Students continue to explore opinion writing in writer's workshop. After judging their collections and stating their opinions for why each object won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, students published their writing. We continue to stress the importance of revising and editing, even though it's only first grade. Students are encouraged to read and re-read their piece to ensure it makes sense, has the correct punctuation, and most importantly includes the information expected in that kind of writing. For the judging of collections, students needed to ensure they wrote their opinion, gave lots of reasons, added details, and included a conclusion. Students use a checklist and a rubric to decide what is missing and needs to be revised. After publishing, students switched gears just a bit to begin using what they had learned about opinion writing to write reviews. We have been reading and analyzing what elements are included in reviews of restaurants, places, toys, etc. Students continue to write their opinion and supply reasons, but are learning how to do this with a more convincing, yet friendly tone. Students are learning how to use these reasons to rate places and things, and learning how to include just enough information in their writing to convince, but not give it all away. Looking at when, where, and who have been key elements that we include. Students have been having a lot of fun writing reviews and finding the best ways to really persuade others to think like them!
