Design for Learning

Instructor: Ellie Knox

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 3rd/ Branyon
Lesson Title: Opinion and Persuasion Date: 4-12-16
Curriculum Area: ELA
Estimated Time: 2 Days
Standards Connection:
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. [W.3.1]
a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an
organizational structure that lists reasons. [W.3.1a]
b. Provide reasons that support the opinion. [W.3.1b]
Learning Objective(s):
When given a prompt, the students will produce a 6 sentence persuasive paragraph with a
score of 9 or higher on the rubric provided.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
Today boys and girls, we are going to discuss how to write persuasive paragraphs! At the
end of the day, you will be able to write a 6 sentence paragraph that states your opinion
on a topic and persuade others to agree with your opinion! I will read your paragraphs
and grade them based them on my rubric.
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):
The teacher will give the students the writing prompt with the oreo graphic organizer.
Students will complete the graphic organizer first and then write their persuasive
paragraph. Students will form their opinion on the prompt. They will write a six sentence
paragraph where they give their opinion as well as supporting details. Students must
receive a 9 or above on the rubric to be placed in the green zone. Students who receive
between a 6-8 will be placed in the yellow zone. Students who receive below a 6 will be
placed in the red zone for follow up remediation.
Engagement:
The teacher will call the students to the carpet. Ok everyone, I would like you to join me
at the carpet. Thank you Student A for being quiet and coming right away. I really
appreciate you following directions. The teacher will hold up an Oreo. This is an Oreo.
Not only is this a regular Oreo boys and girls, it is a double stuffed Oreo. The teacher
will take off the top cracker. Now what do you think this Oreo would be like if it only had
this one brown cookie? The teacher will call on two students. Yeah! I mean I do love the
cookie part, but I think it would be preeeeeetty boring if Oreos were ONLY the cookie!
Now, we all know what the best part of an Oreo is. Its the icing! Now the icing has to
come on something, right? It has to come on the cookie. Do you know whats better than
a plain Oreo though? A double stuffed Oreo! Double stuffed Oreos have two times the
icing, and are much yummier than regular Oreos. But we cant just have one cookie and

two times the icing, can we? No! We have to have one more cookie on top of the icing. We
need the whole cookie together to make it taste so wonderful! The teacher will pause.
Well boys and girls, you probably are wondering why in the world we are talking about
Oreos today. Well today, we are going to discuss how to write persuasive paragraphs! At
the end of the day, you will be able to write a 5 sentence paragraph that states your
opinion on a topic and persuade others to agree with your opinion! I will read your
paragraphs and grade them based them on my rubric.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The teacher will put up the anchor chart. So today we are going to discuss how to write
our opinions and provide details to persuade others to agree with us! So, when we do
this, we want to think like an Oreo. So, I want everyone to close your eyes for a second.
The teacher will wait for everyone to close their eyes. Repeat after me, think like an oreo.
The students will repeat. Good! So when we think like an Oreo, we first have to form an
opinion. An opinion tells the audience how you feel about the topic. Lets brainstorm a
list of opinions. How about sports. Now, I know Student B loves Alabama football. What
would your opinion be about Alabama football? Yes! Student Bs opinion would be that
Alabama football is the best college team. Now, I know I have some Auburn fans too
here. Student D, what would your opinion be? Yes! It would be that Auburn is the best
college team. So, we have two opinions here, they are neither right nor wrong. An
opinion simply tells the audience how the writer feels about a topic. Alright, now we have
the best part of the Oreo, we have the icing! Our first layer of icing is the reason layer.
The teacher will point to the reason layer on the anchor chart. Here, the writer gives
reasons to support his opinion. So lets think of an opinion that we all can work with.
Give me a silent thumbs up if you think you should have two recesses a day. The teacher
will wait. Alright, so lets work from there. I want you to turn and talk to your partner
and come up with two reasons that we should have recess two times a day. The teacher
will give the students two minutes to talk. Alright everyone, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Awesome. Thank
you for coming back to your spot so soon. Now, what are some reasons that you
discussed to support your opinion? The teacher will call on three students. Awesome! So
you all had wonderful details. You know, I might say that recess allows you all to get out
extra energy. That might be my reason! So now we have our reasons. Lets go back. We
have our opinion which is? Yes! We should have two recesses a day. We also have some
reasons for this. Now, could a reason be I like recess? No! That would not convince
me that you needed two recesses a day. Your reasons need to support your opinion. They
need to appeal to the audience. So, if you were writing this for me, you want your reasons
to support what you think while also making me agree with your reasons. Wonderful! So
now, lets look at our examples. This is our second layer in our double stuffed Oreo.
Examples give details to support your opinions. So, if my reason was that students need
to get out their energy and two recesses could help, my example might be that students
spend at least 5 hours sitting during the day. Recess allows students time to get up and
run around. That is one example. I want you to turn and talk to your partner to discuss
examples for your reasons. The teacher will give the students two minutes to talk. Ok
everyone. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Come back to your spot please. Wonderful conversations

everyone. So, lets hear some examples that you discussed. The teacher will call on two
students to share. Awesome job! I see that that really supports your opinion and
convinces me even more! I loved hearing that! Now, lets move on to our last cookie. The
teacher will point to the opinion cookie. So now we go back to our opinion. Now, think
about what we said about a cookie without a bottom cookie. It would e gross and would
not stay together! We have to put our opinion at the end of our persuasive writing to
remind everyone of our opinion and tie in the supporting details we provided earlier. So
now boys and girls, I am going to read you a story. The teacher will hold up Dear Mrs.
LaRue Letters from Obedience School to the class. Persuasive writing is found a lot in
letters. In this story, Ike will write letters trying to persuade Mrs. LaRue. I want you to
look for reasons and examples Ike provides to persuade his owner. The teacher will read
the book. That was a wonderful book and a wonderful example of persuasive writing. So
what I want you to do now is think to yourself about OREO. I do not want any talking. I
only want you thinking silently to yourself. Think how Ike tried to persuade Mrs. LaRue.
Think of reasons and examples he gave her. The teacher will give the students 20 seconds
to think. Now, I want you to turn and talk to your partner. Share what his opinion was,
reasons to back that, and examples as well. Discuss if you think that this was persuasive
or not. The teacher will give the students two minutes to pair and discuss. Awesome job
everyone. I liked your conversations. I would like to hear what you all discussed. First,
lets look at his opinion. What did you all think? The teacher will call on one student. Yes!
Ike thought that it was unfair for his owner to place him in obedience school. Good!
Now, lets discuss some of his reasons for saying this. The teacher will call on two
students. Good work! So one of his reasons was that he is not a bad dog! Another reason
was that Mrs. LaRue needed him. Excellent job everyone! So we know our opinion and
our reasons. Lets discuss the examples, because that can be more difficult. I want to
share one example that I found. So, Ike gave a reason that he was not a bad dog. He gave
an example for this later. He said that he did not know that Mrs. LaRue wanted to eat the
chicken pie that he ate for dinner. So listen boys and girls, he gave us an example of one
of his reasons. He backed it up with a statement. That is very important for you to know!
What are some examples that you found? The teacher will call on two students. Good
work! So we now know the parts of persuasive writing and have looked at an example of
persuasive writing. What we are going to do now is write a persuasive paragraph
together! The teacher will move the anchor chart aside. She will write OPINION on the
board. Lets go back to our recess conversation. I am going to write our opinion here. The
teacher will write STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE TWO RECESSES A DAY on the board.
Now boys and girls, what is one of our reasons for this? The teacher will call on a
student. Yes! So we are going to say recess gives time for students to use their energy. The
teacher will write this on the board. What could we say for an example here? The teacher
will call on a student. Yes! We could say that students spend 5 hours a day in school
sitting, so they have unused energy. Good! The teacher will write this on the board. So
now I want another reason for our opinion. We have talked about double stuffed Oreos,
so I want to have two reasons. The teacher will call on a student. Awesome! You could
say that recess promotes healthy living. The teacher will write this on the board. What is
an example for this reason? The teacher will call on a student. Yes! We could say that
recess gets kids outside and playing. The teacher will write this on the board. Wonderful
work everyone! Now, I am going to show you how to turn our thoughts into a paragraph.

The teacher will dismiss the students to their desks. I want you to quietly walk back to
your desks. Make sure everything is put away and that you are looking at me and ready
to listen. Thank you Student F for being quiet and ready to go! The teacher will use the
document camera to project as she writes the paragraph on a sheet of paper. So boys and
girls, we have our thoughts on the board, but this is not a paragraph. We need to write a
six sentence paragraph here. So, lets begin with our first sentence. The teacher will write
as she speaks. Students should have two recesses a day. The teacher will look up. Why
did I write that first boys and girls? Yes! OREO! Good, so now, I need to move to my
reasons. The teacher will write as she talks. Recess gives students time to use their
energy. The teacher will look up. Alright boys and girls, now I need to go to my example.
What did I say as an example Student D? Yes! The teacher will write as she talks.
Students spend five hours a day in school sitting down, so they have a lot of energy that
they have not been able to use. The teacher will look up. So I have done one reason and
one example, but we are doing double stuffed Oreos! So now I need to go to my next
reason and example. The teacher will write as she talks. Recess promotes healthy living.
The teacher will look up. Ok, what is my example for this? Student A? Yes! The teacher
will write as she talks. Recess pushes students outside and encourages playing. The
teacher will look up. Am I finished? No! I did not bring my paragraph to conclusion yet.
What do we do last in OREO? Yes! We need to restate our opinion. The teacher will talk
as she writes. There are so many benefits of recess, so students should have two recesses
a day. Alright everyone, I want you to look at this paragraph. Does anyone have
questions on how I did this? Alright! So our focus here is OREO! The teacher will
transition to practice.
II. Opportunity for Practice:
The teacher will review. So we have discussed what persuasive writing is, what it looks
like, and how to do it. Now, it is your turn! The teacher will do a tug of war activity on a
topic. What we are going to do first is called Tug of War. We are going to be discussing
having ice cream in the cafeteria every day of the week instead of just Friday. The teacher
will write this on the board. Now in Tug of War, there are two sides. There will be one
side who thinks that we should have ice cream every day of the week, and there will be
one side who does not think that we should have ice cream everyday of the week. The
teacher will write the two sides on the board. Now, I want you to brainstorm two reasons
we should have ice cream every day in the cafeteria at your tables. The teacher will give
the students two minutes to talk at their tables. She will circulate the room as they
discuss. Alright boys and girls, I want each group to share one reason we should have ice
cream every day. The teacher will record these on the board. Wonderful thinking
everyone! Now we have one side of our Tug of War, but we need to view both sides before
you can make your opinion. So I want you all to discuss at your tables and brainstorm
two reasons that we should not have ice cream every day in the cafeteria. The teacher
will gives the students two minutes to talk. She will circulate the room as they discuss.
Ok, I want every group to share one reason with me. The teacher will call on each group
and record their responses on the board. Awesome! I love those. So now, I am going to
partner you up. You are going to form an opinion on this topic and use reasons here that
we discussed. I want you to then write a six sentence paragraph that uses these reasons.
You will have to discuss examples on your own here, and I want you to discuss with your

partner. The teacher will use equity sticks to assign partners. She will have them spread
throughout the room to write their persuasive paragraph. Do not forget OREO! You must
include all of this in your paragraph. Alright once you have a partner, I want one of you
to come get a sheet of paper from me and begin writing your paragraph with your
partner. The teacher will give the students 10 minutes to write their paragraphs. She will
circulate the room. She will ask questions such as what are your examples? Does this
persuade people to believe your opinion? After ten minutes, the teacher will send the
students to their desks. Wonderful job boys and girls. Do I have some volunteers who
would like to share their paragraphs with the class? The teacher will let three groups
share. After each group shares, the teacher will have the students identify the opinion,
reasons, and examples. I loved those! I see that you kept OREO in mind as you wrote
your paragraph. I am excited to read everyone elses even if we did not get to it in class.
The teacher will transition to assessment
III. Assessment
The teacher will review persuasive writing. So far boys and girls, we have discussed the
pieces of persuasive writing. What did we say that they were? Yes! OREO! We have our
opinion, our reasons, our examples, and our opinion again. Now, at the beginning of the
lesson, I said that you would be able to write a 6 sentence paragraph that states your
opinion on a topic and persuade others to agree with your opinion! I said that I would
use a rubric to score your paragraphs. The teacher will hold up the rubric. I want you to
have a clear focus and at least two reasons and examples. I also want you to have
strongly developed arguments. I want your writing to be organized. Finally, I want you to
have six sentences in your paragraph. So what you are going to do first is complete this
graphic organizer like what I did earlier. The teacher will hold up the graphic organizer. I
want you to answer the prompt with your opinion. Then, I want you to complete the rest.
Once you are finished with that, you will come show me your graphic organizer before
you move onto writing the paragraph. After I tell you to move forward, you will get paper
to write your paragraph. You will turn in your graphic organizer and paragraph together
when you are finished. The teacher will pass out the graphic organizers. She will circulate
the room as students work. She will check that students complete the graphic organizer
before she allows them to write the paragraph. She will allow time for the students to
complete it. Once the students are finished, she will transition to closure
IV. Closure:
The teacher will call the students back to the carpet. Boys and girls, come join me back
on the carpet. Thank you so much for your attention and your hard work today! You all
were so focused, and I really appreciate it! The teacher will put the anchor chart back up.
Lets revisit our anchor chart. Why do we say OREO when we discuss persuasive
writing? Yes! We need our opinion, our reasons, examples, and our opinion again. Why
are our reasons and examples so important? Yes! We need them to persuade other
people. No one just wants a plain chocolate cookie, they want a yummy double stuffed
Oreo! Now, why do we restate our opinion at the end? Is it that important?? Yes! We
want people to remember what we are trying to persuade them of! It would not be as
clear without our conclusion. Just like we need an actual cookie on both sides of our
icing, we need two cookies in our Oreo. Wonderful work everyone! So, since we

discussed Oreos all day, we have to celebrate by eating them! I have some for you, and I
want you to immediately put them in your backpack for later. Whenever you see an Oreo,
I want you to think of persuasive writing. The teacher will call the students one at a time
to get their Ziploc bag of Oreos to put in their backpack.
Materials and Resources:
Double stuffed oreos
Anchor chart
White board
Expo marker
Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague
Document camera
Graphic organizer
Equity sticks
Lined paper
Ziploc bags
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Students in the green zone:
The students will write a persuasive letter to the principal on a topic of their choice.
Students in the red zone:
The teacher will complete a different graphic organizer with the students. She will have
the students write a persuasive paragraph together.
Data Analysis:
I did not get to the practice during this lesson, but I made it through the teaching. I
formatively assessed the students through questioning. I would say the majority of the
students are in the yellow zone. We were unable to write the paragraphs, but I was able to
show them how to write the opinion, reason, example, and opinion again. When we
identified these, I was able to do a quick formative assessment. There were about 7
students in the green zone. These students were able to identify a reason and example for
their opinion. They shared how they would tie this paragraph together. 11 students were
in the yellow zone. With prompting, these students were able to identify the reasons and
examples for these opinions. These students did confuse the difference between reason
and example, so I would follow up with these students on this. There were four students
who were in the red zone. These students are ELL and one has a learning disability. Due
to this lesson being whole group, I would need to work more individually with these
students to help give them one on one instruction. I would need to make sure that my
wording is more purposeful with these students and very clear. My teacher actually used
my assessment for the next day. I was able to see how the students understood the lesson.
I was very impressed with the students paragraphs. I was unable to keep these
assessments, but I saw that the majority of these students understood how to identify
reasons. They needed help on identifying examples. When they transferred their thoughts

from the graphic organizer to the paragraph, many of them only wrote one reason and one
example. This really intrigued me! Overall, the students really seemed to understand how
to write the persuasive paragraphs. I was pleased with the assessment.
Reflection:
I think that this lesson went pretty well. My main concern was timing. I realize
that I take too long on teaching, and I am unable to move toward practice. I asked Dr.
Bluiett about this, and she gave me advice. I spend too long on teaching and begin to lose
the students attention. On my next lesson, I will work to shorten the teaching or have
more formative assessments throughout. I realize that my teaching was too long, because
I felt that I was losing the students. Classroom management was also a learning process. I
struggled to keep the students attention today, and my teacher told me that they were
having a hard day. I was pleased with my ability to have classroom management, but I do
wish I could figure out how to reach the kids in the back. I might need to move the
students who sit in the back to the front of the carpet for my next lesson.
I spoke with my teacher about the lesson and asked for recommendations or
suggestions for my lesson. She only gave me the suggestion to write a paragraph with the
students. I had that in my lesson, but it had gone too long. I would have continued with
that in a future lesson on writing the paragraph. She told me that I had good questions and
kept the students on track. She also said that she liked the way that I presented the lesson.
I loved the way I presented this lesson. I had Oreos and a creative anchor chart.
The students loved the Oreos. Later at lunch, one of the students held up an Oreo and was
so excited. I see the importance of using these real life objects. Many of these students do
not have background knowledge, so it is important to incorporate what they do know. My
book that I used for this was very good, and I loved incorporating it in the lesson. It
provided a wonderful example of persuasive writing.

Focus
3

The writing
contains a
clear focus
with an
opinion. There
are 2
supporting
details and
examples
provided to
persuade the
audience.
2 The writing
contains a
clear focus,
but the
supporting
details and
examples are
unclear or
underdevelop
ed. There is
only 1
supporting
detail and
example.
1 The opinion
and
supporting
details are
unclear or
underdevelop
ed. There are
no supporting
details or
examples.

Content

Organization

Sentences

There are
strong fully
developed
arguments in
support of the
writers
opinion.

The writer has

clearly stated
the introduction
with a
topic/opinion
sentence. Many
supporting
details/
arguments are
evident.
Conclusion is
clearly defined.
Writing has an
introduction with
a topic
sentence. Some
details are
evident. Writing
is disorganized.

There are six

complete
sentences in the
paragraph.

No organization
is evident.
Writing lacks
supporting
details/argumen
ts.

There are less than

4 complete
sentences in the
paragraph.

There are
some
arguments in
support of the
writers
opinion, but
there is
limited
development.

There are no
reasons or
arguments to
support the
opinion.

Rubric

There are 4-5

complete
sentences in the
paragraph.

Name:

OREO
Prompt: Do you think that we should get a
swimming pool at school?
Opinion:

Reason 1:

Example 1:

Reason 2:

Example 2:

Opinion