With students in your classroom who may not have the basics of sentence writing completely down yet, it can be overwhelming to plan tackling opinion writing with students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. For young writers learning such a new, specific format of writing, it is really important to break it up into small, clear steps.
As you can see in the chart below, students are expected to do a little bit more with opinion writing as they grow as writers from 1st to 3rd grade.
So, with my 1st graders, we focus on developing 1 reason to support their opinion and a closing. With my 2nd and 3rd graders, we focus on giving at least 2 reasons (or a reason and an example), and a closing. Below is how I tackle opinion writing step by step:
INTRODUCE:
I first explain what an opinion is using a visual opinion writing poster. Then I go over a pre-generated opinion writing model with my students. We identify and discuss each part of the piece of opinion writing (opinion, reason, example, closing).
GUIDED WHOLE GROUP PRACTICE:
Next, we choose a topic that all students can relate to. Some examples could be my favorite thing to do on a sunny day, the best lunch in the cafeteria, favorite things to do after school, etc. On a post-it, each student gives his/her opinions, or feelings, on that topic and a reason why they feel this way. We add these to our “Opinion Brainstorming Bubble.” I use at least one post-it to generate a new model with the class. While writing, I model refer to a list of sentence starters for opinion writing.
ANALYZE WRITING MODELS
Students then use “Opinion Color Coding” stories. They read through and identify the opinion, one supporting reading (first grade) or 2 supporting reasons (second-third grade), and the ending. I find giving them space to independently practice with this visual strategy is when the opinion writing format begins to really click.
“STICK TO THE TOPIC” DETERMINING IMPORTANCE ACTIVITY
This fun activity gets students to identify facts that are important reasons to support their opinion on a topic. It shows them that there can be many interesting facts or opinions on a topic. However, only some are really necessary for a specific piece of opinion writing.
SUPPORTED PRACTICE:
Students are given an opinion writing prompt with visual choices. Students either get 1.) a practice writing prompt with the sentence starter already chosen for them (first graders or other students that need the support), or 2.) use the sentence starters guide to choose their own sentence starters (higher writers).
INDEPENDENT OPINION WRITING:
Now it’s time for students to begin opinion writing from scratch! At first, I usually provide a writing prompt for the entire class to focus on. You could also give multiple options or have them develop their own individual topics.
For students who need extra support I provide graphic organizers they can use to first brainstorm before writing. These graphic organizers come in different formats. One differentiated graphic organizer simply breaks down an opinion with 1, 2, or 3 reasons.
Another graphic organizer I love to use (pictured below) is an O.R.E.O. opinion writing template for 1st grade, and an O.R.E.R.E.O opinion writing template for 2nd and 3rd grade.
After writing their drafts, I give students an editing checklist to use as a reference. This makes it easier for students to ensure they have included each part of a piece of opinion writing.
Below is a sample from a bulletin board I love to use for displaying short opinion writing pieces. It does come with different rule-widths to provide more/less writing space for students.
ONGOING PRACTICE WITH OPINION WRITING:
Writing journals are perfect for providing students with tons of ongoing practice! I use them as free-writes just for continual practice. Some or all of the entries could also be used for writing pieces that go through the steps of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing). This particular journal (below) comes in different formats, but I love the cut and paste option. Students can choose which prompt they would like to use that day and paste it into their journal.
All of the materials shown in this blog post on teaching Opinion Writing to students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade can be found in my TpT store.
Looking to have your students write with more vivid details? Read this blog post on How I teach Explode the Moment Writing.