Opinion Letter (2nd Grade)
Name ______Date ______
1) Who is your audience?2) What do you want your audience to do?
3) Pay your audience a compliment. What are some words or phrases you could use?
______
______
4) WHY is your idea a good one? Can you think of five reasons?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Best Strategies for Teaching Writing A. Hilterbrand 1
Opinion Letter (3rd grade)
Problem / What problem needs to be solved?Audience (who) / Who can solve the problem?
Purpose (what) / What solution would solve the problem?
Idea Development
(why) / My audience should take action for these reasons.
Reason / 1)
Reason / 2)
Reason / 3)
Reason / 4)
Reason / 5)
Reason / 6)
Dear Mr. Smith,
You are a hard worker. Thank you for getting the wasps out of the merry-go-round.
I know a way to make our school better. We need a basketball goal on the playground. Kids could have more fun.
We could practice and get better at playing basketball. We could win games.
If we could play basketball, we would not get in trouble as much.
Thank you.
Dear Mrs. Jones,
You are a great principal. Your Perfect Attendance Pizza parties are awesome. I know something else that would make our school better. You need to put some wood chips on the playground.
Right now the ground is so muddy that we always get our shoes dirty. Muddy shoes are hard to clean. Putting wood chips down would solve that problem.
Our school would be cleaner. We love to play outside, and we can’t help tracking in mud. If we had wood chips, we would not track in mud. The janitors would not be upset anymore. The school is hard to keep clean, and cleaning up all the extra mud is taking time. They are not getting to do other work.
Our teachers would be happier. We would not be getting mud all over the floors in our rooms.
Thank you for reading my letter and for getting the wood chips for the playground. You are awesome!
Yours truly,
Billy
Dear Mr. Smith,
You are a wonderful principal. You care about students, and you care about our school. I really like the new basketball goal you set up on the big playground. Because you are always working to make ______Elementary even better, I decided to write to you about this idea. We need a big Accelerated Reader sign in front of the school.
We need a sign at this school. First, we read many books here at our school, and everybody around here needs to know. We might get a picture of the sign with all of us standing in front of it in the newspaper.
Next,some people might even give our school money so we could buy even more Accelerated Reader books. As we get older, and we’ve read so many books, it gets harder to find books we haven’t read. We really need more nonfiction books.
In addition, a sign would make us proud of ourselves, and we would work harder and read more to see the numbers go up faster. When we read more, we learn more. When we learn more, we do better in school.
Thank you for taking time to think about this. You could call the principal at my other school to find out how she got the sign put up. I know you will do all you can to get a sign really soon because you are always working to make our great school even better.
Yours truly,
Tasha
Dear Mr. Jones,
You are great. You care about students, and I really like the basketball goal you put up on the playground. I know another way to make our school better. We need a big Accelerated Reader sign in front of the school. My old school had a sign that told how many books kids read. Everybody who passed our school could see the numbers! People talked about us in a good way all the time.
We need a sign at this school. The first reason for putting up a sign is it would give the people who have to wait to drop off and pick up kids something good to talk about. I know sometimes my brother, my mom, and I get into arguments because we have to wait. An AR sign would get us to talk about something better.
Another reason to put up a sign is almost every student here reads AR books all the time, and everybody who goes by the school has no idea how hard we work. They need to know. The sign would show them.
Finally, a sign showing the numbers going up would make most students try to read even more books, so the numbers would go up faster. When students read more, they learn more.
Thank you. You are the best principal ever. An AR sign would be great for our school. The sign would probably cost less than the basketball goal, so I know you’ll find a way to get one.
Yours truly,
Susie
Josh Morton
1234 Main St.
Anywhere, KY 45678
October 20, 2014
Mr. Zechariah Everman, Principal
Anywhere Elementary
123 Central St.
Anywhere, KY 45678
Dear Mr. Everman,
I’m glad you’re our principal. My teacher, who has taught here more than 35 years, says you’re the best principal this school has ever had. You work hard all the time, and I thank you for fixing the stair steps. The worn rubber strips had started to trip up almost everybody. On some days, I saw kids falling up and down the steps every time I walked by. Now, we can walk or even run up the steps safely.
Because I know you are always working to make our school a better place, I am writing to you about the water fountains. Down by the front door there are two water fountains, a big one and a little one. By the back door, there is only one big one.
Some of us in the fourth grade can't reach the big one, and when we come in the back door from playing, we can't get a drink. Some kids in our class make noise, so our teacher won't let us go past the other rooms all the way to the end of the hall to the little water fountain.
I thought about this, and I think you should put steps by the big water fountain. That way all fourth grade students could have a drink when they wanted it. You can probably build steps out of the scrap lumber out by the basement steps where we get on the bus. If that wood is not good, my uncle who works down at the sawmill can get us some. The only other thing you will need is nails. You probably have some in your office.
The steps need to be at least ten inches tall. By the end of the year, I will probably be big enough to reach the big water fountain, but some kids in my room won't. And think about all the little third, second, and first graders.
The other day Jami Kilgore tried to jump up and get a drink at the big water fountain, but he fell and hit his chin. He also bit his lip and it bled some. This is dangerous, Mr. Everman. If we had steps, this would not have happened. I don't think he will sue you or anything, but he should have an easier way to get a drink of water.
Building steps would not cost much money or be very hard, and having steps by the big water fountain would help almost all the students here at our school. I know you care because you wear that "I care" button, so please build steps for the water fountain.
Sincerely,
Joshua Morton
Ranking Reasons
1) outdoor classroom Audience ______
___ Every other school in our county has one.
___ We could learn about science.
___ We would be happier outside.
2) field trip to the planetariumAudience ______
___ We deserve to get away for a day.
___ The planetarium is only an hour away from school.
___ We can get in for almost nothing.
3) Kentucky picturesAudience ______
___ We could learn history from looking at pictures and make better scores.
___ The walls in the front hall are ugly and need covering.
___ Every school in Kentucky should have Kentucky pictures.
4) flag poleAudience ______
___ We need to be patriotic.
___ We need to fill the hole in front of the school where the tree used to be.
___ It’s illegal not to have a flag.
5) more trashcans in the gymAudience ______
___ We wouldn’t have to walk to the end to throw something away.
___ Everybody would throw trash in the cans instead of on the floor.
___ Someone might slip and get hurt in the garbage on the floor.
6) monthly attendance awardsAudience ______
___ Attendance would go up, and our school could get more money.
___ Students would learn more if they came to school.
___ If we come to school for a whole month straight, we deserve a reward.
7) plants in every classroomAudience ______
___ Plants are pretty.
___ Students could learn responsibility by caring for plants.
___ Plants clean the air.
Best Strategies for Teaching Writing A. Hilterbrand 1
4.taking a school trip
Audience ______
___ It's exciting.
___ We deserve it after a hard year.
___ It's educational.
___ Every other school takes a trip.
___ The school could pack us a picnic
lunch.
___ We promise to stay together.
___ Students might work harder if they
knew a school trip was the reward.
___ We get to know people better outside
the classroom.
___ Many parents would be willing to go
withus.
___ We can earn money for the gas and
the bus driver.
000
REVISION CHECKLIST - Letter (A)
YES / NO1) I started each sentence with a capital
letter.
2) I left a space between each word.
3) I put a period after every sentence.
4) I wrote a "Dear" line.
5) I started my letter with a compliment.
6) I told WHY my idea is good.
7) I thanked my audience.
8) I wrote a closing.
9) I signed my letter.
10) I checked my spelling.
12) I sent my letter.
REVISION CHECKLIST - Letter (B)
YES / NO1) I started each sentence with a capital letter.
2) I put a period after every sentence.
3) I wrote a "Dear" line.
4) I complimented my audience in the beginning.
5) I explained or described my idea.
6) I gave at least 3 reasons why my idea is
good.
7) I ranked my reasons.
8) I used transitions between reasons.
9) I thanked my audience for reading my letter.
10) I complimented my audience again in the conclusion.
9) I indented each paragraph.
10) I skipped a line between each paragraph.
11) I wrote a closing.
12) I signed my letter.
13) I checked my spelling.
Best Strategies for Teaching Writing A. Hilterbrand 1