Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Opinion Writing in Kindergarten

Wow! I am so excited! Today was the first day I introduced this class of kindergarten students to opinion writing  and they did an AWESOME job with their writing. I was so excited, I had to share it with you!

For starters, we simply discussed the word opinion and what an opinion (what you think about a topic or how you feel about a topic) is, and we talked about how opinions are never wrong or right. Just because you don't like broccoli but your friend does, doesn't make your friend wrong and you right. It's just your opinion. Some of my students actually said they like broccoli. Students on each side of this opinion had to tell me reasons they did or did not like broccoli other than "I just like it" or "It tastes good." One student said she likes it because it's a vegetable and it's good for you.

We also gave our opinion on which color we thought was the best. Students gave all kinds of reasons. One students said she thinks yellow is the best color because it reminds her of all the golden things pirates find and that it's a light color that you can draw on. I thought these were great reasons for her opinion.

Then we discussed pets. Students can relate well to this topic because the majority of the students have a pet of some kind or have had a pet. Students had to tell whether they thought a cat or a dog is the best pet to have and give reasons for their opinion. We discussed some of these reasons. Then we discussed what "good writers" do when they write and then they were off to write independently. Take a look at these awesome writers. Let me know what you think. I would love for you to share some of your student writing ideas and samples with me.

As you can see, dogs were chosen by the majority of my students as the best pet. Let's see if they gave good reasons for their choice.

Sample #1:
In my opinion, dogs are the best because they are good watch dogs. They can play. Dogs are fluffy. They can sniff good. They beg for their food. Dogs can run fast. Dogs can play fetch. Dogs have sharp claws. Dogs can roll over (on back of paper).
 
I thought this student did a fantastic job of providing reasons for her opinion.
 
 
Sample #2:
In my opinion, dogs are the best because dogs are fun to play with. Dogs bark. Dogs are soft. Dogs sniff. Dogs play with you. Dogs play catch with you. Dogs are big and little.
 
Another great job of providing reasons for her opinion.
 
 
Sample #3:
In my opinion, cats are the best because they are lazy like me, and they sleep a lot, and they're fluffy, and they can jump.
 
I though that was so cute says cats are lazy like her. More good reasons for her opinion. :)
 
Sample #4 (last one)
In my opinion, dogs are the best because I like dogs because I will throw the ball. They will bring the ball back. Dogs can dig. They eat bones. My dog is little. They beg for food. He sleeps with me. He is brown. I love him. I like dogs because they're fun.
 
This student even added details telling about his own dog which I though was really good after he had given reasons for his opinion.
 
I was so excited about my SUPER writers today. I'll be sharing more samples in the near future. I can't resist. Please share your writing ideas and samples with me. Writing is my PASSION! I love teaching writing! 
 
If you need this writing template, you can purchase it HERE and many other opinion writing topic packets in my store! I also have a freebie opinion writing activity posted here in an earlier blog post and in my TPT Store.  
 
Please leave me some comments.
Thanks for stopping by!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Sherry! Love this post! We have been working on fact and opinion writing in my 2nd grade classroom since November! Love your template for your little ones! Do you have products in your TPT store for older grades too?
    ~Jennifer
    storiesandsongs2@gmail.com

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    1. Thank you Jennifer! I have lots of different topics for opinion writing, but they all have this similar template. What grades are you interested in? Thanks for your response!

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  2. Love this post! I have been doing fact and opinion with my 2nd graders and your idea can be adapted to them so easily. Thank you!

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    1. You are welcome! I'm glad it was useful for you and your 2nd graders. Thanks for your response!

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