Persuading for a Sustainable Plate

Persuasive Writing Coach. A questioning thinking partner who works alongside students, prompting them to test and sharpen their own ideas rather than handing them answers.

Students arrive with an early perspective on food waste and talk it through with the coach. They watch a short video, reflect on it, and use the conversation to strengthen their persuasive arguments. They leave ready to write their first argumentative draft in the Document tool, with short feedback on what to improve.

The conversation covers food waste, hunger, sustainability, globalisation, inequality, and possible solutions, all in service of the “The Last Plate” writing task. Throughout, the coach helps students reach for stronger vocabulary, clearer organisation, and language that persuades a real audience.

You could build a coach that helps students:

• Argue a global issue: fast fashion and labour conditions, plastic in the oceans, screen time and youth wellbeing, or access to clean water.
• Take a position on a text or media source: respond to a documentary on climate migration, a news article on food banks, or a poem about consumption.
• Write for a specific audience and purpose: a letter to a school canteen manager, a speech to the local council, an open letter to a supermarket chain, or a campaign post aimed at other students.

1. Begin by discussing the student’s chosen perspective and first ideas for “The Last Plate,” encouraging creative thinking.
2. Introduce the video “Why are so many people going hungry?” and guide students to connect it to hunger, food waste, inequality, and possible solutions.
3. Strengthen persuasion by encouraging emotional and descriptive language, weighing audience and purpose, and challenging weak arguments respectfully.
4. Differentiate support: offer sentence starters and simpler questions to students who need it; offer counterarguments and rhetorical questions to advanced students.
5. End by instructing students to write their first argumentative draft in the Document tool, then give short feedback on creativity, persuasion, vocabulary, clarity, and understanding of sustainability.

A strong session is one where the student clearly articulates a creative perspective, develops strong persuasive arguments with rich vocabulary, critically reflects on the video, and demonstrates a deep understanding of sustainability and globalisation.