Should Dogs Be Allowed on the Beach?

Grade: 4

Topic: Opinion Writing

Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and
information.

Objective: SWBAT to write an opinion piece about if dogs should be allowed on the beach by
using text evidence to support their argument.

Materials:
● Chromebooks
● Opinion Story - Dogs on the Beach
● Opinion Planning Pages
● Pencil

Procedures: Total Lesson Time: 45-60 minutes x 5 Days

Day 1 (60 minutes):

● Students will complete an opinion “cold-write” with no guidance from me.
● The “cold-write” is on if schools should have uniforms.
● Students will have about an hour to write.
● I will look at these writings to see what areas students need to work on.

Day 2 (45 minutes):

● Students will learn about an opinion piece.
● Students will read the “Dogs on the Beach” story.
● Students will need to decide why dogs should or should not be allowed on the beach.
● I will model how to write a hook and thesis statement.
● Students will work on creating their hook and thesis statement in their plan sheet.
● Students will bring their hook and thesis statement to me to get checked off.

Day 3 and Day 4 (45 minutes)

● Students will work on their 3 body paragraphs.
● I will model how to fill in the plan sheet for each topic sentence and support details.
● Students will need to find 2-3 direct quotes from the text to support their argument - I
will show students how to do this.
● Students will create a topic sentence for each body paragraph, add supporting details, and
text evidence.
● Students will bring their body paragraphs to me to get checked off.
● Once students are checked off, they can type up their essay.

Day 5 (60 minutes)

 ● Students will use their self-assessment checklist before they meet with a partner to peer
edit.
● Students will show me their finished self-assessment.
● Students will be paired with someone to peer-edit.
● Students will fill out another checklist of their partner's work.
● Before turning it in, students will meet with me.

Explicit Instruction: 5-10 minutes x 5 days

● I will show students each day how to write each paragraph of their writing.
● I will go back to the text and show students why I am writing something.

Guided Practice: 10 minutes

● Students will be guided on how to write each part of their essay.
● This will be a mixture of explicit instruction and guided practice.
● I will tell students the instructions and they will work on it while I am teaching it.

Independent Practice: 45 minutes minutes x 5 days

● Students will be working independently on filling in their planning page each day.
● Students will critique themselves by completing a self-assessment to see if they have
provided all of the correct information.

Group Practice: 5 minutes

● Students will work with a partner to peer edit each other's paper.
● Students will provide feedback to one another to help each other out.
● Students will use the provided feedback to make any corrections needed to their paper.

(Assessment) Exit Ticket/Lesson Wrap-Up: 5 minutes

● Students will turn in their writing to me at the end of the week and I will grade it based
on the CAASPP rubric.
● I will compare this assessment to the cold write the students had completed at the
beginning of the week.

Differentiation:
● For students that need extra support, I will be providing extra assistance to them while I
am walking around the room during our lesson.
● For students that finish work early, they have a choice board, listed on the whiteboard,
that they can work on while they wait to go over the answers.