Lesson Plan Template WCSD Writing Program Teacher’s name: Jodie Black Teacher’s school: Rollan Melton Elementary School
Writing Type/Genre: Text Types and Purposes: Argument (Opinion) Lesson Title:
What Do I Think?: My First Written Opinions
Standards-based Outcomes: Standard: 1--Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which students tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…). Student Outcomes: At the end of this series of fifteen talking/writing lessons, students will be able to actively and independently express preferences or opinions on a variety of topics including books and movies. Audience and Purpose for Lesson: While learning to express opinions on a variety of topics, over several weeks or months, students have themselves and their classmates as a primary audience. At this age, kindergartners are learning to write and draw about what they like and why they like it. This beginning step is crucial if we expect students to argue more complex positions in subsequent years. The purpose is to expose students to the opinion genre and build their independence both with writing as a physical task and opinions as a mental exercise. Pre-requisite Skills/Background Knowledge: If your students are pre-writing, the teacher, a parent-helper or volunteer can take dictation to match students’ illustrated ideas. If your students have a strong base in letter/sound knowledge, they will be able to tackle these writing tasks independently. In the “Steps in Implementation” section, I have outlined an important beginning step in transitioning from speaking to writing that you may need to start with depending on your specific population. The genre of writing described in this lesson is best tackled as part of a Writer’s Workshop environment in your classroom. Students should be able to make some choice about what to write and have an extended period of time to develop their ideas, go about the task of writing and have input and assistant from the teacher during the workshop time frame. Resources/Supplies Needed: Print all or part of the attached graphic organizers to aid your students’ writing and illustrating. Pencils and crayons, markers or colored pencils could be used.
1