Student Guide for Persuasive Writing about Roanoke

This was a guide that our group created to help scaffold students in their management of the new material.  It has been invaluable in the implementation of the assignment, as we do not have 32 copies of the book...

Roanoke Colony                                                                                                            Name ______________

Outline

I.                Introduction Paragraph

A.    Hook

B.      Counterpoint

C.    Topic Sentence

D.    Preview Sentence

E.      Summary of Facts

II.             Reason #1

A.    Support for Reason #1

B.      Support for Reason #1

C.    Support for Reason #1

III.           Reason #2

A.  Support for Reason #2

B.   Support for Reason #2

C.  Support for Reason #2

IV.         Reason #3

A.  Support for Reason #3

B.   Support for Reason #3

C.  Support for Reason #3

V.           Closing Paragraph

A.    Review the reasons

B.      Call to action

C.    Memorable Wrap-up tied to your hook

Spelling Bank

Roanoke,  Croatoan, 1587, England, Spanish, native, vanished, soldiers, John White, Sir Walter Raleigh, Manteo, flyboat, pinnace flagship, Lyon, skeleton, token, attack, Virginia Dare, destination, armada, privateering, palisade, blond, blue-eyed, North Carolina, archeologists, signet ring, Hatteras Island, clothed

Transition Words for Time

Initially, suddenly, at first, in the year 1587, soon, upon returning, after a time, occasionally, earlier, meanwhile, then, in the end, later that year/day/month, eventually, while, finally, when…, just then, soon thereafter, once

Transition Words for Persuasion

Additionally, furthermore, for example, on the other hand, contrary to…, to prove this point, one reason, perhaps

Five Main Theories

1.       No colonist survivors—they were killed by Croatoans or Spanish explorers

2.      Absorbed by Native tribe—they either went to live with or were captured and enslaved by the Croatoans or Lumbee

3.      Lost at sea—the colonists tried to sail back to England on the pinnace and either got lost, sunk, or were captured by the Spanish

4.      The colonists split into more than one group—some tried to sail away and others stayed and were killed

5.      The White Doe—an Indian legend that says Virginia Dare was raised by Croatoans, but was turned into a white deer by an old medicine man that she refused to marry--some historians say that she is the mother or grandmother of Pocahontas

Circle the theory that you think states what actually happened to the settlers of Roanoke.  Place a star by a theory that is not yours, but that you think also has a lot of evidence (this starred item is what you will address in your counterpoint).

Tier One Historical Thinking

For the past two weeks, my class has been working on their Roanoke persuasive writing after reading Roanoke, An Unsolved Mystery from History. 

The good news is that it does seem to give students that buy in, a personal and intimate connection to the material they are learning.  The bad news is that I now know what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke...they threw themselves into the sea rather than edit another persuasive essay about their fate.

All kidding aside, I now have some very motivated writers and historians that also happen to be fifth graders.  A writing assignment that began as five paragraphs and a single source has blossomed into a part time occupation in research and a thesis for some, so I can't complain too much.