Writing Part 3: The Opinion Writing Task

1. Writing Part 3: The Opinion Writing Task

2. Writing About an Opinion • When you write to persuade, you are expected to state your opinion about a topic. • This is called an opinion statement. • Your opinion statement is the main idea of your paper. • After you write your opinion statement, you try to convince your readers to agree with your opinion.

3. Beginning or Introduction • Get the reader’s attention • State your opinion: • I think we should go to the zoo for our field trip.

4. Middle • Give reasons that support your opinion: • First, we’ll learn about lots of interesting animals at the zoo. • Another reason is that the zoo has a really fun gift shop. • Finally, we’ll get lots of fresh air and sunshine at the zoo. • Use transition words (linking words and phrases) like first, because, therefore, since, most importantly, and for example.

5. Above all Again Also As a result As an illustration At other times Besides this Certainly Consequently Equally important Finally First For example For instance For this reason Furthermore Generally However In addition In conclusion In contrast In fact In other words In particular In spite of this Last Most importantly Nevertheless Next Now of course On one hand On the other hand Or Otherwise Second Similarly Specifically Still Surely Then Therefore Third To explain To illustrate To wrap it up While this may be True With this in mind Yet TRANSITIONS (Linking Words or Phrases)

6. Choosing the Best Reasons To pick the best reasons, think about what your reader is concerned about. Which reason would persuade your parents to buy you a new bike? • It’s not fair that I have an old bike and my sister has a new bike. • If I had a new bike, I’d spend more time outside getting exercise and less time watching TV.

7. Using Emotions Sometimes writers try to convince the reader by making them feel sad, happy, angry, or guilty. Emotional appeals can be useful but should not take the place of good reasons. All my friends have brand new bikes, but all I have is an old rusty one.

8. Ending or Conclusion • Restate your opinion statement • End with a strong thought: This is why I think the zoo would be a great place to go on our class field trip. We’ll all come back happy and healthy—and we’ll know more about animals.

9. Student Opinion Essay Model #1 4th Grade Prompt: Some districts have year-round school. The students in these districts don’t get a three-month summer break. Instead they get several shorter breaks throughout the year. Other districts hold school for nine months and give students the summer off. Which schedule would you prefer? Write a persuasive paper that will convince readers to agree that a year-round schedule or nine-month schedule is best.

10. Give Year-Round School a Try I think a year-round school schedule with lots of short breaks is best. I have several reasons for this. One reason is that a big problem with having a summer break is that kids forget everything they learned. When I get back to school, I always have a hard time remembering the things I learned the year before. If the breaks were shorter, I would not have this problem.

11. Another reason is that sometimes school can seem like it drags on for a really long time in February and March. It would be nice to have a short break when it’s cold outside. Kids need time to have some fun when the weather is bad. That would help everyone learn better. One more reason is that families could take vacations at different times. In the summer, museums and parks are really crowded. One summer my family went to Disney World, and there were millions of people there. If we had vacation other times, my family could go places when not so many people were there. That would be more fun. For all those reasons, I think a year-round schedule for school would be best. I hope our school tries it.

12. Student Opinion Essay Model #2Is it better to live in the country or the city? Is it better to live in the country or in the city? In my opinion it's much better to live in the city, especially if you have a family. Firstly, most people like quiet areas like farms and thecountryside but you always find the best facilities in the city. People who have children need to live near hospitals and schools and places like daycares and shopping centres so they can be there in ashort time. Although these places make cities busier, they also make life much easier for most people.

13. Secondly, most factories and offices are in the city and people who work in them need to travel. It's much easier for people if they live near where they work so they don't have to travel a long way. However, there are many people, especially in Charlotte, North Carolina, who love the peace and quiet of the country and prefer to travel a long way to get to work. Thirdly, I live in a very multicultural area where there are lots of people from many different countries. There are shops, restaurants and bars to visit as well as movies and malls. Life in the city is much more active and vibrant than life in the country. 

14. In conclusion, it's much better to live in the city because there are more facilities, more job opportunities, and more entertainment.