LEAH BOLETO:Hi I鈥檓 Leah Boleto and I鈥檓 a 成人快手 reporter. In my job I often report issues that generate discussion, and it鈥檚 important that I provide the facts and give the audience a balanced view.
BILL TURNBALL:Good morning Leah, what鈥檚 the report say then?
LEAH BOLETO:Good morning Bill鈥
We鈥檝e taken over Media City today鈥
Hello guys, Leah here, live in Rio.
When you鈥檙e writing your discussion piece, there are a few things you need to remember.
You need to pick a topic to discuss, for example let鈥檚 take the topic of school uniform. It鈥檚 a topic that affects all of us at some point in our lives, so the purpose of this piece will be to discuss why some people love to wear it, and others don鈥檛.
When writing a discussion piece, you need to write it in the 鈥榯hird person鈥 so that you remain 鈥榦bjective鈥. That just means you鈥檙e not biased to one part of the discussion, and don鈥檛 distract the reader from the topic.
When writing in the first person you say 鈥業鈥, 鈥楳e鈥, or 鈥榃e鈥. 鈥淚 hate school uniform鈥.
When you write in the 鈥榮econd person鈥 you use words like 鈥榊ou鈥 and 鈥榊our鈥. 鈥淵ou love school uniform鈥.
When writing in the 鈥榯hird person鈥, you can use words like 鈥楾hey鈥, 鈥楬e鈥 or 鈥楽he鈥. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 make up their minds about school uniform鈥.
Firstly you need to examine the main points you鈥檒l be writing about. So you鈥檒l say within this piece you鈥檒l be considering why some people believe wearing school uniform is a good idea, but also why so many others dislike the idea.
When I was at school I hated my school uniform, but that was my opinion, and in discussion based writing you need to examine all the arguments, 鈥榝or鈥 and 鈥榓gainst鈥.
It鈥檚 also important to use supporting evidence. I wouldn鈥檛 be able to say everyone in the UK wears school uniform, I wouldn鈥檛 have anything to prove that. So you鈥檒l have to do some research which you can quote as 鈥榮tatistic鈥 to support your argument, and justify why this piece is worthy of discussion.
So I think I鈥檓 just about ready to write my discussion. Remember you have to be balanced on both sides, so you can choose to present your argument 鈥榝or鈥 wearing a school uniform first, followed by an equal number of arguments against. You can call those 鈥榗ounter-arguments鈥.
The first point I鈥檇 like to make in favour of this argument is鈥 鈥溾楾hey make you look smart鈥欌.
鈥溾榃earing a school uniform reduces the pressure of having to keep up with the latest fashion鈥欌.
In addition, now this is a 鈥榗onnecting phrase鈥 which signals you are about to make a new point, so 鈥溾業n addition it also gives you a sense of school pride by wearing your uniform鈥欌.
At this point you can see that the argument is very unbalanced and one-sided. Here we need to signal that we are considering the other side of the argument.
You can use words like 鈥楬owever鈥, 鈥楧espite鈥, 鈥楳eanwhile鈥, 鈥楢lternatively鈥 and 鈥楽ince鈥.
So here goes鈥 鈥溾楢lternatively, some people would argue that wearing school a uniform is, well, unfashionable, and it鈥檚 just an expression of conformity. Although you could argue that a school uniform offers a sense of school pride, wearing one could identify you to your school rivals.鈥欌
I鈥檓 jotting down my thoughts as bullet points, but in the finished discussion pieces, I will write in paragraphs.
Now I鈥檝e found a fact here, more than 90% of secondary schools in England insist on uniform. I found that fact on an online news site, but I have to make sure that same fact is checked out on other resources. Maybe you鈥檒l pick up a book, do an internet search, or speak to an expert. You have to do all of that to make sure it鈥檚 correct.
Once we have considered both sides of the argument, it鈥檚 then we can summarise what we鈥檝e discussed. At this point we need to give reasons for why we have decided on the argument we support. You can use phrases like 鈥業n conclusion鈥, 鈥楾o sum up鈥, or 鈥極n balance鈥 to demonstrate that you are coming to the end of your discussion.
鈥溾業n conclusion a uniform might not be something everyone loves, but it does offer a sense of unity, and it can take the pressure away from fashion at school. Therefore, despite being unpopular, I think it鈥檚 here to stay鈥欌. Job done.
Video summary
Newsround presenter Leah Boleto explains how discursive writing requires an understanding of the difference between facts and opinions, and how to use connecting phrases and statistics.
Leah outlines how to research in different ways to find supporting evidence, such as statistics, which will justify your arguments.
She also demonstrates how to summarise information and write a closing statement.
This short film is from the 成人快手 series, The Facts About Non-Fiction.
Teacher Notes
Ask pupils as a group to come up with arguments 鈥榝or鈥 and 鈥榓gainst鈥 wearing a school uniform.
They can then watch this short film and check if they predicted the same reasons as Leah.
Set them the challenge of writing their own discussion piece on a topic using all the techniques outlined by Leah.
You could also use the detailed explanation of writing in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person as part of a grammar lesson about pronouns.
This short film will be relevant for teaching English at KS1 and KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 1st and 2nd Level in Scotland.
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