The teacher will choose an opinion writing prompt from the opinion writing prompts link to model how to write an opinion paragraph. He/she will select the topic, "Teachers grade their students, but should students have the opportunity to grade their teachers? Why or why not?" The teacher can have the students answer this question by typing their responses on mentimenter.com (see Advanced Preparation section). The responses can be displayed on the interactive whiteboard. Once all these responses are visible, the teacher will circle a few to use as reasons for why and why not a teacher should be graded. The teacher will write a topic sentence for the students and demonstrate how to add the reasons as the details. Finally, the teacher will model how to write a conclusion sentence to end the paragraph. The teacher will write an opinion paragraph for both answers.
Next, the students will review the opinion writing prompts and choose one they find interesting. Once the prompt is selected, students will turn and talk explaining their opinion orally to a partner before writing it down. The teacher will walk around the room observing, listening, advising, and assisting the students as they orally share their opinions.
The teacher will provide the students with an opinion writing graphic organizer. They will use this to plan their opinion paragraph. The teacher will move around the room observing their work on completing the graphic organizer. S(he) will monitor and support students with feedback for their next steps in writing the paragraph.