Opinion Writing with Strong Reasons
Learn to organize opinion writing using a graphic organizer
Create a clear structure for expressing an opinion
Practice identifying main ideas and supporting reasons
“A man has joy in giving an apt answer; and a word at the right time, how good it is!”
— Proverbs 15:23 (WEB)Shows the importance of communicating thoughts clearly and thoughtfully
Gather students in a circle and explain that today we'll learn how to organize our thoughts when writing an opinion piece. Just like God helps us organize our thoughts, we can learn to organize our writing.
Demonstrate how to use a graphic organizer to plan an opinion piece. Show how to write the main opinion at the top, then list 2-3 reasons below with space for supporting details.
Students will create their own graphic organizer for an opinion topic they care about
Simpler: Provide a pre-printed graphic organizer template
Challenge: Add a concluding statement to the graphic organizer
Share one or two graphic organizers with the class, highlighting good organization
Dear God, thank you for helping us learn to share our thoughts clearly and kindly.
Coming up: Tomorrow we'll add more details to our reasons
“A man has joy in giving an apt answer; and a word at the right time, how good it is!”
— Proverbs 15:23 (WEB)🎯 Activity: Create hand motions to act out giving a good answer
Children are learning to structure their thoughts and express opinions logically
Children might have difficulty generating multiple reasons
Clear main opinion and at least two supporting reasons