Opinion Writing
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Writing is sooo hard to teach! I do think this is one of the easiest genres to teach about because it is there opinion!If you have been teaching longer than a few years, you know that one size does not fit all.
I am hopeful by the end of this post you will have at least one idea that you can use during your writing block. Sometimes just hearing someone else’s plan will help you make one of your own. Let’s jump into writing! If you are going to be teaching Narrative Writing check out my post HERE.
Before You Plan Your Unit
Before I start any writing genre, I give them a cold write. I do not teach anything at all. I give them my expectations and withOUT guidance, I see what they can do. The point of this is to see where the gaps are so you can plan your unit.
When starting our Opinion Unit, I tell them that I want them to tell me the best thing to do at recess and why. They knew not to ask any questions and do the best they could. I also had them put their writing office up, to help with words and keep them focused.
They turn it in at the end of 20 minutes even if they aren’t done. If someone doesn’t write a lot that still tells you what they need. At the end of the day, I read each one carefully and fill out this CHART
I put a dot next to each column that they demonstrated. Here is a picture of one that my class did.
I look at the columns with the least amount of dots and write them down in order. Like this:
- Conjunctions
- Proper Nouns
- Reasons
- Details
- Capitals
- Punctuation
- Closing
- Topic Sentence With Opinion
- Phonically Spelled Words
This is the order I will teach them
- What is Fact vs Opinion
- Opening with Opinion
- Reasons
- Conjunctions & Details
- Capitals, Proper Nouns, and Punctuation (editing)
- Closing
These are my mini-lesson topics for each week! I put them in a logical order, not just starting with the least number of dots. I want it to flow and for the ones with the least dots, I will need to spiral throughout the unit, so they will get lots of practice. Now it is time to plan my mini-lessons.
Before we get started let’s talk about writing papers. I have had the MOST success with using booklets for students. All my students have always thrived on using booklets. I just take 3-4 pieces of white paper and fold them then staple the side. Click HERE for a free template if you would like to print one with lines. It will take some time to put together, so most of the time I just use white paper and have them draw lines. It helps them organize their writing and be able to see that they have one part and a detail for each page. Having pages also aids in punctuation and capitalization.
Mini-Lessons
Click HERE for this FREE resource.
For mini-lessons, I like to use mentor texts or their writing to teach the skill. We focus on one a week and do lots of modeling and activities to get them comfortable with it. Here are the topics I focused on and a few suggestions for each:
Introductions: For opinion writing you want to start with your opinion! We create a poster with words to start our writing that show emotion. Here is an example of one. I always make them because I like to add to them throughout the unit. Anytime we find a good way to start our opinion in a story or if a student thinks of one, I like to add it. The more you interact with it, the more students will use it!
FREE Opinion Sentence Starters
Conjunctions– Just like adjectives, we teach conjunctions during our grammar time. For mini-lessons, we practice on whiteboards or sentence strips using each one. I would say write down 2 colors you like and highlight the word and. Tell me something you like to do at the park. After they tell you ask them why and have them use the word because. There are TONS of resources to practice conjunctions and most of the time I will have them practice with an activity or worksheet during our literacy centers. You could focus on conjunctions one week then each week challenge them to use a different conjunction in their story.
Details: Details are such an important part of the story. Have the students write a sentence then say to them, “TELL ME MORE”. Then they write an additional sentence telling you more details about the first sentence. I have also seen other teachers have a paper to practice on with lines for a sentence than a stop sign and additional lines underneath to write their detail. A lot of time in opinion writing when we write a detail it is a fact to support why you like it or it can be used to say why the other item isn’t as good. For an example, if I was writing about why the slides are better than the swings I could say that some people have to learn how to swing, but almost everyone can slide without having to learn.
Examples of boring sentences then ones with details are a great way to show students what you mean. Making strong sentences will also help them. Using the words who, what, when, where, how, and why are great ways to expand the sentence. Below are a few FREE worksheets to practice, but you could use whiteboards or plain paper.
Adjectives: During our grammar time we talk about adjectives for several weeks but identifying them and using them are two different things and both need practice. We start off by writing a sentence and underlining the noun. I ask questions like what does___________ look, sound, smell, feel, and taste like? I have also had a chart that we add to. During your small reading group time, you could also have them write a sentence about the text and use adjectives in it. That would allow you to work with each one.
Reasons: This is the bulk of the story. I make a big deal about this part and not to be vague. No one wants to read a story about why something is the best just for you to say because you like it or it’s yummy or good. We really work on convincing and digging deep. Sometimes I will have them tell me why and I will debate back with them until they can convince me! They LOVE this!
Closing: Each genre has a different way to end a story. In Opinion you can end it with restating your opinion, tell the reader to do something and it’s always good to leave them with a question. We talk about each of these and which one fits their story. For example if they were writing about the slide being the best thing to do at recess they could say: Have you ever been on a slide before? If not, you should go try it today! This draws the reader in and has them thinking even when they are done reading the story.
What To Teach Each Day
Click HERE for the FREE plan.
Every day during our reading block I will use the mini-lesson of the week to point out how authors did things as we read. I really like THESE videos by Teaching Without Frills. They are great to play before you write that part of the story or before you teach a mini lesson.
The first day of teaching Opinion writing after the cold write day, I like to display THIS poster. I refer to it every time we start writing. This is very helpful for the kids to see the structure of the writing.
Day 1:
-Start off with the topic and read a mentor text. (Search on Pinterest Opinion mentor texts)
-Have them make a picture plan (PICTURE) on blank paper.
Day 2:
-Teach the mini-lesson
-Have them tell their story to a partner using their plan.
-Write the opening with their opinion in it. Have them use the opinion sentence starters.
Day 3:
-Practice the mini-lesson with an activity
-Have them read their opening then start writing their story.
-Walk around and share out amazing sentences while they are writing.
-I do not stop and help students for long periods of time. It is just a quick question then I have them think about it and write.
What if my student(s) cannot write or even sound out?
For students that cannot write or get very frustrated I start off with them telling me a sentence and I use a highlighter to write it for them. They trace it and work on their picture until I can get back around to them. I will do this for a few weeks then gradually leave words out for them to tap out and spell. See my Phonics post to see how we learn and practice how to spell words.
Then they go to counting the words in a sentence and I draw lines for them, so they know how many words and how long words are. Then we would move into sounding out each word and spacing. This may take ALL year! You be the judge of when they are ready to move on.
Day 4 Closing/Editing-
-Share ways to end the story together and make a list on the board.
-Have them read their story out loud to themselves to make sure they are ready to end their story, if they are, have them come to the carpet.
-Have them share their ending with a partner then have them go write it down.
-Talk about how you can improve your writing by ending your story with a question. Share some questions they might write at the end of their story then have them write their own. Trace the question mark with a marker!
Day 5 Edit/Authors Chair:
Editing
-I don’t start editing until the 3rd quarter, but I would start earlier if they had enough practice and I felt like they are ready.
-We do a daily fix-it sentence during phonics. They have had a lot of practice with one sentence and what to look for. By the 3rd quarter, they can do most of it independently.
-Whole class I would take one student’s paper and put it under the doc cam. Without showing the name we would do the whole thing together doing 1 sentence at a time.
-After a few weeks of that I would have them read until they got to the period then fix it one at a time.
-We go over the reason for having the spaces above and below the writing lines for editing and adding, so we don’t have to erase our amazing work!!
Authors Chair
-I will read each paper that was turned in and as I read each sentence the students shout out what type of sentence it is (Opinion, Reason, Example, Opinion.) If the student has all these things, we say Oooor reeee oooooo (like the wicked witch monkeys) and they get an Oreo!
-We always celebrate something from everyone’s paper!!
-We have a discussion at the end of things we really liked and things we need to work on. I revisit this when we start our new topic the following week.
The important thing is not to rush it. It is better to spend 2 weeks on a topic than rush through just to get 2 topics in. QUALITY over QUANTITY!!! I can’t stress that enough. You might feel you need to stay with the 1 topic a week or the routine you have always done, but I am here to say you won’t regret slowing down and spending time creating quality work. You are ready to plan your unit. If you are in the middle of it, you can still use their writing to fill out your checklist so you know what skills to teach. If you have some must-have activities, please leave them in the comments to share with us!
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.
