An Opinion Organized Into Reasons

1. Write on the board: "Opinion: Our class should visit the zoo for our trip." Underneath, write three reasons: A "The zoo has a picnic area." B "It is only ten minutes from school." C "We are learning about animal habitats in science, and we could see real ones."
2. Ask: "Our principal decides where we go. Which reason would convince her most?" Take three answers with a reason each.
3. Fish for C: it connects the trip to learning, which is what a principal cares about. A picnic area matters to us, not to her. Write "strongest = the one that convinces THIS reader" on the board.
4. Then ask: "If you only had the reader's attention for one moment, the very end, which reason would you want them to remember?" Leave the question open; the Teach section answers it.

“A reason is only strong if it is strong for the person reading. Before you rank your reasons, ask yourself who has to be convinced.”

1. Write the opinion on the board: "Our school should have a longer lunch break." Then the three reasons as notes: "finish our food," "play proper games," "come back calm and ready to learn."
2. Rank them aloud. Say: "Who decides lunch? The principal and the teachers. They care most about learning, so ready to learn is my strongest. It goes last." Number the notes 1, 2, 3 with the strongest as 3.
3. Write paragraph one in front of the class, thinking aloud: "First of all, a longer lunch would give us time to finish our food. Right now we have twenty minutes, and many of us are still eating when the bell rings. For example, on Tuesday half my table threw away part of their sandwiches."
4. Circle "First of all" and "For example." Say these are signposts: one tells the reader a new reason is starting, the other tells them proof is coming.
5. Write only the opening sentences of the other two paragraphs: "Another reason is that we could play games that take longer, like football." and "Most importantly, we would come back to class calm and ready to learn." Circle "Another reason" and "Most importantly." Point out that "Most importantly" only makes sense on the last reason, so the linking word and the order work together.
6. Now cut the three reason strips apart and put "ready to learn" first. Read the reasons in that order. Ask: "How does it feel to end on finishing sandwiches?" The answer to fish for: it fizzles, because the best reason is used up and the reader's last thought is the weakest one.
7. Write the conclusion: "In conclusion, a longer lunch break would let us finish our food, play proper games and come back ready to learn. That is why our school should add ten minutes to lunch." Underline the three reasons inside it, and say why: the conclusion reminds the reader of the case, not just the opinion.

“Put your best reason last. The last thing your reader reads is the thing they remember, so make it the reason that will change their mind.”

1. Give the class three opinions to choose from: "Every class should have a pet." "Children should be allowed to choose their own bedtime." "Our school should have a garden." Each student picks one and writes it in the opinion box.
2. Students write three reasons as notes of no more than five words each, on separate strips.
3. Partner check, asking two questions written on the board: "Are these three DIFFERENT reasons, or one reason said three ways?" and "Who is the reader, and which reason would convince them most?"
4. If two strips say the same thing — "pets are fun" and "pets make us happy" — the partner hands one back and the writer replaces it. Do this at the note stage because overlap is easy to see in five words and hard to see in five sentences.
5. Students glue the strips in order on the planning grid, strongest last, and write the first paragraph using a linking word card and one "for example."

“Tell your partner who your reader is before you tell them your reasons. Then they can judge whether your strongest reason really is the strongest.”

1. Students complete the opinion writing page. The prompt and a planning grid are on the sheet.
2. Before writing, they number their reasons and write one line under the grid: "My strongest reason is ___ because my reader cares about ___."
3. Circulate and read only the first word of each paragraph. If no paragraph starts with a linking word, point at the cards rather than correcting.

1. Read one student's three reason notes aloud in their chosen order.
2. Ask the class: "Does it build? Which reason do you remember?" If they remember the last one, the order worked.