Name: Brenna Travis

Grade Level: 2nd

Unit: Writing Opinion Pieces

School:
Number of Students in Class:
Lesson Duration: 45 minutes

Day, Date, and Time of Lesson:

1. Objective(s): By the end of this lesson, students will effectively write a 3-5 sentence
opinion piece addressing what their favorite animal is and including at least two details
addressing why.

2. Colorado Academic Standards:

Content Area: Reading Writing and Communicating
Standard 3: Writing and Composition
1. Exploring the writing process helps to plan and draft a variety of literary genres
a. 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. (CCSS: W.2.1)

3. Learning Target(s): I can write 4-5 sentences about my favorite animal including at least
two reasons explaining why I like it so much.

4. Assessment: Students will write a 4-5 sentence paragraph about their favorite animal and
why. Every student should have a topic sentence, at least two reasons written in complete
sentences, and a conclusion.

5. Materials:

A document camera will be used during the minilesson

Student writing journal
Pencil
Markers, crayons, or colored pencils

6. Essential Questions or Big Picture Statement:

How can I add details to my writing to paint a picture in the readers mind?
Which transitions words can I use to help my paragraph flow better?
How can I use COPS to improve my writing? (capitalization, organization, punctuation,
spelling)
Can I stay on topic throughout my writing?
Which details can I add to my paragraph that stand out as the most important?

7. Introduction/Anticipatory Set: (5-7 minutes) Students will meet in the gathering area for
the minilesson. The teacher will connect what the students have previously been working on
with opinion writing. (Their previous writing was what animal would not make a good pet.)
The teacher will remind the students of the writing format they have been working on. (topic
sentence, details, conclusion.) The teacher will then proceed to ask the students to put their
hand on their head if they know what their favorite animal is and why. Once every student has
their hand on their head, the teacher will ask the students to do a think-pair-share on what it is
and why. Once the students have had a few minutes to do this, the teacher will call on 3
students to ask what their partners favorite animal was and why. The teacher will let the
students know the animal they chose is the animal they would write about today. Then the
teacher will excuse a few students at a time from the gathering area to get their writing
journals and sit at their desk.

8. Step-by-Step Lesson Process:

1. Modeling: (5-10 minutes) After the minilesson, and when all the students are
back at their desks, the teacher will display an example piece of writing to the
students. The teacher will tell the students about her favorite animal. (ex.
Hippo) The teacher will then write the topic on the board and tell the students
to write their topic at the top of their paper. Then she will ask the class for
ideas about how she should write the topic sentence. After writing the topic
sentence, the teacher will draw a T-chart on the board and model for the
students how they can organize their details and explain them more. The
teacher will then reference back to the writing strategies displayed on the
whiteboard and remind the students they need to have a topic sentence, at
least two details, and a conclusion. The teacher will then instruct the students
to begin writing their sloppy copies.
2. Independent practice: (20 minutes) The students will work on their writing
while the example piece is left on the whiteboard for the students to use as
reference. The teacher will circulate the room answering questions and
checking to see if every student has a topic sentence, two reasons, and a
conclusion. Extra one on one guidance may be spent with students who are
having trouble thinking of ideas or writing their reasons.
3. Direct Instruction: Once students are done with their writing they will ask
the teacher to check it. The teacher will do a quick check to make sure the
students have all of the writing components they are supposed to have. Once
they have made any corrections they need to, the teacher will give the student
two red strips of paper and instructed to tape one side of the paper over each
of their details. On the red sheets of paper, students will be instructed to write
a sentence to explain their detail even more. After this, students will be
instructed to grab a nice sheet of paper to write their final copy. The teacher
will get the classs attention and remind them to write their final copy in their
nicest handwriting.
4. (10 minutes) Once the students are finished with their final copy and it is
checked by the teacher, they will be able to start drawing their favorite
animal. The teacher will instruct the kids to include the details they added into
their writing to their drawing. They students will add color to their drawings.
There may or may not be enough time for every student to finish their writing
or get to this step. If there is not enough time, students will put their writing in
their learning folders so they can work on it at a later time. The rest of the
writing and the drawing may be finished that afternoon or the next day.
(I switched the order up a bit. At first I had the drawing first but I switched it
to where I have the writing first and the drawing last.)
5. Direct instruction: In the next minilesson, or after lunch, the teacher will
briefly discuss the lesson and why it is an opinion piece. The teacher will

choose a few students who have successfully added details into their writing.
(Maybe students who dont get called on all the time) and ask them to share
what they wrote. The teacher will discuss why they were effective details to
add in the writing and acknowledge everything the students did well. In future
lessons, student can work on revising their opinion pieces to add in more
detail and reasoning.

Check for Understanding of Process: The teacher will circulate the room while the students
are working to check that they made a T-chart, and are effectively writing their paragraph. The
teacher will also answer any questions students may have about the assignment.

Check for Understanding of Content: After students are done with their sloppy copy, the
teacher will check to make sure each student has a topic sentence, at least two details, and a
conclusion.

Differentiation: If certain students are having trouble focusing or writing their paragraphs, the
teacher will have the students sit at the same table so it will be easier to help each student. The
teacher will make sure every student has a topic, and may aide students with writing complete
sentences and thinking of details.