It’s one thing to have an opinion. It’s quite another to have an opinion that is well-formed and supported by hard facts. While it may not be vital for our students to be able to successfully defend their stances on, say, the best flavor of ice cream or which sport is the most fun to play, opinion writing exercises are excellent practice for expressing the things that do matter. It helps them become more effective writers, and also helps them learn how to effectively stand up for what they believe in.
These opinion writing activities give your 3rd graders the chance to tell you and their peers how they feel, while teaching them how to share those beliefs in constructive, creative ways.
Writing Activity #1: The Great Outdoors
What parent or teacher hasn’t urged their kids to spend more time playing outside? This opinion writing activity gets your students’ minds out of the classroom and into the great outdoors. (Extra credit: if it’s possible to do so, this writing activity is even more engaging if you actually take your students outside to work on it!) Ask them to brainstorm a few of their favorite outdoor activities. Then, ask them to choose just one—the best one!—and write about why it’s so much fun.
PROJECT IDEA
After writing and editing their work, ask your students to draw pictures of themselves engaging in the activities they described. Using either a paper kit or online bookmaker, help them create scrapbook-style pages to accompany their writing. Then, publish it all in a beautifully written and illustrated classbook!
Writing Activity #2: The Most Interesting Lesson
This opinion writing activity isn’t just good practice for your students. It’ll also give you a sneak peek into the sorts of topics your students may be most interested in reading and writing about—which can help inform your lesson plans and ideas for future activities! Ask your students to write to answer the following prompt: “What is the most interesting lesson you’ve learned in school? Why?” Ask them to include at least two to three reasons to support their claim. Once they’re finished writing, ask volunteers to share their knowledge and experiences with the rest of the class.
PROJECT IDEA
Following the completion of their first drafts, ask your students to proofread each other’s work and have them revise their responses accordingly. Then, ask them to draw illustrations that relate to the lesson they described (e.g. if they found learning about dinosaurs especially interesting, they could draw their favorite dinosaur). Publish their work! Once your books arrive, set aside some time for your students to share their favorite lessons with the class. This can be as simple as asking each student to read their contribution aloud, or you can opt to host a fun “teacher for a day” style publishing party!
Writing Activity #3: Personal Pick-Me-Ups
For a more emotive opinion writing activity, try asking your students to write about their own personal favorite cures for the blues with this creative prompt: “What is the best thing to do to cheer yourself up when you’re sad? Explain why this method works for you.” Not only will this activity help your students explore their own feelings and emotions, it’s also a great way for them to share some fun self-care tips with each other that they can put to use the next time they’re feeling a little down.
PROJECT IDEA
After writing, ask them to self-edit their work to double-check for obvious spelling and grammatical errors—and to ensure they’ve included the basics of an opinion piece, including a topic statement, supporting evidence and a clear conclusion. Then, have your students create two-panel “before and after” comics to pair with their responses. One panel should show them feeling down; the second should show them being cheered up by the activity they described. Finally, publish their work in a classbook that’s sure to brighten things up any day of the week.
Writing Activity #4: Recommended Reading
This opinion writing activity is especially engaging for students because it empowers them to impact the course of their studies. Begin by offering them a choice of two to three age-appropriate books. Read the synopses aloud and pass the books around to give everyone an idea of what each book looks and feels like. Then, ask your students to write about which book they think would be the most interesting to read and why. After writing, ask students to share their responses—if possible, try to find three different responses that support one of each of the three books. Then, call for a vote. Whichever book receives the most votes will be their next reading assignment.
PROJECT IDEA
After completing their chosen reading assignment, you can delve even deeper into this topic with your students by asking them to write about whether the book lived up to their initial expectations, and why or why not. After editing and revising both their new and original responses, ask them to draw self-portraits of themselves reading. Finally, publish all of their artwork and writing in a professionally bound classbook!
Our #proudauthors in Ms. Rauseo’s class reviewed their favorite fiction books. Click to view.
Sharing Ideas and Opinions Through Writing
When we teach students about opinion writing, we’re not just teaching them about writing, or even how to support their beliefs. We’re teaching them how to communicate more openly and successfully with the outside world. Writing about fun, familiar topics like outdoor activities, school, ways to cheer someone up or what book to read next is perfect practice for younger students. There are no wrong answers to questions like these, and to find their own answers, your students have only to follow their instincts and their hearts. It’s an excellent first step in their journey towards discovering both what they believe in and how they can best convey and defend those beliefs when the time comes—whether through personal discussion or having their work published.
For more classroom activities to inspire and engage your students’ interests and creativity, be sure to check out our online teacher’s lounge, and sign up today for your free publishing kit!
Image source: Lead image via Shutterstock; Images 1, 2, 3, 4 via OpenClipart.org