Elementary students may be required to choose a topic; however, many teachers offer a list of topics to choose from. The topics chosen by the students must be age-appropriate. A couple examples of elementary persuasive topics are why gum should be allowed at school, and how to convince your parents to let you have a dog.
Start with a thesis statement. Even though elementary students may not completely understand what a thesis statement is, every persuasive essay should begin with one. Students must learn that a thesis statement, for this purpose, is a sentence that states the student's opinion on the subject. For example, if the student's paper is about convincing her parents to let her get a dog, an opening statement might be "My parents should let me get a cute, new puppy!" After stating the main idea, the student can explain why she wants the puppy.
Elementary students can back up their main idea by writing three strong reasons why it's valid. To convince an audience they should do what you are saying, support your opinion with details, or reasons. For example, several reasons to get a dog could be for companionship, to teach responsibility and to give a dog a home. For elementary students, only one sentence is necessary for each reason.
In elementary school, a persuasive essay will typically be one or two paragraphs long, but is almost always less than five paragraphs. The conclusion is the last paragraph of the essay and always restates the main opinion of the paper. Elementary school students can use the conclusion to offer readers one last persuasive detail about their opinion.