Kindergarten Spring — Lowercase Letter Formation, Sentence Frames, and the First Independent Writing
Lesson 12 40 min eng.gK.s.lesson_12.workshop_opinion_writing

Workshop opinion piece — 'My favorite ___ is ___ because ___'

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students compose a one-sentence opinion using the frame 'My favorite ___ is ___ because ___.'
  • Students publish their opinion piece for the class anthology.
Vocabulary
opinionfavoritereason

Lesson plan

Warm-up

5 min

Mentor-text examination: 'I Like Myself!' — discuss what makes it an opinion piece (because + reasons).

Teacher moves
  • Highlight the 'because' in every line
  • Show the structure
Media
M-K-S-WR-12-B Photograph
Photo of an open spread of 'I Like Myself!' by Karen Beaumont. The 'I like myself!' refrain and 'because' construction a

Photo of an open spread of 'I Like Myself!' by Karen Beaumont. The 'I like myself!' refrain and 'because' construction are visible. Sticky notes labeled OPINION and REASON point at the appropriate parts.

Direct instruction

7 min

An OPINION piece tells what YOU think and WHY. Watch the frame: 'My favorite ___ is ___ because ___.' Three blanks: WHAT (color, food, animal, book, etc.), YOUR PICK, and the REASON. Today's workshop minilesson: fill in this frame about ONE favorite thing.

Key examples
  • What → color. Your pick → blue. Reason → sky and ocean.
    model 'My favorite color is blue because the sky and the ocean are blue.'
    prompt Teacher's opinion piece.
  • Notice: I gave a real reason, not just 'because it is.'
    model 'My favorite food is pizza because it has cheese and tomato.'
    prompt Try the frame orally — favorite food.
Checks for understanding
  • What's an opinion piece?
  • What goes in the third blank? (the reason)
  • Tell your partner your opinion about your favorite snack.
Media
M-K-S-WR-12-A Chart Physical / non-image

Anchor chart 'My Opinion'. Sentence frame in large print: 'My favorite ___ is ___ because ___.' Three filled-in examples below: 'My favorite color is blue because the sky and ocean are blue.' / 'My favorite food is rice because my grandma makes it.' / 'My favorite book is Hair Love because the dad styles his daughter's hair.' Each example has the three parts color-coded.

Guided practice

20 min
Tasks
  • Independent workshop: draft your opinion piece using the frame.
    scaffold Frame strip; topic choice menu.
  • Add an illustration that matches your opinion.
    scaffold Mentor-text examples visible.
  • Conference with teacher: review your reason — is it specific?
    scaffold Teacher conferring rotation.

Formative assessment

3 min
Exit ticket
  • Share from author's chair.
  • Self-check: my opinion + my reason are both present.
scoring Both parts present + reason is specific (not circular) = mastery; missing or weak reason = practicing; no opinion = reteach.

Closure

Moves
  • Three children share from author's chair
  • Class applauds

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • Ask a family member: 'What's your favorite ___ and why?' Tell us tomorrow.

Exercises in this lesson

eng.gK.s.ex_20
Write your opinion piece using the frame: 'My favorite ___ is ___ because ___.'
 write opinion · diff 4

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Reduce to frame only
  • Picture support
  • Adult co-construct
Extensions
  • Write TWO opinion pieces
  • Use a Tier-2 word in your reason
  • Write an opinion piece using BUT: 'My favorite ice cream is chocolate BUT my sister's favorite is vanilla.'
English Learners
  • Bilingual topic options
  • Home-language draft acceptable
  • Pair share
Ieps 504s
  • AAC
  • Pre-built options
  • Reduced output

Teacher notes

Opinion writing is the easiest of the three text types for kindergartners. Use it early in Spring to build confidence. Watch for circular reasons ('because it's my favorite') and re-prompt for a real reason.