Today my kiddos started learning about the five parts of opinion writing. I taught them that an opinion piece has to have: 1) an introduction where you state your opinion, 2) reason #1 to support your opinion, 3) reason #2 to support your opinion, 4) reason #3 to support your opinion, and 5) a conclusion that restates your opinion. I am a visual person so I think about this like a sandwich/hamburger. Here is a picture of the hamburger display that I showed them to understand the five parts:
This is just a placemat from Walmart that I cut apart into five different sections. I hot glued magnets on the back and wrote each part of an opinion writing on the pieces. This helps the kids to understand everything that they need to include in their writing. After learning about the five parts, I modeled how to support an opinion with reasons. I told them that my favorite sport was volleyball and gave them three reasons why I thought this. Then, I asked them the question "What is the best Unified Arts class?" and boy, were there plenty of differing opinions! Some chose P.E., some chose Art, some chose Computer Lab, etc. I told them that they were going to practicing supporting their opinion with reasons just like I did by using a graphic organizer. They used the organizer below to state their opinion and write three reasons.
If you'd like to pick up a FREE copy of this organizer, just click on the picture to download it! The download includes both color and black and white versions of the organizer. If you're interested in more common core opinion writing resources, you can also check out my unit on TpT below. Just click on the picture below to check it out!
Tomorrow we are going to focus on the conclusion and how to wrap it up. It went really well today- such a nice break from personal narratives! Enjoy =)