Getting Started With Opinions

Aloha everyone!!  Who has had an awesome 3 days in this 4 day work week?  I tell you time flies when you are having fun and your lesson plans are keeping your class humming!

Last week I started working on Opinion writing.  We began by simply working on Fact vs. Opinions. Most of my kids already knew the difference and could tell me that a fact was true and an opinion was how someone felt.  We had a discussion and made a list of facts and opinions about a variety of topics.

We then did a reading activity.  I decided to work on our color coding strategy to find our text evidence.

We read this together and then I asked them to highlight the first question yellow.  They had to go back into the paragraph and find the answer and highlight it as well.  Then I had them write the full sentence as their answer.  The first one was easy, but I had some kids who had trouble with the second answer.  It was a great way informally assess who needed to work on this skill..

We then did a fun activity where I showed a sentence and they had to write it under fact or opinion.
They didn't have any problem with this one.

Then we got into the writing portion.  My class is doing pretty well with basic paragraphs, but I really wanted to guide them through the process.

I put this up on the board and went through each step.

First I wrote in the middle and had them write their opinion.

Then we went through each of the reasons together.  I didn't move on until each student had completed each sentence.  My quick finishers were right there to help anyone who was struggling.

Finally we talked about a closing sentence.  This is really difficult for so many kids.  They want to write "PE is cool" and end it.  So I added a bit more for them and they just filled in the blank.

Everyone was  successful and they enjoyed sharing their stories with each other.  We will continue to use this format for a few more writing pieces. I plan to also conference with students to help them focus their sentences a bit more.

Writing has always been a tough subject for me to teach, but I have learned that leading my students step by step through the process is the best way for them to learn.  Most of them need lots of examples and ideas before they will venture to write all by themselves.

If you need some extra ideas and activities for Opinion writing check out my Opinion Writing Pack.

I plan to share some other activities that we will be doing in the next few weeks with our opinions.

What is your class working on in writing?  I love hearing everyone's great lessons and ideas on teaching writing.  The more we share the more we learn.