I met a new teacher once who thought that opinion writing and persuasive writing were the same things. It’s important to note the differences because one form of writing is more casual while the other requires more thought and research to get a point across. Making sure your students understand these differences is key to their success in writing the two. Read below to see the difference and how you can plan fun and engaging opinion and persuasive writing lessons.
When it comes to kids writing their opinions, they are typically using their own thoughts and feelings about a subject to complete their writing. Opinion writing lets the students express themselves without much to back up their thoughts.
Some examples of opinion writing might involve them talking about their favorite animal, their favorite food, their favorite holiday, or whether they prefer summer or winter. They aren’t always required to back up their answers with logical reasoning it’s just a quick summary of their opinion.
Their opinion may be backed up with reasons as to why they like what they like, but there isn’t any hard evidence or fact-checking. It’s just a fun way to express themselves. I have found that opinion writing is one of their favorite writing styles because it doesn’t have many limits.
Show your students this video to help them get an idea of what opinion writing is!
Persuasive writing on the other hand involves fact-checking and statements that back up an opinion. The students have to take a stance in their writing in order to persuade the reader in one direction or another. They need to use sentences based on research logical arguments to back up their claims.
Most persuasive writing pieces are written in this format:
Teachers typically have students create one paragraph to open, one paragraph for each reason, and then a closing paragraph. As students are writing their persuasive essays it’s a great idea to remind them to speak to the emotions of the reader to persuade them on their points. Emotions are such a strong way to convince someone of something. Model this for them and provide them with relatable examples that they can refer to when doing their own writing.
This task may seem daunting, but most students end up enjoying the process and being able to convey their thoughts with well-thought-out statements.
Here is a fun video you can show your students to further show them what persuasive writing looks like!
Before starting any writing lesson, explain the task at hand. Model what you want the students to do so they are clear as soon as their independent work time starts. Use anchor charts or write sentences on the board so your visual learners can digest all of the information. Using things like sentence starters and modeling what a completed opinion and persuasive paper look like can also help students. You can have students pick out the differences they notice between an opinion and a persuasive essay!
Use these Opinion and Persuasive Paragraph Writing Tools to help your students with their writing skills in the classroom. The weekly sets of writing prompts allow students to state their opinions and later back up their ideas with facts and research. The worksheets walk them through the steps each day so they can write slowly and make adjustments as needed.
To learn more about teaching kids to write opinion pieces, read this post about Mentor Texts & Opinion Writing. There are several examples that will help get you started if you are still figuring out how to teach writing or just want some fresh ideas. The kids will love the fun prompts.
While working on opinion writing and persuasive writing, be sure to have fun. Keep things light and exciting and let kids write about topics that appeal to them.
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