Quality Books Support Quality Teaching
As teachers, we know that our choices are critical. We make thousands a day! When we choose the literature that will help to support and scaffold our students toward their learning goals, it is imperative that we choose quality texts that align with what we are trying to teach. These books are what we call mentor texts.
When we consider choosing mentor texts for writing, there are a few different approaches. No matter what is chosen, though, it needs to reflect the writing you are wanting your students to learn and produce. To begin with this might be picture books. From there, we may use examples of writing to show students exactly what is expected, such as an exemplary piece of student work. Read this text during your read-aloud time and refer back to it for as many purposes as you need during your lessons.
Need more info on how exactly to use a mentor text? Check out this previous post.
Using Mentor Texts During Reading Workshop – Inspire Me ASAP
This book is truly the best for introducing and teaching the elements of opinion writing. The story follows Stella as she walks her fellow classmates through how to write an opinion essay. You can easily refer back to this book multiple times for each stage of writing, which is the goal for a mentor text. Check out this book on Amazon: “Stella Writes an Opinion
Utilizing simple writing about a familiar topic allows even our youngest readers to relate to the reasoning each character gives to support their feelings about bugs. Each character finds themselves the owner of opposing viewpoints on the subject of insects, and hold nothing back in order to explain themselves. I love showcasing this book when discussing supporting details to hold up our opinions. The girl in this story loves insects and gives so many reasons as to why she loves them. It is easy and impactful for students to compare and contrast the characters’ viewpoints and the reasons they give to explain why they feel the way they do. This exercise provides the scaffolding students need to be able to identify the reasons they feel certain ways about other topics. Check out this story on Amazon: I Love Insects
While mentor texts generally show us what we should do, I also like to use mentor texts to showcase what we shouldn’t do. Of course, this stage would come after I’m confident that my students know the correct way to produce the aspect of writing we’re working on. With Duck! Rabbit! the aspects of opinion writing to focus on are evidence and reasoning. More specifically, the need for quality evidence and reasoning in our writing. The first two texts I mentioned provided fantastic examples of including evidence and reasoning to support the opinion given. This text provides a distinct lack of evidence and reasoning that result in nothing being accomplished and no conclusion being reached by the end of the story. I have students identify the differences between the texts we’ve read previously, and zero in on the fact that neither child gives any real evidence or reasons for why they feel the animal is either a duck or a rabbit. Next, I’ll have students choose whether they feel that the animal is a duck or a rabbit, and work together in teams to come up with reasons and evidence to support their opinion. This activity really helps students solidify the idea of reasoning and evidence being imperative in opinion writing. Click here to check out the book on Amazon: Duck! Rabbit!
You’ll notice a lot of mentor texts focusing on reasons and evidence in this post. There’s a reason for that. In my experience, reasoning and evidence are the aspects of opinion writing that students struggle the most with. Amy Dyckman’s You Don’t Want a Dragon can serve so many purposes. Use this text to give students some ideas and support before they write their own opinion piece about whether or not they would want to own a dragon. Once they have identified their topic, have students go back through the text to see if they can find some evidence to use in their writing (introducing text evidence). You can check out the story on Amazon by clicking here: You Don’t Want a Dragon
Earth Day is more important than ever to highlight in the classroom as we hear so much about the intense crisis our world is in. Luckily, there are numerous mentor texts and topics to be used for that purpose. This text is excellent in its examples of ways students can help the Earth from their classrooms. I would use this book paired with a mentor essay with the prompt of “What is the most effective way students can save the planet from school?”. The mentor essay could be used as a close-read, as students highlight the opinion, evidence, and conclusion in the writing, and the book itself could provide a lesson on text evidence. Check out this story on Amazon: This Class Can Save the Planet
Need More Resources?
Check out these Earth Day opinion writing resources!
Plastic Pollution Opinion Writing
Plastic Pollution Opinion Writing Google Slides Version
Are you looking for engaging topics that will inspire your readers and writers to share their opinion? Your students will surely feel passionate about these two topics!
After reading the nonfiction passage, students will form their own opinion about “Should plastic bags be banned?” and write a paragraph stating their opinion with three strong reasons. Teachers will love the colorful and creative bulletin board that they can create to show off the hard work of their students!
You can check out this printable, PDF version of this opinion reading and writing resource by clicking here: Opinion Writing: Should Plastic Bags Be Banned?
I also have an online version of this resource, which can be used by students on Google Drive or Google Classroom. You can check out this resource by going to my TPT page: Reading Comprehension and Opinion Writing
What are your favorite books to teach opinion writing? I would love to hear about what books you use with your opinion writing unit!
