Free ESL Writing Activity Grade 9

Grade 9 Save Our Planet Persuasive Writing Activity

About This Resource

A guided persuasive-writing task in which Grade 9 ESL students plan and write a letter to their school principal proposing an environmental change, practising persuasive structure, linking words, and responding to a counter-argument.

Overview

This activity takes students through the full process of persuasive writing rather than asking them to write cold. Students first choose one environmental idea for their school (from five suggested options or one of their own), then complete a structured plan covering their idea, two supporting reasons, a possible objection someone might raise, and their response to that objection. A Useful Language section models persuasive linking phrases, and students then write a letter of at least 80 words using a lined page. A self-check list and a full model example letter (addressed to a fictional principal) are included so students can compare their own writing against a strong sample after finishing.

Resource Details

Subject: ESL
Topic: Save Our Planet
Category: Writing
File Type: PDF
File Size: 56.6 KB
Published: 06 Sep 2026
Downloads: 0

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Students will be able to plan a persuasive letter with a clear idea and supporting reasons.
Students will be able to acknowledge an objection and respond to it in writing.
Students will be able to write a persuasive letter of at least 80 words using linking words.
Students will be able to use at least two environment vocabulary words correctly in their writing.

How to Use This Resource

Introduce the task by reading the five idea options aloud and letting students choose one, or propose their own. Have students complete the planning table before writing — the objection-and-response step is often new to students and benefits from a quick whole-class example first. Once planning is done, give students time to write their letter independently, referring back to the Useful Language box as needed. After writing, have students use the self-check list to review their own work, then share the model example letter so they can see one way the task could be completed well.

Classroom Activity Ideas

Once letters are finished, have students swap with a partner and identify one sentence in their partner's letter that uses persuasive language particularly well, then tell the partner what they liked about it before returning the letter.

Differentiation

SUPPORT: Allow students to choose from the five provided idea options rather than generating their own, and reduce the minimum word count if needed while still requiring the full plan (idea, two reasons, objection, response).
ON-LEVEL: Students complete the full planning table and write a letter of at least 80 words as designed.
CHALLENGE: Ask stronger students to address two possible objections instead of one, or to add a concluding sentence that summarises their strongest reason.

Assessment

Use the self-check list as a first-pass student review, then assess the finished letter using this topic's Grading Rubric, particularly the Opinion and Persuasive Language and Content and Strength of Argument criteria.

Teacher Tips

Do the "possible objection" step of the plan as a quick whole-class brainstorm before students write their own — many students have never been asked to argue against their own idea before, and a shared example makes the individual planning step much easier.