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Central Elementary Students Celebrate Opinion Writing

Mr. Raposo’s opinion writing unit was nearing an end when he had a unique brainstorm for his 5th grade writing class. While driving home from work one day, he envisioned a hands-on, educational writing activity that would emphasize the importance of a thesis and its supporting reasons. The assignment would culminate with each student sharing their experience with fellow classmates during a celebratory event.

The assignment began with Mr. Raposo asking his students to find a plain t-shirt, with no writing on it. The children then had to pick a topic, and write their opinion, or hook, on the front of the t-shirt.  Their thesis statement and bulleted reasons were to be expressed on the backside of the shirt. The assignment was to be completed at home, and parent and child collaboration was encouraged. The students were instructed to wear their t-shirts to writing class, at the end of the week, and were divided into groups of three. The children introduced themselves to each other, read the front and back of the t-shirt, and complimented each other on what they liked best about each other’s homework.  

After the group activity concluded, each student stood up individually, in front of the classroom, and shared the most important lesson they felt they learned from the opinion writing exercise (e.g. having a thesis statement, using transition words, coming up with memorable hooks, formulating two strong reasons, learning to incorporate a beginning and a closing, providing details to support reasons, using counter claims, leaving the reader with something to think about, etc.). The assignment ended with Mr. Raposo saluting the student’s on their hard work.

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