Mentor Text Writing Lesson Plan

Name: Olivia Nice

Link to nearpod lesson:

https://share.nearpod.com/e/e7exHghgbbb

A. TITLE OF LESSON (Writing Focus): Opinion Writing

B. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

2.4 The student will write in a variety of forms to include narrative,

descriptive, opinion, and expository.
g)Write to express an opinion and provide a reason for support.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

UNDERSTAND - Students will understand how to express their opinion and

support their reasoning.

KNOW - Students will know that people can have different opinions. Students
will know how to support their opinions by using reasons and explanations.

DO - Students will analyze the mentor text for opinions. Students will compose
their own opinion writing based on a prompt. Students will answer questions
about opinions. Students will compare opinions.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
When assessing students on opinion writing, I will use concrete artifacts. These
artifacts include answers to questions on the Nearpod presentation and their opinion
writing at the end of the lesson. These artifacts will help me assess students' learning.
After reading the mentor text, students will be asked to identify their perfect pet. Once
they choose their pet, students will write a few sentences, using sentence starters, about
why they choose that pet. Their writing must state the opinion, supply 2
reasons/evidence to support the opinion, and provide a concluding statement. Based on
their writing, I will be able to assess if they understand how to write to support their
opinion.
PART TWO: LESSON PLAN PROCEDURE

A. CONTEXT OF LESSON

Prior to reading the mentor text I will ask the students if they can identify an opinion
out of a list of different phrases. If the students can all identify the opinion then, I will go
over the definition of an opinion. I will take a poll asking the students, in your opinion,
which is the best season? After taking the poll I will ask the students to explain why they
choose this season. Some students may choose the same season. I will ask students to
put their thumb up if they agree with a statement that another student gives for
choosing their favorite season. This will help students relate to one another and
participate when others are talking. This will be the introduction to the mentor text.
This lesson will be a reassessment of what the students already know about opinions
and opinion writing. Students learned in first grade about opinions. This lesson will
build on what they already know and emphasize how to support their opinions. My hope
is that students will understand how to support their opinions. By the end of this lesson
students should be able to form an opinion about a topic and list reasons for their
choice. I will help students understand this standard by, using different interactive
activities and writing prompts.

B. MATERIALS NEEDED
- Laptop or phone for teacher
- laptop/tablet for each student
- Nearpod lesson link:
- Book: The Perfect Pet by: Margie Palatini
- Marker and white board
- Paper and pencil for each student

C. PROCEDURE
Discuss how you will address the topics below. Provide specifics about what you plan to
say, questions you may ask, and strategies you will use to make the lesson a success.
Before CONNECT
Students learn why today’s
instruction is important to
them as writers and how
the lesson relates to their
prior work (if applicable).
The teaching point is
stated.
During TEACH
The teacher shows the
students how writers
accomplish the teaching
point in the mentor text
Pull up Nearpod on devices and students’
devices. Make sure each student
understands how it works and can move
through the lesson.
Before beginning the lesson do a thumbs up
thumbs down activity. Students will put
their thumbs up if a statement is an opinion
and thumbs down if it is a fact. Examples of
statements: “Water is wet. My dog is the
cutest. The Patriots are the best football
team. Red is the best color. Bees make
honey. (etc.)”
Start with the question slide, “What is an
opinion?”
Have each student answer on their own and
show the different answers. Then move onto
the slide that states the definition of an
opinion. Describe the definition of an
opinion and ask students, “What are some
examples of opinions?”
Move to the next slide and take a poll and
ask the students, “In your opinion, what is
the best season?” After each student
answers, have each student verbally explain
why they chose that season.
Once they grasp this concept, move to the
slide with the book. After the students move
through the book reflect on what they read.
Ask the questions: What did Elizabeth want
throughout the entire book? How did she
try and convince her parents to get her a
pet? What was Elizabeth's opinion of pets?
What was her parent’s opinion of pets? How
did she support her opinion? If she wrote
out a letter to her parents giving them a list
of reasons for Doug what would it say?”
When reading the book make sure students
understand to use the book as an example to
write their opinion piece. Stop during the
book when the main character supports her
 opinion. When she talks about wanting a
horse she says, “ I can love it. Give it carrots.
Lumps of sugar. A horse would be the
perfect pet.” Students will use reasons to
support their opinion when writing like in
the book. When she finds the perfect pet she
also says what it will not do. The examples
she gives help convince her parents to keep
Doug as a pet. Students can also use this
method when writing their opinion. (To
make this easier I can put stopping points in
the video of the book and ask students to
make sure they use the book as a guide
when writing. I can write on the board how
she gave many reasons when stating her
opinion.)

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT After reading the mentor text students will

After we teach something, draw their perfect pet. This will start the
students are given a prewriting process. They will start to think
chance to practice what about reasons why they like this color to
has just been taught with support their opinion. Then, students will
new writing or revising a list out 2 reasons why they chose this pet.
prior piece. (May assess For example: if I choose a dog I would say, “
during this time) A dog is the perfect pet because I can take it
on a walk and the dog can sleep in my bed.”
This is the second step so they are prepared
to write at the end of the lesson. They will
take turns sharing and listening to others
while I write their answers into the
collaboration board.
After completing the prewriting activities I
will go over the structure of opinion writing.
They must state the opinion, give reasons to
support the opinion, and provide a
concluding statement. The reasons to
support the opinion should be modeled
from the book. Students can refer to the
book to help their writing. The students will
also be given a list of opinion and reason
sentence starters. This will help students
 begin their writing.
When they are fully prepared, students will
complete the prompt, “In your opinion,
what is the perfect pet?” They can also write
a letter to their parents/guardians
convincing them to get their perfect pet.
This letter must include their initial opinion
and reasons why it is the perfect pet. The
reasons need to be good to convince their
parents/guardians.” They can use their list
of reasons and sentence starters to complete
this writing activity. A list of reasons from
the book should be on the board when the
students are writing to help them support
their opinions. When students are writing I
will go around the room to make sure they
all understand the prompt and help them
with any spelling of difficult words.

After LINK After students complete their opinion

The teacher reiterates
what has just been taught
and gives students an
opportunity to share (May
assess during this time)
writing, I will look it over and they can
share it with the class. Once they are all
done I will ask the questions, “What is an
opinion? Does everyone need to have the
same opinion? How do we support our
opinions? How did Elizabeth find her
perfect pet?” These questions will reiterate
what has just been taught.
I added some questions in case I need more
time. These questions are “would you
rather” questions. They will help the
students form opinions on topics.

D. DIFFERENTIATION:

Some students may need help reading the prompts and how to spell words. There are a
few students that struggle with reading and writing and the other excel at it. There is a
large gap between the students in this classroom. To ensure this lesson meets the needs
of every student I will provide many examples and go around the room to help students
who are struggling to write. The different activities in this lesson will help students who
are struggling with writing and will also challenge some of the students who are
proficient writers. If students finish early I could have them brainstorm some different
things or topics to have an opinion on. These topics could be food, holidays, things to do
outside (ect.)

E. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU
DO ABOUT IT?

The main thing that could go wrong is the technology crashing. If I cannot get on to the
lesson, I will need to teach it on paper instead. I will need to have the book pulled up
online and each student will need a few pieces of paper. I will ask the students the
prompts orally that are on the PowerPoint and they can answer the questions by group
discussion or writing them down on a paper.

Rubric