Rhetorical Devices Year 6 Unit
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About this unit
Help Year 6 students recognise how language choices influence an audience and use those choices deliberately in their own persuasive texts. Rhetorical Devices develops understanding of ethos, pathos and logos; rhetorical questions; repetition; inclusive language; modality; precise word choice; rhythm; figurative language; audience; counterargument and rebuttal.
The sequence supports explicit teaching, collaborative investigation, oral rehearsal, close analysis and extended writing. Students use the colourful display pack as a reference, sort and justify examples in Appeal Detectives, experiment with devices through Pitch Perfect, explore strength of language with the Modality Ladder and complete scaffolded worksheet practice. They finish by planning and drafting a Community Change Campaign, checking their choices and using the analytical rubric to understand success criteria.
What's included
Rhetorical Devices editable presentation — 23 slides
Rhetorical Devices editable quiz — 22 slides with 10 question-and-answer pairs
Unit plan PDF — 50 pages
Rhetorical Devices Display Pack — Three Ways to Persuade; Make the Message Memorable; Move Your Audience to Act; Create Vivid, Sticky Language
Appeal Detectives — instructions, sorting mat and 18 evidence cards
Pitch Perfect — game board, 18 topic cards, 18 rhetorical-device cards and recording sheet
Modality Ladder Challenge — sorting mat, 30 modality word cards and 12 challenge cards
Spot the Strategy — 2 worksheet pages and 2 answer pages
Word Power and Modality — 2 worksheet pages and 2 answer pages
Audience Matters — 2 worksheet pages and 2 answer pages
Build the Argument — 2 worksheet pages and 2 answer pages
Rhythm and Emphasis — 2 worksheet pages and 2 answer pages
Transform the Text — 3 worksheet pages and 3 answer pages
Plan a Persuasive Campaign — 2 open-ended pages
Community Change Campaign assessment — 3 pages and 3 answer-guidance pages
Community Change Campaign analytical rubric — 1 page
Learning focus
Students identify and explain rhetorical devices, evaluate how they shape meaning and audience response, select stronger modal and evaluative vocabulary, structure a persuasive argument, address a counterargument and apply multiple rhetorical techniques in a sustained campaign text.
Classroom use
Use as a five-lesson persuasive-writing unit, a 4–6 lesson mini-unit, targeted writing workshops or a revision and assessment sequence. The editable presentation supports whole-class instruction; posters provide ongoing reference; games develop oral reasoning; worksheets move from identification to application; and the assessment captures independent transfer.
Year, subject and topic
Year level: Year 6
Subject: English
Topic: rhetorical devices, persuasion and persuasive writing
Curriculum alignment
Australian Curriculum v9.0: AC9E6LY06
Australian Curriculum v8.4: ACELY1714, ACELY1715, ACELY1717
Victorian Curriculum 2.0: VC2E6LY09, VC2E6LY10
NSW Curriculum: EN3-OLC-01, EN3-VOCAB-01, EN3-CWT-01, EN3-SPELL-01, EN3-HANDW-01, EN3-HANDW-02, EN3-UARL-01, EN3-UARL-02
Western Australian Curriculum: WA6ELYC1, WA6ELYC4
International mappings: Common Core, England, New Zealand, TEKS and Ontario codes are documented in the teacher listing information.
Formats, page counts and answers
Unit plan: 50 pages
Presentation: 23 slides
Quiz: 22 slides
Answer-key status: 13 worksheet answer pages and 3 assessment answer-guidance pages included; 2 campaign-planning pages are open-ended
Teacher benefits
A coherent sequence from explicit instruction to independent application
Substantial multi-page practice rather than compressed one-page tasks
Support for print, display, partner, group and whole-class teaching
Editable presentation and quiz text for classroom adaptation
Matching red-answer pages for efficient feedback
Clear assessment criteria aligned to the final campaign task
Digital product and licence
This is a digital product; no physical item will be shipped. Purchase permits use by the purchasing teacher in their own classroom under Sukindi's single-user licence. Redistribution, resale, public posting and sharing outside the licensed classroom are not permitted.
