole: Toymaker Elf, Reindeer Caretaker Elf, and Delivery Elf.
• Two sets of detailed lesson plans to guide you through this project. One set lays out how to teach a one-paragraph essay in four lessons. The other details how to teach a five-paragraph essay in five lessons.
• Graphic organizers for one-paragraph essays and for five-paragraph essays.
• A mini lesson on revising a rough draft. Teach your students how to revise their own writing with the example paragraph. A key with an example revision is also provided.
• A mentor text for a one-paragraph essay.
• A mentor text for a five-paragraph essay.
• Graphic organizers for both mentor texts that you can use as examples as your students fill out their own graphic organizers.
• A “Help Wanted” job description for the mentor text.
• Lined, themed writing pages for each of the three job openings.
• Signs for all three job openings in both color and black and white to make a cute wall display with your students’ finished essays.
• A print-and-go rubric for a one-paragraph essay.
• A print-and-go rubric for a five-paragraph essay.
• An editable rubric.
• A digital version of the PDF and all the activities that can be assigned through TpT’s Easel.

31 pages