Lesson Title: Lesson 2 - Learn how to use transition words

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson the students will be able to use transition words in an opinion
writing paragraph.

Universal Theme/EU
Organization impacts effectiveness in communication.

Essential Questions
What contributes to effectiveness in communication?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

The students will be grouped on the floor in their sit spots. I will be sharing a PowerPoint about
using transition words with the class. Each slide will have its own transition word as well as
some examples of how to use these words as well as what they mean. I will ask the students to
try and give me a sentence using this transition word as practice and to build familiarity with the
words.

Once we finish this PowerPoint I will do a review and ask the students the different words they
learned. I will write them down on the white board and keep them there for the rest of class.
The students will move back to their seats to fill out a tree map with the different words we just
learned. The tree map will be split into three sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. The
different words go into these different categories on the tree map.

I will start by showing the students an example of one word that would belong in each category.
Then the students will work together for five minutes and that is followed by independent work
until the tree map is completed and turned in as an exit ticket.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. We will be having group discussions and I will be monitoring the responses from the
students to check for understanding. I will also be collecting an exit ticket that will be done in
class to check to make sure my students are where they need to be.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to organize our thoughts onto paper. The best
way to organize is to use transition words so the reader knows what is going on and what will
happen next. When you have organized thoughts then your communication can be the most
effective.

Lesson Title: Lesson 3 - Read other opinion writings and learn how to find research

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson the students will be able to read an opinion paragraph and
determine what the author's opinion is.
By the end of this lesson students will be able to find their own research about a topic.

Universal Theme/EU
Opinions can be validated or refuted.

Essential Questions
Can opinions be right or wrong?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

We will be starting in a whole group discussion and I will read “Don’t Feed the Bear” to the
class. Before I read this to the class I will let them know to listen to everyone’s opinions in the
book.

After I finish reading we will then start talking about the different opinions that we heard
throughout the book. First, I will allow the students to share with a partner for 2 minutes to get
them thinking about what they just heard. After the two minutes I will then start the group
discussion. We will talk about all of the different opinions we heard and start to talk about it if we
can see any evidence.

This will be a short discussion because once we are done talking the students will go back to
their desks and work with their table partners to write down all of the different opinions that they
heard. I will give them some examples on the white board for them to get started and have an
example of what their journals should look like. They will be able to keep these journals to look
back to if they need to reference different opinions.

Once they have written down the different opinions we will go back and locate the different
transition words, reasons, and explanations that we saw in the book. I will be opening and
looking back at the book with the students so that they can see another author use these
different things when talking about opinions. This is great for the students to see another author
use all of these things they are learning how to use.

Finally, as a group activity they students will pick a side from the book. We will split into two
sides of the room based on the students opinions. They opinions will be written on the board
and then as a class we will research each opinion. I will be modeling how to research each
opinion for the students to watch and learn.

If there is time remaining then they students can practice finding more research for their
opinions.
Assessment and Feedback
I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. We will be having group discussions and I will be monitoring the responses from the
students to check for understanding. I will also be checking students journals as I circulate the
room to make sure everyone is understanding what we are doing. I will also be evaluating the
students respsionses when we are discussing how to find research to check for understanding.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to see different view points and different
opinions. We can agree or disagree with people opinions and we can also give our own reasons
why.

Lesson Title: Lesson 4 - Learn how to find evidence from the text

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson the students will be able to identify evidence in an opinion
writing paragraph.

Universal Theme/EU
Evidence strengthens opinions.
Essential Questions
How is writing used to persuade or change others ideas or opinions?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

We will be looking over another text that talks about different opinions. For this read around I will
have the book projected onto the board and we will be stopping often to analyze how the author
talks about different opinions. We are going to read “Emily’s Perfect Pet” and every time that we
see evidence and reasons that support the authors opinion then the students will be writing it
down in their journals to keep to look back to.

Once we finish looking at and discussing the different pieces of evidence we found in the book
the students will go back to their desks and complete a quick journal write. This journal write will
be an exit ticket for me to be able to check their progress.

The quick journal write will be “Pick one of the animals from the book “Emily’s Perfect Pet” then
supply at least one piece of evidence from the book as to why that is your favorite animal.” The
students will be working on this independently. I will circulate the room as they are working in
case they need clarification.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. We will be having group discussions and I will be monitoring the responses from the
students to check for understanding. I will also be checking students journals as an exit ticket to
check their quick write to make sure everyone is on the same page and check to see if I need to
reteach anything.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to explain to the students that it is important to
back up your opinion with evidence. When you have evidence to back up your opinion then it
strengthens what you say.

Lesson Title: Lesson 5 - Practice “OREO” as a class using two text

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson students will be able to follow the outline of an “OREO”
worksheet.

Universal Theme/EU
Organization impacts effectiveness in communication.

Essential Questions
What contributes to effectiveness in communication?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

The students will read the the online article Dog vs Cat: Whitch pet is better for kids?
(Hyperlinked) on their own on their chrome books. When the whole class is finished we will all
meet on the carpet and each student will have an OREO thinking map.

We will go through this together and I will have one of my own and be projecting it on the
screen. I will mostly be modeling for the students how we do this since it is their first time
learning this. They will be participating throughout this process.

As a class we will vote on one stance to take and continue to fill out the whole worksheet
together. I will be modeling how to fill everything in with help from the class with things they
have already learned like transition words and how to find evidence.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. We will be having group discussions and I will be monitoring the responses from the
students to check for understanding. I will be checking the students OREO thinking maps as we
are working on them to make sure the students are following along and to make sure I am
staying at a pace appropriate for the students learning.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to learn how to organize their thoughts. When
they can organize their opinion and have valid reasons with evidence to support those reasons
it will improve the effectiveness of their communication.

Lesson Title: Lesson 6 - Practice both “O”

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson students will be able to write their own opinion statement and
conclusion sentence.

Universal Theme/EU
Different perspectives and experiences influence opinion.

Essential Questions
How do perceptions inform our opinion?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

We will be starting our day with reviewing the OREO thinking map from the previous lesson. I
will be going over and explaining why we did what we did for each step. I will also be clarifying
any questions the students might have. We will highlight transition words, how to introduce your
opinion, how to find evidence, how to explain your evidence, and how to restate your opinion as
a conclusion.

Once the review is over we will take the same article we used last class and this time the
students will be working in groups or on their own. They will get a new OREO thinking map and
they will be instructed to pick the opposite side that we picked the previous day and write their
own opinion and conclusion sentence. The only parts of this they are doing is the first and last
sentence. They will try to do this on their own.

They will turn in what they have for me to review and hand back the following day. This will allow
me to chunk out work for the students to be successful and also monitor their progress.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. We will be having group discussions and I will be monitoring the responses from the
students to check for understanding. I will also be checking students journals as I circulate the
room to make sure everyone is understanding what we are doing. I will also be evaluating the
students respsionses when we are discussing how to find research to check for understanding.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to show them that there can be different
perspectives and different opinions on one topic. They will know that the different perspectives
that they have can shift their opinion.

Lesson Title: Lesson 7 - Practice first RE using the first text

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson students will be able to give a reason to support their opinion,
evidence from the text to support this reason, as well as an explanation as to why they picked
the reason and evidence.

Universal Theme/EU
Evidence strengthens opinion.

Essential Questions
What contributes to effectiveness in communication?

Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

I will be handing back the students thinking map and talking with students who might need some
extra help from what I reviewed. They will take the new OREO thinking map that they worked on
in the previous lesson and add one reason and one explanation to this worksheet on their own.

They will need to state a reason that supports their opinion as well as use evidence from the
text to support that reason. I will provide the students with some sentence starters to help them
begin to start thinking. They should be able to do this on their own and I will be walking around
the room to help them if they need it.

They will be turning this in as an exit ticket so that I can check the students individual progress
and make sure they are understanding the information.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. There will be a lot of individual and group work while I circulate the classroom and
observe and help the students as they need. While I am circulating the room I will be checking
to make sure the students are moving in the right direction while completing their OREO
thinking map. The students will turn their OREO thinking maps into me as an exit ticket so that I
can make sure they are understanding the information and see if I need to reteach anything for
the next day.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to show the students that if they state an opinion
and they want it to be a strong statement then they should have evidence to back up their
opinion. When there are reasons and evidence to back up their opinions it is a stronger
statement.

Lesson Title: Lesson 8 - Practice second RE using the second text

Grade Level/ Content: Third Grade - Opinion Writing

Standards:
W1.1.
Write opinion pieces that:
a. introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that includes
reasons;

c. organize supporting reasons logically;

d. use transitional words or phrases to connect opinions and reasons;

e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on
personal ideas and the ideas of others;

f. use paraphrasing and original language to avoid plagiarism; and

g. provide a concluding statement or section.

Objective/Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson students will be able to give a reason to support their opinion,
evidence from the text to support this reason, as well as an explanation as to why they picked
the reason and evidence.

Universal Theme/EU
Opinions can be changed based on persuasive reasoning.

Essential Questions
How is writing used to persuade or change others ideas or opinions?
Learning Experiences
(Label WHERETO)

I will be handing back the students thinking map and talking with students who might need some
extra help from what I reviewed. They will take the new OREO thinking map that they worked on
in the previous lesson and add one reason and one explanation to this worksheet on their own.
The previous day they added the first reason and explanation and today they will add a second
reason and a second explanation to their thinking map. They will get their evidence from a
different source as well.

They will need to state a reason that supports their opinion as well as use evidence from the
text to support that reason. I will provide the students with some sentence starters to help them
begin to start thinking. They should be able to do this on their own and I will be walking around
the room to help them if they need it.

They will be turning this in as an exit ticket so that I can check the students individual progress
and make sure they are understanding the information.

Assessment and Feedback

I will be conducting informal assessments throughout this lesson such as observation and
evaluation. There will be a lot of individual and group work while I circulate the classroom and
observe and help the students as they need. While I am circulating the room I will be checking
to make sure the students are moving in the right direction while completing their OREO
thinking map. The students will turn their OREO thinking maps into me as an exit ticket so that I
can make sure they are understanding the information and see if I need to reteach anything for
the next day.

Closure/ Application
At the end of the lesson, I will summarize what we learned today. I will then remind the students
the importance of why we learned this which is to show the students that if they state an opinion
and they want it to be a strong statement then they should have evidence to back up their
opinion. When there are reasons and evidence to back up their opinions it is a stronger
statement.