Three Day Lesson Plan

Day 1: Opinion (persuasive) Writing

Day 2: Narrative Writing
Day 3: Compare & Contrast Opinion (persuasive) & Narrative Writing
Topic:

Opinion (persuasive) and Narrative Writing

Audience:

4th Grade

Visual: Visual learners will benefit from the example paragraphs as well as all of the writing

done on the board. They will also benefit from the venn diagram to help them organize their

thoughts.

Auditory: Auditory learners will benefit from me, the teacher, reading the example paragraphs

aloud. They will also benefit from reading their own paragraphs aloud to their classmates.

Finally, they will also benefit from group discussion and the things on the board written aloud.

Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners will benefit from getting up and writing on the venn diagram on

the board. They will also benefit from getting out of their seats and working in partners to

improve their writing.

Differentiation:

I plan to let the students pick their own groups so they can organize themselves by shared

interests or ability when improving their papers. I also plan to assess the students learnings by

using formative assessments to keep up with how they are doing. Finally, I plan to vary the ways

I teach the students information (personal work, group work, class discussion, lecture, etc.) so I

can fit the variety of learning styles that are within my classroom.

Day 1 - Opinion (Persuasive) Writing

Materials:

Two papers for each student

Pencil for each student

Overhead

Whiteboard and markers for it

Class laptops

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1.D

Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5

With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by

planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of

Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 here.)

Michigan Educational Technology Standards:

3-5.RI.1. identify search strategies for locating information with support from teachers or library

media specialists.
3-5.RI.2. use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.

Objectives:

I can think of something I am passionate about and try to persuade others to agree or comply.

I can share my thoughts/ideas with my teacher and classmates.

I can work through the steps of the writing process.

I can use technology to improve my writing.

I can follow directions.

I can use the writing process to improve my writing.

Introduction:

Okay class! Today we are going to talk about opinion, or persuasive writing. To start us out and

get our brains working, we are going to do a quick write. Make a list of things you feel strongly

about. It can be things you like, hate, annoy you, youre passionate about, or anything else you

can think of that really gets you going. Put at least five things and explain what it is about them

that makes you feel so strong about it. The students will then do the quick write.

Steps in the Lesson:

1. Okay class! Today we are going to talk about opinion, or persuasive writing. To start us

out and get our brains working, we are going to do a quick write. Make a list of things you feel

strongly about. It can be things you like, hate, annoy you, youre passionate about, or anything

else you can think of that really gets you going. Put at least five things and explain what it is
about them that makes you feel so strong about it. When you are finished, think about which you

would like to write about. The students will then do the quick write.

(10 minutes)

2. Okay, now lets go around the room and everybody can share their list. You can share

everything you have, or just the things you feel comfortable sharing. I will go around the room

and call on each child to share.

(10 minutes)

3. Okay, that quickwrite was the beginning of the prewrite step of the writing process.

Please listen closely to the lesson today, tomorrow. The day after tomorrow we will review what

we have learned and then take a test. I will write out on the board the steps of the writing

process. I will then write Prewrite, Writing, Revision, Editing, and Publishing on the board.

Next, I will explain each step. Prewriting is where you plan what you will write about. Writing

is where you actually write about what you planned. Revising is where you reread what you

wrote and you can add, remove, move, or substitute parts of your paper. Editing is where you fix

grammar issues and spelling issues. Publishing is where you make your final copy. I will then

write next to each step a few keywords about what you do during that step.

(10 minutes)

4. Today we are going to work on writing a mini opinion/ persuasive piece and using the

writing process with it. Persuasive or opinion pieces are when you are trying to convince an

audience to agree with your opinion. For example, you could write a paper about why ballet is

the best sport. Another example would be why your parents should raise your allowance. It is

important to know who your audience will be. Who are you trying to persuade? If you were

writing about why your parents should raise your allowance, your audience would probably be
your parents. If you are writing about why ballet is the best sport, your audience may be a person

who thinks basketball is the best sport.

(2 minutes)

5. I would like to show you all an example of a persuasive or opinion piece. I will then

bring up on the overhead an example of a persuasive or opinion piece. Next, I will read it aloud

to the class. (see attachment)

(5 minutes)

6. Now it is your turn. Pick a topic from your quick write and write a persuasive/opinion

paragraph. I would like it to be four to seven sentences. Skip every other line so you can make

changes later. You should start out with a topic sentence that explains what your opinion is. You
should then go on to support it. Then do a sentence to conclude your idea. After you are done,

give it a title. Make sure to write your name and date in the right hand corner of the paper. I will

give you all twenty minutes to write. Please do your best and come to me with any questions. Try

to keep it quiet to respect those who are writing around you. The students will then work on

their pieces. As the teacher, I will go around and see what each child is writing to make sure they

are on the write track and indeed writing a persuasive/opinion piece.

(25 minutes)

7. Okay everybody, you have just completed the writing step of the writing process. We

are going to now move on to the revising stage where you will reread what you wrote and add,

remove, move, or substitute parts of your paragraph. I would like you to do this in partners. Read

your paragraphs to one another then work together to make these improvements. Feel free to

cross out, erase, and write in the margins to make these corrections. You can pick your own

partners and you can sit anywhere in the room but I dont want the noise level too loud. I will

give you all twenty minutes to do this. The students will then find their partners and a place in

the room and work on revising their paragraphs.

(25 minutes)

8. Okay everybody please return to your seats. We are now going to edit our persuasive/

opinion pieces. You may grab a laptop to search the spelling of any words you are unsure if you

spelt wrong. You may also look up any grammatical rules that you may have done incorrectly.

Feel free to ask those around you for help, and I will come around and help you all as well. Lets

see how much we can get done in fifteen minutes. The students will then grab laptops and work

on editing their papers with the help of technology and those around them.

(20 minutes)
9. You have all done a great job working on these, and I have heard some very great

papers. Please turn in your papers to the bin on my desk and as long as you have something to

turn in and I can see you have made changes, you will get full credit. I hope you all have learned

the aspects of a persuasive/opinion paper and how to use the writing process. Since you all have

worked so hard, you may take a ten minute break. Talk to one another, get a drink, or use the

bathroom if you need to, then we will move on to something else.

(10 minutes)

Closure:

You have all done a great job working on these, and I have heard some very great papers.

Please turn in your papers to the bin on my desk and as long as you have something to turn in

and I can see you have made changes, you will get full credit. I hope you all have learned the

aspects of a persuasive/opinion paper and how to use the writing process. Since you all have

worked so hard, you may take a ten minute break. Talk to one another, get a drink, or use the

bathroom if you need to, then we will move on to something else.

Formative Assessment:

The students will turn in what they have worked on during the lesson. As long as they have a

paragraph written and have shown work of improvement, they will get full credit. I will add

comments so at a later day they can publish their pieces.

Day 2 Narrative Writing

Materials:

Two papers for each student

Pencil for each student

Overhead

Whiteboard and markers for it

Class laptops

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,

descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5

With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by

planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of

Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 here.)

Michigan Educational Technology Standards:

3-5.RI.1. identify search strategies for locating information with support from teachers or library

media specialists.
3-5.RI.2. use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.

Objectives:

I can write in sequential order to tell a story about a personal experience.

I can share my thoughts/ideas with my teacher and classmates.

I can work through the steps of the writing process.

I can use technology to improve my writing.

I can follow directions.

I can use the writing process to improve my writing.

Introduction:

Hello everybody! Yesterday we talked about opinion or persuasive writing. Today we are going

to talk about narrative writing. Similar to yesterday, we are going to start out with a quick write

to get your brains going and ready for what we will do next. I want you to make a list of the five

best days of your life. Then, do a quick summary or explanation of what made those days so

great. When you are finished, think about which you would like to write about.

Steps in the Lesson:

1. Hello everybody! Yesterday we talked about opinion or persuasive writing. Today we

are going to talk about narrative writing. Similar to yesterday, we are going to start out with a

quick write to get your brains going and ready for what we will do next. I want you to make a list

of the five best days of your life. Then, do a quick summary or explanation of what made those
days so great. When you are finished, think about which you would like to write about. The

students will then do the quick write.

(10 minutes)

2. Okay, now lets go around the room and everybody can share what they wrote. You can

share everything you have, or just the things you feel comfortable sharing. I will go around the

room and call on each child, one at a time, to share.

(10 minutes)

3. Okay, that quickwrite was the beginning of the prewrite step of the writing process.

Dont forget, tomorrow we are going to have a test over what we learned yesterday and today.

We still have the steps of the writing process written on the board. Lets review it now. The order

goes: Prewrite, Writing, Revision, Editing, and Publishing on the board. Prewriting is where you

plan what you will write about. Writing is where you actually write about what you planned.

Revising is where you reread what you wrote and you can add, remove, move, or substitute parts

of your paper. Editing is where you fix grammar issues and spelling issues. Publishing is where

you make your final copy.

(10 minutes)

4. Today we are going to work on writing a mini narrative piece and using the writing

process with it. Narrative pieces have a clear sequence of events that happened over time. It can

be over a period of a day, or a period of a couple years. There can be a narrator and characters,

but often the narrator is the main character. Narrative pieces tell a story and include a plot,

setting, characters, conflict, and resolution. For example, you could write a paper about why your

eighth birthday was the best birthday you ever had. You would start out probably when you

woke up and the sequence of events of your whole day. Another example would be about the
time you got stuck on the zip line at the zoo. What happened first, second, third, and last? There

are different types of narratives but today we are going to be writing personal narratives which is

a true story told in first person. First person means using words such as I, me, us, we. It will be a

story about something that happened in your life.

(4 minutes)

5. I would like to show you all an example of a narrative piece. I will then bring up on the

overhead an example of a persuasive or opinion piece. Next, I will read it aloud to the class. (see

attachment)

(5 minutes)
6. Now it is your turn. Just like yesterday, pick a topic from your quick write and write a

narrative paragraph. I would like it to be four to seven sentences. Skip every other line so you

can make changes later. You should start out with a time frame and talk about what happened in

order. Since you are only writing a paragraph, it may be easier to write within a smaller time

frame, like one day. Then do a sentence to conclude your story. After you are done, give it a title.

Make sure to write your name and date in the right hand corner of the paper. I will give you all

twenty minutes to write. Please do your best and come to me with any questions. Try to keep it

quiet to respect those who are writing around you. The students will then work on their pieces.

As the teacher, I will go around and see what each child is writing to make sure they are on the

write track and indeed writing a narrative piece.

(25 minutes)

7. Okay everybody, you have just completed the writing step of the writing process. We

are going to now move on to the revising stage where you will reread what you wrote and add,

remove, move, or substitute parts of your paragraph. I would like you to do this in partners like

you did yesterday. Pick a different partner than you had yesterday so you can get a new type of

feedback. Read your paragraphs to one another then work together to make these improvements.

Feel free to cross out, erase, and write in the margins to make these corrections. You can pick

your own partners again and you can sit anywhere in the room but dont let it get too loud in here

so those around you can concentrate. I will give you all twenty minutes to do this. The students

will then find their partners and a place in the room and work on revising their paragraphs.

(25 minutes)

8. Alright class please return to your seats. We are now going to edit our narrative pieces.

You may grab a laptop to search the spelling of any words you are unsure if you spelt wrong.
You may also look up any grammatical rules that you may have done incorrectly. Keep in mind

the fixes you made yesterday so you dont have to look up the same things twice if possible. You

can ask those around you for help, and I will come around and help you all as well. Lets try to

get this done in fifteen minutes. The students will then grab laptops and work on editing their

papers with the help of technology and those around them.

(20 minutes)

9. You have all done a great job working on these papers the last two days, and I have

heard some very great papers. Please turn in your papers to the bin on my desk and as long as

you have something to turn in and I can see you have made changes, you will get full credit. I

hope you all have learned the aspects of a narrative paper and how to use the writing process.

Lets take a ten minute break like we did yesterday because you all worked so hard. Talk to one

another, get a drink, or use the bathroom if you need to, then we will move on to something

else.

(10 minutes)

Closure:

You have all done a great job working on these papers the last two days, and I have heard some

very great papers. Please turn in your papers to the bin on my desk and as long as you have

something to turn in and I can see you have made changes, you will get full credit. I hope you all

have learned the aspects of a narrative paper and how to use the writing process. Lets take a ten

minute break like we did yesterday because you all worked so hard. Talk to one another, get a

drink, or use the bathroom if you need to, then we will move on to something else.
Formative Assessment:

The students will turn in what they have worked on during the lesson. As long as they have a

paragraph written and have shown work of improvement, they will get full credit. I will add

comments so at a later day they can publish their pieces.

Day 3 Comparing and Contrasting Opinion (Persuasive) and Narrative Writing

Materials:

One paper for each student

Pencil for each student

Venn diagram sheets

Whiteboard and markers for it

Class laptops

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects

of a topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and

digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

Michigan Educational Technology Standards:

3-5.RI.1. identify search strategies for locating information with support from teachers or library

media specialists.

3-5.RI.2. use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.

Objectives:

I can differentiate narrative writing and opinion/persuasive writing

I can use technology to find information.

I can follow directions.

Introduction:

Hi class. Two days ago we talked about opinion or persuasive writing and yesterday we talked

about narrative writing. We are going to do a quick write again today. Write a few sentences

about what you remember about opinion/persuasive writing. Then, write a few sentences about

what you remember about narrative writing.

Steps in the Lesson:

1. Hi class. Two days ago we talked about opinion or persuasive writing and yesterday we

talked about narrative writing. We are going to do a quick write again today. Write a few

sentences about what you remember about opinion/persuasive writing. Then, write a few

sentences about what you remember about narrative writing.

(10 minutes)

2. Now I would like everybody to grab a laptop and login to their school account. The

students will then grab laptops and logon. While the students are doing this, I will pass out a

worksheet with a venn diagram on it. (see attachment)

(7 minutes)

3. I want you all to work individually to fill out these worksheets I just passed out. On the

left side write, opinion/persuasive writing and on the right side write, narrative writing. Use

the internet to find at least three things that making a piece of writing an opinion/persuasive

writing. Then do the same for narrative writing. Finally, try to find three things that they have in

common. I will give you all fifteen minutes to do this. While the students are doing this, I will

draw a large venn diagram on the whiteboard and label it the same as their worksheets are.

4. Okay, finish up your last sentence. I would like to make a venn diagram of what you all

have found up on the board. Who would like to come write on thing that makes

opinion/persuasive writing unique? The students will raise their hands and I will pick one

student. Now, who would like to come write one thing that makes narrative writing unique?

The students will again raise their hands and I will pick another student to come up and write on

the board. Who would like to come write on the board something they have that is similar?

The students will raise their hands and I will pick a third student to come up and write on the

board. I will continue this process until the venn diagram is complete or until I have no more

volunteers.

(10 minutes)

5. Please write your name on your venn diagram. As long as you have at least three things

written in each section, you will get full credit for working on it. Please come up and turn it in in

the bin on my desk.

(3 minutes)

6. I would like you all to review what we have written on the board, and think about what

we worked on the last two days. I will give you all five minutes. Then, I will erase it and you will
all take your test. Make sure to not only look over the venn diagram we made, but also review

the steps of the writing process as well.

(5 minutes)

7. After the five minutes is up, I will erase what is on the board and pass out the test. Dont

forget to write your name. No talking until everybody has finished their test. When you are

finished, please turn in your test on my desk and you may read quietly until everybody is done.

(As much time is needed for all students to finish)

Closure:

After all the students are done with the test I will ask them for their thoughts. What did you all

think about using the writing process? What did you like and not like about it? I will allow

students to respond. Raise your hand if you enjoyed opinion/persuasive writing more. Let

students raise their hand. Raise your hand if you enjoyed narrative writing more.

Formative Assessment:

The students will turn in their venn diagram. As long as they have three things listed under each

section, they will get full credit. I will add comments/corrections for anything that is wrong or

good.

Summative Assessment - Test

Name:

Date:

Test (30 possible points)

For number one, circle the correct answer. For number two through eight,
please give a short answer. Make sure to be clear and give specific
examples to demonstrate what you have learned. In addition, be sure to
use terms correctly. Also, make sure your sentences are complete and flow
nicely with one another. Finally, try to avoid spelling and grammatical
errors. Dont forget to write your name and date. Turn in your test to my
desk when you are finished. Good luck!

1. Which of the following is the correct order of the writing process? (2

point)
a. Prewrite, writing, revising, editing, publishing
b. Writing, prewriting, revising, editing, publishing
c. Prewrite, writing, revising, publishing, editing
d. Writing, prewrite, publishing, revising, editing

2. What is the first step in the writing process called? How did we do this
first step? (4 points)

3. Please explain how the use of technology was helpful when

improving your paragraphs. Give at least one example. (4 points)
4. Please explain how the use of technology was not helpful when
improving your paragraphs. Give at least one example. (4 points)

5. It is important to be able to recognize the areas you need to improve

on. How do you plan to improve your use of the writing process next
time you use it? List at least two areas for improvement and explain.
(4 points)

6. Explain at least two aspects of a narrative piece. (4 points)

7. Explain at least two aspects of an opinion/persuasive piece. (4 points)

 8. Explain at least two things you have learned over the last three days
about the writing process, narrative pieces, and/or opinion/persuasive
pieces. (4 points)

Answer Key:
1. A
2. Prewrite. We did this by doing quick writes, sharing out, then picking our favorite idea
from our quick write.
3. Answers will vary. Possibilities may entail: Helpful to fix spelling errors or grammatical
errors. Helpful to find unknown information.
4. Answers will vary. Possibilities may entail: Couldnt find the information we needed.
Issues logging in. The internet can be unsafe for reasons such as predators. I prefer to use
other sources to find information, such as books.
5. Answers will vary. Possibilities may entail: Better time management. Better use of
resources. Picking a topic that is more interesting to the writer.
6. Answers will vary. Possibilities may entail: Tells a story. Has a clear sequence of events.
Includes plot, setting, characters, conflict, and a resolution. Introduction, body,
conclusion.
7. Answers will vary. Possibilities may entail: Introduction, body, conclusion. Tries to
persuade a person of your own opinion. The author has a specific audience in mind.
8. Answers will vary. The student should talk about something that was included in our
lessons and backs it up with explanations and examples.

Summative Assessment Overall Rubric

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