Writing Opinions in 2nd Grade

Next year we will be fully implementing Common Core.  I decided that I would get my feet wet with opinion writing this spring.  I should mention that for almost a week, my kids were calling it “option” writing because they could not help but read opinion as option. 

Common Core Standard for 2nd Grade

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

I went to blogging sites, TpT, and Pinterest.  I found several resources.  We started with Let’s Write an Opinion: A Common Core-aligned writing unit for grades K-2.  This was created by Susan Moran from T.G.I.F.

  

Let’s Write an Opinion! by Susan Moran (T.G.I.F.)

One of the things I loved about this unit was that it started with learning about fact and opinion.  She added anchor charts and sorting activities, too.  My kids can access the sorting activity in the pocket chart during their Daily 5 choices.

 This week I added an anchor chart for opinion sentence starters to our wall.  The students were encouraged to make attempts at using these when writing their supporting reasons.  I told them that as we continue to write, adding these will become more natural and not seem as forced.  You can just imagine that my anchor chart was as bright and colorful as this one I found on Pinterest.  (My students decided that we could add I like or I love to the list).

(source: Live, Love, Laugh, and Learn in 1st Grade)

As many of you do, I started with modeled writing.  Then we moved into doing a writing piece together.  This week we all wrote about one recess activity.  Since the writing prompt asked them to imagine telling a new student about the best recess activity, I had the students write it in a letter format to a new student.  Here was an example (sorry, no picture this time – the camera battery died):

4-26-13

                                                    From,

(student name)

Are you working on opinion writing?  Here are some of the other things I have found: 

Any other great resources out there I should know about?