argumentative essay about animal shelter

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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To Learn Persuasive Writing, These Students Wrote “Why You Should Adopt Me” Essays for Shelter Pets

The real-world connection made this project so engaging.

Authentic, real-world applications in the classroom keep students engaged and excited! Coming across a lesson that can truly make a difference and tie into a great cause is a huge win. Teacher Amy McKinney from Pennsylvania partnered with a local animal shelter for a persuasive-writing assignment with her third graders. Each student wrote about an adoptable pet and even drew an adorable photo! The goal was to help pets find their forever homes while students practiced their writing skills (and have a little fun, of course). The shelter is displaying these awesome write-ups with the adoptable pets and also shared them on their social media.

Take a look at this partnership:

McKinney’s daughter works with a local animal shelter, making the partnership a no-brainer. For other teachers looking to start a project like this, McKinney said, “I recommend that they reach out to animal shelters in their area. I’m sure they would love the opportunity to work with elementary students to help find homes for their pets!”

Authentic experiences increase student engagement.

McKinney shared the project on her Instagram and noted, “My students’ engagement was tremendous! They knew the work they were doing would make a huge difference in a pet’s life, so what normally takes us a couple of weeks to do, we completed in just days.”

The project was a huge success and McKinney told us both she and the animal shelter hope to continue this as an ongoing project. It keeps students engaged in the lesson while benefiting animals in need of a home.

Would your students enjoy this persuasive-writing project? Let us know in the comments.

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Essay on Animals: How to Write a Persuasive Paper

• Shelter and Rescue Work
• spay and neuter

When writing a persuasive paper, your purpose is to convince your audience to agree with your idea or accept your recommendation for a course of action. If you’ve decided to write an essay on animals (either for a school assignment or for another purpose), here are the steps to follow.

1. Choose a topic

Some sample topics for an essay on animals include:

• Everyone should spay or neuter their pets .
• Adoption is the best option.
• Dogs should be treated as individuals, not discriminated against because of breed.
• Microchipping is important to keep pets with their families.

2. Research information on the topic

You can do research online and at the library, plus talk to experts in the field, to get more information. While reviewing the materials, look for interesting facts or tidbits that will hook your readers.

3. Create a flow chart 

4. write the thesis statement for your paper.

Now it's time to fill in the flow chart, first with your thesis statement. For example: "Everyone should spay or neuter their pets." This statement will go in the first box in your flow chart. The flow chart is a visual way to help you create an outline. An outline will help you organize the information in a logical order. Your finished product will have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

5. Write the reasons and supporting data

The body will contain the reasons and the supporting data listed on your flow chart. The body not only contains evidence to support your opinion but also addresses one or two opposing views. 

Be sure to include your counter-argument when stating the opposing view. For example, one opposing view to the above statement might be this: "Many people think that an animal who has been spayed or neutered will become lazy and fat." Your counter-argument could be this: "This is a misconception. The main reason pets become overweight is lack of exercise and overfeeding."

6. Note engaging facts

Keep the flow chart handy as you read through all the information you have gathered. In a separate place, write “Hooks and facts to grab the reader’s attention,” and as you review your material, jot down cool facts that you come across. For example: "Just one female cat and her offspring can produce an estimated 420,000 cats in only seven years."

7. Consider all angles

Be sure to address a wide variety of reasons to support your topic statement. For example: Think about pet overpopulation, overcrowded shelters, the costs to your city or town, the effects on pet health, and pet behavior. What would your audience find most important?

8. Expand each reason individually

Before writing your actual paper, keep your facts straight by writing each reason and the supporting evidence on separate sheets of paper or documents.

9. Write your essay

Write your first draft. Then, revise your outline and draft as needed until you have your final draft. If necessary, include a bibliography.

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Children wrote essays to help get shelter dogs adopted — and it worked

Second grade teacher Kensey Jones wanted her students to write something that could have a real impact when she thought about this year's persuasive writing assignment.

So she approached the director of the animal shelter where she volunteers.

“How do you feel about the second graders writing persuasive paragraphs through the eyes of one of the shelter animals?” Jones, 42, who teaches at St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Richmond, Virginia, asked.Shelter director Christie Peters loved the idea — and so did city residents. Of the 24 animals (23 dogs and one cat) that Jones’ students drew pictures of and wrote persuasive essays about, most have been adopted.

“The speed in which they were adopted after we did this promotion really gives merit to it,” Peters, 44, director of Richmond Animal Care and Control, told TODAY Parents. “These were dogs that were overlooked for some time and the (essays) really did bring people into the shelter and maybe make them think about those dogs and the one cat in a different light.”

Related: John Travolta adopts dog from Betty White tribute at the Oscars

Jones and Peters thought it would be best for the children to write about animals that were harder to adopt, for various reasons.

“We were very careful to include animals that were not easily adoptable — animals that maybe are older, maybe had a health issue in the past, they just require a little extra TLC, maybe needed to be an only pet in the home,” Jones explained. “I then sat down with the class and told them about each of the dogs and a little bit about their personality and then assigned each student an animal.”

To help them prepare, Peters brought a puppy, Snow, to school. The students loved it. Playing with Snow and learning how the shelter operates inspired them to write convincingly for their dogs. Parker Witthoefft, 7, was assigned a dog named Missy (that he hoped his family would adopt). While Missy didn't go home with Parker, she was one of the first dogs to be adopted.

“Writing is not always the first thing that they’re drawn to,” mom Jaclyn Witthoefft, 40, of Richmond, told TODAY Parents. “Parker was chomping at the bit. He had so much fun connecting with the story and with the dogs.”

Witthoefft believesParker will always remember this assignment, and said it also reinforced the lessons about empathy she teaches her children.

“I am always asking my children to ‘put yourself in somebody else’s shoes,’” she said. “This was exactly that. It might not have been a human shoe, but it was paws, and they had to put themselves in that dog's place or that cat’s place and think about what you want to persuade someone based on the personality and needs of that animal.”

The essays show how the students really excelled at understanding their pets.

“Hi, I’m Gail Weathers. I would like a home so much. I have a fine life here but I would like my own dog bed a lot. I would like a toy and a big yard. I would like to be the only pet in the home.”

Another says:

“Hi, my name is Sleigh Ride. Do you want to adopt me? You can train me if you want. Can you put a heart on my collar. I am a girl. Who are you? You can snuggle with me. I promise that I will be a good dog. You can even sleep with me if you want. I love going on walks and playing outside. I am a medium sized dog. I’m getting bored at this place. Would you love me forever? Love, a cute puppy.”

Every day since the shelter project started, Jones updates the students on who was adopted.

“I have heard — not directly from an adopter but by word of mouth — that our writings did impact them to adopt from RACC and it just really tugged at their heart strings,” she said.

Peters, whose son Max, 8, is in Jones’ class, hopes that shelters across the country consider similar partnerships with their local schools. She says it's a win-win that requires no extra funding for marketing to make it work.

“The stories and the illustrations were just so adorable and really cute and written from such a wonderful perspective,” she said. “It really was a huge benefit.”

Jones, who volunteers weekly at the shelter by walking and spending time with the dogs, also hopes this idea grows.

“I would love for this idea to be spread to any other teachers, local shelters that could partner together to do something hopefully to get more pets homes,” she said. “As an educator my biggest hope and dream is that I want the students to know no matter how young you are, you can put your mind to something and you can make a true difference.”

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Adoption — Persuasive Speech On Adopting Animals

Persuasive Speech on Adopting Animals

• Categories: Adoption

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Words: 339 |

Published: Mar 6, 2024

Words: 339 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

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