Opinion Writing in First Grade

Opinion writing in first grade is a little tricky. It’s not because kids don’t have opinions. They have plenty. And if you’ve been a teacher for even two minutes, you already know this.

It’s because they’re also storytellers and they can’t help themselves from sharing all their comings and goings with anyone who will listen. Even though you’ve taught umpteen opinion writing lessons, there are always a handful of kids who keep churning out narrative after narrative.

So how can we help growing writers change lanes and stay there for a bit?

USE WRITING SAMPLES

This is one of my go-to strategies:👉 If we want children to understand what an opinion piece is, they need to know what it isn’t. Poring over writing samples is one way to accomplish this.

I don’t use actual student writing samples publicly unless I’m gushing all over something cool one of our writers tried. Instead, I make my own, which also helps me control the content so I can meet my instructional goals.

The lesson design is simple, but so much rich conversation emerges through the collaboration, it pays off in big ways. Working in small teams of 3-4 kids, I give each group a set of three writing samples. One is a personal narrative, one reads more like a how-to piece, and one is an opinion piece supported by reasons. The challenge to each team is to study and discuss the samples and decide which one is the opinion piece.

It reminds them of the game “Two Truths and a Lie.” (Their words, not mine.)

Lessons like these are a hit with my students. One, I guess it feels like a game. Two, they feel like the teacher … almost like they’re grading something. And three, it appeals to all my mystery-loving kids because they’re trying to figure out which sample IS the opinion piece … and better yet, WHY.

In this particular set of samples, it’s Carlos for the win.👇

OPINION WRITING IN FIRST GRADE: WRITE REVIEWS

One of our favorite mini-studies inside our opinion writing unit focuses on writing reviews. We include ratings with our reviews, which are rooted in opinions. Kids can review all sorts of things:

books
movies and shows
games and toys
shoes
sports equipment
restaurants
parks, beaches, trails
school supplies

I mean who among us doesn’t have an opinion about Crayola vs. “other” crayons?

And having kids assign a rating to something reflects their personal opinion about it. This is a natural way of thinking for some kids. I remember when my son was little, he would rate and rank all of his cars, always comparing the performance of the Matchbox cars to the Hot Wheels. It’s no surprise to me that he’s a stats and economics major in college now.

TEMPLATES FOR WRITING REVIEWS

Writing templates are one way to support children as they’re learning a new genre of writing. I try to have a variety so children have different options to choose from. For example, some children like 5-Star reviews whereas others are overwhelmed by that many stars and like just having three … (1) I don’t like it. (2) It’s okay. (3) I love it. Other kids like having facial expressions to help them make a rating decision. To me, it doesn’t really matter which template they choose. It matters more that they’re able to choose a format that will help them organize and express their thoughts.

I also included a mock-student sample for the review of a rollercoaster.👇 Sharing this sample helps give kids a sense of what a review might sound like. Fingers crossed, it’ll help them understand the difference between personal narrative structures and opinion writing.