Northwestern Lehigh third-grade teachers Nicole Mizak, Patricia Holmes, Beth Stark and Angela Rimm showed students how to write a persuasive essay.

Students decided whom they admired and wanted to write about.

They were taught how to write an exciting introduction with a thesis statement, three paragraphs highlighting a different characteristic about their candidate and then a concluding paragraph.

Lucy Calkins, author of firsthand classroom materials Units of Study for Teaching Writing and her writing lessons, were used as a model to develop the unit of study.

After the third-graders completed their essays, they learned how to publish their work.

Some of the students used Google Apps for Education to type their essays while others decided to write their essays. When the students completed their works, their writing was placed into a book they created.

After the students completed the writing process (draft, revising, editing and publishing) they created formal invitations to be given to their special person.

The event culminated with their guest joining the students in their classrooms to hear why the student admired them. Afterward, everyone was treated to a luncheon with their classmates and their guests.