Writing an Opinion Essay: Analyzing a Model | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M4:U2:L5

Writing an Opinion Essay: Analyzing a Model

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.3.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
  • W.3.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
  • L.3.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • L.3.1b: Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can use the Painted Essay structure to analyze a model. (W.3.1, W.3.5)
  • I can form and use regular and irregular plural nouns. (L.3.1b)

Ongoing Assessment

  • The Painted Essay(r) template (W.3.1)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Reader: Clean, Safe Water for Everyone! (15 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Analyzing a Model (20 minutes)

B. Language Dive: Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Debrief (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: Model Opinion Essay in your Unit 2 homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • In this lesson, students analyze a model opinion essay using the Painted Essay structure to generate criteria for their own essays (W.3.1, W.3.5).
  • Recall that the Painted Essay(r) (Diana Leddy, Vermont Writing Collaborative) guides students to code each section of their essay a different color to understand each part, the content of each part, and how the different parts connect.
  • In Work Time B, students participate in a Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from the model opinion essay. The focus of this Language Dive is forming and using regular and irregular plural nouns (L.3.1b). Students then apply their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when writing their introductory paragraphs in Lesson 8 and when forming and using regular and irregular plural nouns in Lessons 8 and 11, as well as on the End of Unit 2 Assessment. Refer to the Tools page for additional information regarding a consistent Language Dive routine.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners by persevering through reading and analyzing a model opinion essay.

How this lesson builds on previous work: 

  • Throughout Unit 1 and in the first half of this unit, students have been researching issues related to water. In the remainder of this unit, students draw from their research to plan and write an opinion essay about why we must protect our water supply.
  • Students were introduced to and worked with the Opinion Writing Checklist in Module 3. In this lesson, they review the checklist and begin to think about how it applies to this new writing piece.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may require additional support when reading for gist. Consider pairing them heterogeneously for this activity or consider grouping students who may need additional reading support together while you read aloud for them.

Assessment guidance:

  • Throughout Work Time A, frequently review student work to ensure that they are color-coding accurately. Use common issues as whole group teaching points.
  • Collect the Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind homework from Lesson 3. Refer to Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (answers, for teacher reference).

Down the road:

  • Note that the model essay is focused on the issue of access to water. Over the next several lessons, students will plan and draft an essay focused on water pollution. Students will write an essay focused on demand for water for the end of unit assessment.

In Advance

  • Pre-determine pairs for work throughout the lesson.
  • Review:
    • Painting an Essay Plan from Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 5 to familiarize yourself with the color-coding and the purpose of each choice of color.
    • Opinion Writing Checklist and the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water (for teacher reference) to familiarize yourself with what will be required of students over the course of the rest of the unit (see supporting materials).
    • Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart as needed (begun in Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 7).
  • Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 3.I.A.4, 3.I.C.12, 3.II.A.1, 3.II.A.2

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to unpack an example of the work they complete during the remainder of the unit, return to the familiarity of the Painted Essay structure and the color-coding system used in Modules 1-3, and explicitly discuss regular and irregular plural nouns during the whole class Language Dive.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to find the gist of the body paragraphs in Work Time A. Remind students to think about the structure of the Painted Essay as they determine the gist of each paragraph and assure them that if they don't understand everything now, they will have more opportunities to examine the essay and each paragraph in future lessons.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Challenge students to rephrase the questions in Work Time A for classmates who need heavier support.

For heavier support:

  • Consider enlarging the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water and color-coding each part, corresponding with the colors that students will later use to paint each component of the essay: red, green, yellow, and blue. As students record the gist next to each paragraph during Work Time A, do the same to the enlarged model opinion essay. Display the enlarged model opinion essay throughout the unit, providing students with a concrete example of an opinion essay for reference.
  • Prepare the model book review from Module 3 to display during Work Time A.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, students get multiple representation cues with the color-coding provided by the Painted Essay template. However, some may find covering the entire essay in one lesson overwhelming. Consider chunking the explicit instruction for each part of the essay and permit breaks as needed to provide time for students to comprehend new information.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): This lesson offers several opportunities for students to engage in discussion with partners. Continue to facilitate communication by providing sentence frames to help them organize their thoughts.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Continue to encourage self-regulatory skills and help students anticipate and manage frustration by modeling what to do if they need help from their partners. (Example: "I can remember when I'm sharing that if I forget my idea or need help, I can ask my partner to help me. My partner could give me prompts that will help me share my thinking.") Consider offering sentence frames to strategically selected peer models. Recall that offering these supports for engagement promotes a safe learning space for all students.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

  • opinion, structure, analyze (L)

Materials

  • Performance Task anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1)
  • Opinion Essay: Water Pollution Prompt (from Lesson 1; one per student and one to display)
  • Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water (one per student and one to display)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water (example, for teacher reference)
  • Colored pencils (red, yellow, blue, green; one of each per student)
  • The Painted Essay(r) template (from Module 1; one per student)
  • Painting an Essay lesson plan (from Module 1; for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Guide:Model Opinion Essay (for teacher reference)
    • Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart (begun in Module 3)
    • Language Dive Chunk Chart: Model Opinion Essay (for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive Note-catcher: Model Opinion Essay (one per student and one to display)
    • Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: Model Opinion Essay (one to display)
  • Opinion Writing Checklist (one per student and one to display; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (homework from Lesson 3; one per student)
  • Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (answers, for teacher reference)

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Reader: Clean, Safe Water for Everyone! (15 minutes) 

  • Move students into pre-determined pairs and invite them to label themselves A and B.
  • Draw students' attention to the Performance Task anchor chart and read the prompt aloud. Remind them that they are working toward presenting a PSA encouraging the viewer to help work toward a solution for an issue related to water.
  • Tell students that before they can do this, they need to think about why we must act now to protect our water supply, as this will guide them in deciding which issue to focus on for their PSA.
  • Display and invite students to retrieve the Opinion Essay: Water Pollution Prompt and read it aloud.
  • Turn and Talk:

"In your own words, what will you be doing for the end of unit assessment?" (We will write an opinion essay about how water conservation affects us all and why we must protect our water supply.)
"What is an opinion?" (what someone thinks about something)
"So, what opinion will you be sharing in your essays?" (why we must protect our water supply)

  • Answer clarifying questions.
  • Think-Pair-Share:

"What can we use to guide our writing? Why?" (a model; a model can help us understand what information to include and give a structure to follow)

  • Remind students that adults at work often use models to guide them in creating work products.
  • Distribute and display the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water. 
  • Invite students to follow along, reading silently in their heads as you read the model aloud.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is this text about?" (access to water)
"What is the purpose of this essay? What is the author trying to answer, explain, or describe?" (The author explains how access to water affects people around the world and how we can work to solve this problem.)
"What is the author's point of view about this issue?" (The author thinks access to water is a problem that affects everyone, and that we all can do something to help solve the problem.)
"Where might you see this kind of writing in the real world outside of school?"(Responses will vary, but may include: an editorial in a newspaper or magazine.)

  • Emphasize that although a lot of people write opinion essays and have opinions about water conservation and why we must protect our water supply, some don't know how to write successful essays. For example, they don't use evidence to support their claims, which makes it difficult to trust the solutions. Just saying something is a problem isn't very useful. People who read opinion essays want evidence about why you should do something to help solve the problem.
  • Emphasize that the essays they write, like the model, will be grounded in evidence, so people will be more likely to trust them.
  • For students who may be overwhelmed by too much print on a page. Offer a copy of the model essay with smaller sections on a page. Additionally, consider offering enlarged font on the copy for students who may benefit from this option for perception. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: (Reinforcing Concepts) Reinforce the concept of opinion by inviting students to define it in their own words. Invite them to express an opinion of something familiar before looking at the model opinion essay.
  • For ELLs: (Reading Aloud Twice) Consider reading the model opinion essay twice before inviting students to answer questions about the text.

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read them aloud:

"I can use the Painted Essay structure to analyze a model."

"I can form and use regular and irregular plural nouns."

  • Remind students that they have used the Painted Essay to structure, or organize, their writing in Modules 1-3. Review vocabulary as needed: structure (how something is organized, arranged, or put together), analyze (examine in detail).
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, specifically on persevere. Tell students that because they will read and analyze a new opinion piece, they will need to persevere
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Ask students to summarize and then personalize the learning target. Ask them to paraphrase it and then to say how they feel about it. Examples:
    • "Can you put the learning target in your own words?"
    • "How do you feel about that target?" (MMR, MMAE, MME)
  • For ELLs: (Displaying a Model) Display the Painted Essay template introduced in Module 1, connecting the meaning of the word structure to a structure that students are familiar with and will be using as the basis of their writing. Invite students to share one way in which they analyzed the Painted Essay structure in the previous modules, using their vocabulary words in context. (Example: "I analyzed the Painted Essay structure by ___" [looking closely at each paragraph to determine its purpose].)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Analyzing a Model (20 minutes) 

  • Refocus students on the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water.
  • Invite them to follow along, reading silently in their heads as you read aloud the first paragraph. 
  • Turn and Talk:

"What is the gist of this paragraph?" (brief overview of the story; clearly states the focus statement with reasons)

  • Cold call students to share out and record the gist next to the first paragraph on the displayed model. Refer to the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Invite students to work in pairs to determine the gist of each remaining paragraph.
  • After 10 minutes, refocus whole group and use total participation techniques to select students to share out.
  • Guide students through using the colored pencils and their Painted Essay(r) template to color-code their Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water. Refer to Painting an Essay lesson plan for further detail.
  • Remind students that they wrote book reviews in Module 3, and that these were opinion pieces. Think-Pair-Share:

"How is the overall structure of this essay similar to the opinion writing we did in Module 3? How is it different?" (Similarities: Both pieces are four paragraphs: an introduction ending in a focus statement, two proof paragraphs explaining reasons to support the opinion, and a conclusion paragraph; differences: The proof paragraphs of the book review were both reasons to read the book that was being reviewed. The first proof paragraph of the opinion essay tells about a problem related to water, and the second proof paragraph gives ways to solve that problem.)

  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target.
  • If productive, cue students to think about their thinking and to compare ideas:

"How does our discussion add to your understanding of the essay? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." (Responses will vary.)

"How is what _____said the same as/different from what _____ said? I'll give you time to think and write." (Responses will vary.)
  • For students who may need additional support with fluency: Pair these students with a highly fluent reader and have them chorally read the model essay together. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Enlarged Model Opinion Essay: Annotating) As students share the gist of each paragraph, record it in the margins of the enlarged model opinion essay (see "For heavier support"), using the respective color corresponding to each part.
  • For ELLs: (Displaying Essays Side by Side) Consider displaying the model book review from Module 3 next to the model opinion essay to help jog students' memories and provide visual support as they compare the overall structure of the two models.

B. Language Dive: Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns (15 minutes) 

  • Tell students they will now participate in a Language Dive using the same format from Module 3.
  • Focus students' attention on the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart and remind them that they thought of their own questions to ask during a Language Dive.
  • Think-Pair-Share:

"What is one question you can ask during a Language Dive?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Reread the introductory paragraph of the model opinion essay.
  • Focus on the sentence:
  • "Millions of people do not have access to enough freshwater."
  • Use the Language Dive Guide: Model Opinion Essay and Language Dive Chunk Chart: Model Opinion Essay to guide students through a Language Dive of the sentence. Distribute and display the Language Dive Note-catcher: Model Opinion Essay and Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: Model Opinion Essay.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Debrief (5 minutes) 

  • Distribute and display the Opinion Writing Checklist. Remind students that they used this checklist in Module 3 when writing their book reviews. Tell students that in this unit, they will use this checklist again because their essays will share their opinion on why we must act now to protect our water supply. Ensure students understand that they will use this checklist each time they write an opinion piece because these are the things every good piece of opinion writing should contain.
  • Invite students to read the checklist silently to themselves.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you notice about this checklist? What do you wonder?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Ask, and then give students a few minutes to reread the model essay. Then, use a total participation technique to invite responses from the group:

"What characteristics on this checklist do you see done well in the model? What evidence from the model supports your thinking?" (Responses will vary, but may include: The writer's opinion is clearly stated.)

  • If productive, cue students to agree or disagree and explain why:

"Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why? I'll give you time to think and write." (Responses will vary.)

  • Reassure students that they might not understand everything on this checklist right now, but they will learn more about it as they plan and write their essays.
  • As time permits, focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to self-assess how well they persevered in this lesson.
  • Collect the Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind homework from Lesson 3. Refer to Language Dive Practice: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For students who may need additional support with reading: Consider reviewing the checklist orally with these students as an alternative to visual-only representation of information. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: (Concrete, Corresponding Examples) Include an example for each criterion on the Opinion Writing Checklist, providing students with concrete, corresponding examples to refer to. (Example: I use linking words to connect my opinion and reasons. Linking words = and, also, because, in addition to, for instance)

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: Model Opinion Essay in your Unit 2 homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.
  • For ELLs: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from grades 4 or 6, or record an audio response.

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