Grass Lawns or Wildflower Lawns Opinion Writing Prompt
Hey, y'all! Over the last few years, I've been working on getting my students to write more compelling opinion paragraphs. Favorite ice cream flavors are great, but they're not very substantial. How do we get our students to write better opinion paragraphs? Ask them better questions.
With climate change looming and being all over the news, asking students how to make things better is both relevant and compelling. This week, we're asking students which is better: having a grass lawn or a wildflower lawn.
We start each writing assignment with a couple of short reading passages and talk about the pros and cons of each option. In this case, having a grass lawn or trading it out with wildflowers that are native to the area.
Day one, we read and talk it out. Students share their thoughts and opinions with the class and we mull it over for a bit. Day two, we write down our pros and cons of each. Depending on my students' abilities that year, we may split this into two days--doing pros and cons for grass one day and wildflowers the next.
When we've got our pros and cons listed out, we'll choose a side and put our reasons together into a cohesive paragraph. At the beginning of the year, we'll do this as a shared writing. As the year progresses and the kids get better at opinion writing, they'll start to take over this last step.
This unit is designed to be non biased so that students can form their own opinions about what's best. Climate change isn't mentioned explicitly, but if you live in an area with constant water shortages or you talk about climate change with your students, you could certainly discuss that here.
To check out the full unit, head over to my TPT store here. While you're there, be sure to follow me for all the latest resources, ideas, and updates.
I hope this gave you some new ideas for your classroom and growing your students as critical thinkers. Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon.
Stay cozy,
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