Surfin' Through Second: opinion writing

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.

Aloha my long lost friends! I feel like my blog posts are much fewer and far between. I honestly miss sitting down and sharing the fun and sometimes not so fun things that happen in class.

This week we began working on Opinion Writing. We did an introductory activity to decide which was our favorite candy.

Before we started we discussed how we make opinions about things. Sometimes we see something and think it looks nice. Other times things taste, or smell good and we make opinions based on those senses. We made a list of all our senses.

We talked about how our opinions belong to us. No one can tell us what we should think or feel. We get to decide.

I then told the students they were going to do a little activity to help them decide which they liked best.

Before the activity I had placed 5 Skittles and 5 M&M's in a little snack bag. I passed them out and told them I wanted to use their senses to make a choice about which one they liked best.

They weren't allowed to use their sense of taste until I gave the signal. Then I told them they could taste 2 of each to get a good idea about each one. (They had to save the rest until they finished writing)

Then I asked them to fill out this sheet.
(Click on picture to download from Google Docs)

I had a to help a few with the reasons, but most of them were able to use their senses to write their ideas.

I have to admit that M&M's make me happy too!

I also love the fruitiness and chewiness of Skittles!

They really enjoyed the activity and it was a great way to get them writing! I plan to also use their opinions to make a graph during math time comparing the two.

If you need a few more ideas and activities check out my Opinion Writing pack. I plan to use many of them over the next few weeks.

What types of activities do you like to use for writing opinions? What are some of your favorite topics to use? I'm always looking for fun ideas, especially in writing!