Georgia 1.T.T.3.a

ELA1st GradeOpinion Techniques

The Standard

Identify techniques used to craft opinion texts, including the author’s opinion and supporting reasons. (I)

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Texts (T) · Techniques

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students find what a writer believes or wants the reader to think. They point to reasons the writer gives and notice words such as because, should, and best.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can name the writer’s view in a short passage and match each reason to it. The student can explain how those reasons support the writer’s view.
Common Misconceptions: Students may choose an interesting detail instead of the writer’s main view. They may label any fact as a reason or give their own reason instead of one from the text.
How to Assess It: Give students: “Recess should be longer because children need exercise and time to play.” Ask them to circle the writer’s view and underline two reasons.

Lesson moves

Give pairs sentence strips from a short opinion paragraph, then have them sort the writer’s view from the supporting reasons.
After reading a class review, ask, “What does the writer want us to believe, and which sentences explain why?”
Play Opinion Detective by reading short passages and awarding points when students find the writer’s view and a matching reason.
Let students choose the best playground game, then write one choice sentence and two reasons for a class vote.

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