Writing an Opinion Essay: Drafting the Conclusion | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M4:U2:L11

Writing an Opinion Essay: Drafting the Conclusion

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • W.3.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
  • W.3.1d: Provide a concluding statement or section.
  • 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 form and use irregular plural nouns. (L.3.1b)
  • I can write a conclusion paragraph for my opinion essay that restates the focus of my essay. (RI.3.1, W.3.1a, W.3.1b)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Conclusion paragraph of Opinion Essay: Water Pollution (W.3.1d)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. The Painted Essay: Sorting the Parts of a Conclusion Paragraph (10 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Mini Lesson: Forming and Using Irregular Plural Nouns (20 minutes)

B. Guided Practice: Writing a Conclusion Paragraph (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete the Plural Nouns III practice 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 write the conclusion paragraph for their essays (RI.3.1, W.3.1d). Before they begin drafting, they revisit what they learned about singular and plural nouns, learning how to form and use irregular plural nouns (L.3.1b).
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners by focusing on a characteristic of their choice as they draft their second proof paragraph.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • Earlier in the unit, students analyzed the structure of the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water using the Painted Essay(r) template, planned their essays, and wrote their introductory and first proof paragraph. They build on those foundations in this lesson.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may need additional support with writing. Consider providing sentence frames or starters for students to use as they draft.
  • Consider allowing students to work with a partner or grouping students who may need additional writing support together while you guide them through writing the conclusion paragraph.

Assessment guidance:

  • Review students' conclusion paragraphs to ensure that they have included all the necessary information. Use common issues as teaching points for the whole group.
  • Refer to the characteristics related to W.3.1d on the Opinion Writing Checklist when assessing students' work in this lesson (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • Consider using the Writing Process Checklist for Writing and Language Skills during the independent writing in Work Time B (see the Tools page).
  • Collect the Plural Nouns I and II homework from Lessons 8-9. Refer to Plural Nouns I and II (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.

Down the road:

  • In the next lesson, students will participate in a peer critique and revise and edit their essays.
  • Students will plan, write, and revise a new opinion essay about the importance of protecting our water supply through the lens of demand for water for the end of unit assessment in Lessons 13-14

In Advance

  • Pre-determine pairs for work in Opening A and divide students into four groups for work in Work Time A.
  • 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.C.10, 3.I.C.11, 3.I.C.12, 3.II.A.1, 3.II.A.2, 3.II.C.6, 3.II.C.7, 3.II.B.4

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to work closely with essay structure, building on their understanding one paragraph at a time. In this lesson, students focus exclusively on the conclusion paragraph of their opinion essay. Students continue to benefit from the color-coding system established in prior lessons for visual support.
  • ELLs may find writing the conclusion paragraph challenging, as its call to action varies from the informational and narrative writing styles they are used to from previous modules. Provide time for students to explicitly practice language to make a "Call to Action," becoming familiar with language they can use to write their paragraph. Additionally, consider working with a small group after working with the class, and help them create their paragraph together.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Invite students to create sentence frames to support writing and speaking during Work Time B. Invite students who need heavier support to use the frames.

For heavier support:

  • Consider creating index cards with pictures of various nouns to add to the cards in lesson 8 (See For heavier support), this time focusing on irregular plural nouns. For example, on one index card, draw a picture of children playing at recess. On the top of the card write, "The children are playing at recess." Students can talk in pairs, identifying the irregular plural noun in the sentence. (Example: Partner A: "My sentence is, 'The children are playing at recess. Is there a plural noun in this sentence?" Partner B: "Children is plural, because it refers to more than one child. It is an irregular plural noun, because it doesn't follow the general rule of adding -s or -esat the end.") Allow students to practice with these familiar examples in Work Time A, as they learn to form and use irregular plural nouns.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support students by creating additional or individual anchor charts for reference during this lesson to aid with comprehension.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to support students in setting appropriate goals for their effort and the level of difficulty expected.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Continue to provide prompts and sentences frames for those students who require them to be successful in peer interactions and collaboration. Also, support students in sustaining effort and/or attention by restating the goal of the activity.

Vocabulary

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

  • irregular, restates, noun, singular noun, plural noun (L)
  • reduce, water pollution, clean, safe (W)

Materials

  • Organizing the Model: Conclusion Paragraph strips (one strip per pair)
  • The Painted Essay(r) template (from Module 1; one per student)
  • Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water (from Lesson 5; one per student and one to display)
  • Characteristics of Opinion Essays anchor chart (begun in Lesson 8; added to during Opening A; see supporting materials)
  • Characteristics of Opinion Essays anchor chart (begun in Lesson 8; example, for teacher reference)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Academic Word Wall (begun in Module 1)
  • Vocabulary logs (begun in Module 1; one per student)
  • Opinion Essay: Water Pollution Prompt (from Lesson 1; one per student and one to display)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Regular Plural Nouns anchor chart (begun in Lesson 8)
  • Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)
  • Opinion Writing Checklist (from Lesson 5; one per student and one to display; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Opinion Essay: Water Pollution (begun in Lesson 8; added to during Work Time B; one per student)
  • Research Note-catcher: Water Pollution (from Unit 1, Lesson 11; one per student)
  • Paper (lined; one piece per student)
  • Domain-Specific Word Wall (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1)
  • Plural Nouns I and II (homework from Lessons 8-9; one per student)
  • Plural Nouns I and II (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. The Painted Essay: Sorting the Parts of a Conclusion Paragraph (10 minutes) 

  • Move students into pre-determined pairs.
  • Distribute Organizing the Model: Conclusion Paragraph strips. Tell students that each pair has been given only one part of the conclusion, and later on they will find the other parts to create a complete conclusion paragraph.
  • Invite students to refer to their Painted Essay(r) template to remember the parts of a conclusion paragraph:
    • Restated focus statement
    • Reflection
  • Explain that pairs need to find pairs with the other parts of the conclusion and put them together in the right order.
  • Tell students that when they have finished, they will check their work against the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water.
  • Invite students to begin and circulate to support them in reading and sorting the strips of the conclusion.
  • After 5 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Invite students to help you record the parts of a conclusion paragraph on the Characteristics of Opinion Essays anchor chart. Refer to the Characteristics of Opinion Essays anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For students who may need additional support with self-regulation: As students work sorting and color-coding, support time management strategies by using a visual timer. (MME)
  • For ELLs: (Fishbowl: Organizing Paragraph Strips) Before inviting students to organize the conclusion paragraph strips, invite two confident students to Fishbowl this process using the introductory paragraph strips. Once they have organized the paragraph, highlight the focus statement, reminding students that this is the sentence restated in the conclusion paragraph. Provide time for students to ask questions and clarify the process as needed.

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

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

"I can form and use irregular plural nouns."

"I can write a conclusion paragraph for my opinion essay that restates the focus of my essay."

  • Underline and use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to review and/or determine the meaning of the following words. Add any new words to the Academic Word Wall and invite students to add them to their vocabulary logs.
    • irregular (not following the general rules of grammar or spelling)
    • restates (says again in a different way)
  • Invite students to retrieve their Opinion Essay: Water Pollution Prompt and follow along, reading silently in their heads as you read the prompt aloud.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit to focus on as they draft today.
  • For ELLs: (Morphology: Prefixes and Root Words) Invite ELLs to notice a common root word or affix in the word irregular to determine its meaning. Remind students that a root word is the part of a word that holds its basic meaning, and an affix is what is added to the beginning or end of a word to modify its meaning. (prefix = ir(not); root = regular [happens frequently; most common]; irregular = not occurring frequently, not common, does not follow the general rules)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Mini Lesson: Forming and Using Irregular Plural Nouns (20 minutes) 

  • Tell students that before they finish drafting their essays, they will learn more about forming and using plural nouns in their writing.
  • Focus students on the Regular Plural Nouns anchor chart and briefly review the following:
    • noun (a person, place, thing, or idea)
    • singular noun (one person, place, thing, or idea)
    • plural noun (more than one person, place, thing, or idea)
    • the rules for changing a regular singular noun to a plural noun (either add -s or -es, or drop the y and add -ies, depending on the last letter in the noun)
  • Remind students that these rules are for regular plural nouns, or nouns that follow the rules when changing from singular to plural. Tell students that today they will learn how to change irregular nouns from singular to plural.
  • Remind students that they talked about regular and irregular verbs in Module 2, and that irregular verbs are verbs that are exceptions to the rule. Tell students that it is the same with irregular plural nouns: these are nouns that are exceptions to the rules they learned about forming plural nouns.
  • Focus students' attention on the first table on the Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart and use a total participation technique to invite responses from the group:

"What do you notice about how the noun changed from the singular to the plural in each of these examples?" (There is no f, and a -ves was added.)

  • Record this in the "What do you notice?" column. Refer to the Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Focus students' attention on life in the first table.
  • Turn and Talk:

"Form the plural of this noun. How do you change life to mean more than one life?"(lives)

  • Record this in the appropriate spots on the anchor chart. Continue to refer to the Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart (example, for teacher reference).
  • Focus students' attention on the second table on the anchor chart. Tell students that to form the plural of some nouns, the vowel is changed, the entire word is changed, or the ending is changed.
  • Use a total participation technique to invite responses from the group:

"Look at the first row in this table. What changed in each of these nouns when changing from singular to plural?" (man--men, woman--women; the vowel changed in each)

  • Record this in the "What changed?" column.
  • Repeat with mouse, foot, and tooth.
  • Focus students' attention on child and person in the second table.
  • Turn and Talk:

"Form the plural of these nouns. How do you change child to mean more than one child? How do you change person to mean more than one person?" (child--children; person--people)

  • Record the plural nouns and what changed in the appropriate spots on the anchor chart.
  • Focus students' attention on the third table on the anchor chart. Tell them that for some nouns, the plural is the same spelling as the singular form.
  • Focus students on fish and scissors in the third table.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Form the plural of these nouns." (fish--fish; scissors--scissors)

  • Record the plural nouns in the appropriate spots on the anchor chart.
  • Display and refocus students on their Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water and move them into pre-determined groups.
  • Post and review the following directions:

1. Chorally read your group's assigned paragraph.

2. Circle any plural nouns in your group's paragraph.

3. For each plural noun, discuss:

      • How was the noun changed from its singular form?
      • Is the plural noun regular or irregular?
      • Why did the author use a plural noun instead of a singular noun?
  • Answer clarifying questions.
  • Assign each group a paragraph and invite them to begin working. Circulate to support students as they work.
  • After 7 minutes, refocus whole group. Select volunteers from each group to share one plural noun from their paragraph and their group's thinking for the questions in Step 3.
  • Tell students that as they write today, they should think about whether any plural nouns they are using are regular or irregular and use what they know about forming regular and irregular plural nouns to help them figure out how to change a singular noun to a plural noun.
  • 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.
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Display nouns with magnetic letters (e.g., life, lunch, county) and separate magnetic letters for the matching endings. Invite students to physically change the magnetic letters (for each noun) to create the irregular plural forms. (MMR, MME)
  • For ELLs: (Irregular Plural Noun Practice) Invite students to practice identifying irregular plural nouns with the cards from "For heavier support." Put all index cards in a bag and invite a volunteer to pull one out and ask whether there are any plural nouns in the sentence. Invite that student to call on a classmate to identify the irregular plural noun. The student who identified the irregular plural noun then repeats this process. Record each example in the appropriate spot on the Irregular Plural Nouns anchor chart.

B. Guided Practice: Writing a Conclusion Paragraph (20 minutes) 

  • Display and invite students to retrieve their Opinion Writing Checklist. Remind them that they will use this checklist as they write and revise their essays.
  • Read aloud the following criteria, pausing after each to invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner to restate the criterion in their own words:
    • "W.3.1d: I have a conclusion that restates the focus of my piece."
    • "L.3.1: My words and sentences follow the rules of writing."
    • "L.3.3, L.3.6, W.3.4: The words and sentences I use are appropriate for this task and purpose."
  • Invite students to mark/highlight these criteria on their checklist.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is the focus of the piece?" (how water pollution affects us all and why we must protect our water supply by keeping it clean)

  • Model how to record this (by sketching or writing) on the displayed Opinion Writing Checklist and invite students to do the same.
  • Turn and Talk:

"Restate your opinion and reasons orally. Think about how to call the reader to action, as the author of the model did." (Responses will vary.)

  • Invite students to retrieve their Opinion Essay: Water Pollution they started in Lesson 8 and to read their introductory and proof paragraphs to themselves to remind them of their opinion and reasons.
  • Invite students to retrieve their Research Note-catcher: Water Pollution. Focus them on the parts of their note-catcher color-coded for the conclusion: the focus statement (to be restated in the conclusion) and Call to Action box.
  • Distribute paper and remind them that this conclusion paragraph is a new paragraph, so they should start it on a new line and leave a line in between each line of writing to make revisions and edits later in the unit.
  • Remind students to use the Model Opinion Essay: Access to Water, the criteria recorded on the Characteristics of Opinion Essays anchor chart, the Opinion Writing Checklist, and the Domain-Specific Word Wall to write their conclusion paragraph.
  • Circulate to support students as they write and to identify common issues for use as whole group teaching points.
  • 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.
  • Refocus students on their Opinion Writing Checklist and invite them to record "Y" for "Yes" and the date in the final column if they feel the criteria marked on their checklists in this lesson have been achieved in their writing in this lesson.
  • For students who may need additional support with written expression: Consider supporting students' expressive skills by offering partial dictation or sentence stems as they organize their ideas for their conclusion paragraphs. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Comparing Sentences) Before students restate their own opinion orally, invite them to compare the first sentence in the conclusion paragraph of the Model Opinion Essay to the focus statement, describing how the sentences are similar to and different from each other. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: The sentences are similar because ______ [they both communicate the same idea]. The sentences are different because ________ [they are worded differently].)
  • For ELLs: (Language Practice: Calling People to Action) Invite students to think of a time that they wanted to "call someone to action" and to share the language they used to do so. Model and think aloud an example as needed. (Say: "I wanted to convince other teachers that you need more time for recess, so I said, 'Won't you join me in asking for longer recess, so our students get a chance to play?'") Record the language that students use on a chart for them to reference as they write their conclusion paragraphs.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

  • Move students into groups of three or four and invite them to reread the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart.
  • Invite students to reflect on the process of writing by discussing the following:

"What did you do to work toward becoming an effective learner as you worked today?" (Responses will vary.)

"What were your challenges as you worked today?" (Responses will vary.)

"What were your successes?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Cue students with:

"Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Collect the Plural Nouns I and II homework from Lessons 8-9. Refer to Plural Nouns I and II (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For students who may need additional support with working memory and access of prior learning: Support students as they reflect on their learning successes and challenges by listing the activities for each learning target on chart paper or a white board. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Linking Words and Phrases) Encourage students to use varying linking words and phrases as they give examples of their challenges and successes (e.g., for example, for instance, however).

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Complete the Plural Nouns III practice 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 2 or 4, or record an audio response.

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