Opinion and Argument Writing

Opinion writing: writing that clearly states a view or judgment about a topic, supported by reasoning and examples.

Argument writing: writing that requires a student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish and defend a position on the topic in a clear manner.

Standard 3

Progression 

objectives in chronological order with shifts bolded

K.3.W

Students will use drawing, labeling, and writing to tell a story, share information, or express an opinion with prompting. 

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Students will write an opinion about a topic and provide a reason to support the opinion with prompting.

First graders communicate their opinion about a topic through writing that includes a single reason supporting their opinion. Students may require prompting and support to communicate and explain their opinion and the reason they chose as support. 

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Students will write an opinion about a topic and provide reasons as support in a paragraph.

At this level, second graders write an opinion about a specific topic without requiring prompting. The communication of their opinion becomes more refined as their paragraph increases in length to include multiple reasons that support their stated opinion.

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Students will write an opinion about a topic and provide relevant evidence as support in multiple paragraphs with transitional words and phrases.

By third grade, students are providing relevant evidence that supports their opinion on a specific topic. In addition, students are crafting multiple paragraphs that communicate their relevant evidence in an organized fashion. Third graders include transitional words and phrases to add clarity and flow to their paragraph writing. 

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Students will write opinion essays that:

● introduce a topic and state an opinion

● incorporate relevant, text-based evidence to support the opinion

● use sentence variety and word choice to create interest

● maintain an organized structure with transitional words and phrases

At the fourth-grade level, students are writing opinion essays. Students learn to introduce their topic and state their opinion. Fourth graders work to maintain an organized structure in their essay through transitional words and phrases. They are strengthening their writing by varying their types of sentences and deepening audience interest by intentionally focusing on word choice. In addition, fourth graders are enhancing their use of evidence to incorporate relevant, text-based evidence that supports their stated opinion.

5.3.W.3

Students will write opinion essays that:

● introduce a topic and state a clear opinion

● incorporate relevant, text-based evidence to support the opinion

● use sentence variety and word choice to create interest

● organize writing in a logical sequence with transitional words and phrases

By fifth grade, students should not only be introducing a topic, but also including a clearly stated opinion. Students continue to refine their incorporation of relevant, text-based evidence that supports their stated opinion. Fifth graders extend their practice of varying their sentences and intentional word choice. The organization of their opinion essay is enhanced at the fifth grade level by the addition of organizing their writing in a logical sequence and continuing to include appropriate transitions. 

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Students will compose argumentative essays that:

● introduce precise claims

● organize claims and evidence in a logical sequence

● provide relevant evidence to develop arguments, using credible sources

● use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity

In sixth grade, students move from opinion writing to argument writing where they introduce a precise claim and support the claim by providing relevant evidence to develop the argument. Students also use credible sources when providing evidence. This builds on the fifth grade skills of incorporating relevant text-based evidence. In sixth grade, students learn about identifying credible sources and how to appropriately use those credible sources to enhance their argument. At this level students have experience using sentence variety and precise word choice, but this shifts in sixth grade from creating interest to creating clarity. Students build on their skills of writing in a logical sequence by organizing their claims and evidence in a logical sequence. Students develop their argumentative essays by explaining how their claim relates to the reasons and provided evidence that supports their claim.

7.3.W.3

Students will compose argumentative essays that:

● introduce precise claims

● organize claims and evidence in a logical sequence

● provide relevant evidence to develop arguments, using credible sources

● use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity

● establish and maintain a formal style

Seventh graders continue to build on their argumentative writing skills by resuming practice with the skills learned in sixth grade and adding in the skill of establishing and maintaining a formal style. Students learn how to differentiate between formal and informal writing, when it is appropriate to use a formal style, and that formal writing is the main style used in academic writing. 

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Students will compose argumentative essays that:

● introduce precise claims

● acknowledge counterclaims

● organize claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a logical sequence

● provide relevant evidence to develop arguments, using credible sources

● use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity

● establish and maintain a formal style

As student write arguments in the eighth grade, they are tasked with recognizing a claim from the opposing viewpoint. Eighth graders learn to acknowledge and disprove the counterclaim in their writing. In addition to the introduction of acknowledging a counterclaim, students continue to build their skills related to introducing precise claims, logical organization, relevant and credible evidence, and clear writing. Students will also continue to perfect their formal writing.

9.3.W.3

Students will compose argumentative essays, reviews, or op-eds that:

● introduce precise, informed claims

● include a defensible thesis

● acknowledge counterclaims or alternate perspectives

● organize claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a logical sequence

● provide the most relevant evidence to develop balanced arguments, using credible sources

● use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity and concision

● use style and tone that suits the audience and purpose

When entering the high school grade band, argumentative writing expands from argumentative essays to other products such as reviews, and op-eds as well. 

These pieces include informed claims implying that the author is knowledgeable about the topic or has done adequate research. Also new to the high school grade band is the idea of a defensible thesis. This implies that the thesis of the essay is not too obvious, nor is it indefensible. The thesis should be able to be argued from multiple perspectives.

In eighth grade, students are asked to acknowledge counterclaims. High School students also should consider alternative perspectives, which involves examining the ideas and events that have shaped those counterclaims. A counterclaim is in direct opposition to the claim.  An alternative perspective isn’t in direct opposition to the claim; it may be a different alternative altogether or may involve adding conditions to the existing claim.  

Another subtle shift from eighth grades into the high school grade bands involves moving from simply incorporating evidence to develop arguments to incorporating the best evidence to develop balanced arguments. The word balanced implies that the argument is becoming more sophisticated as the author researches both sides of the argument and addresses alternative perspectives without any obvious bias. This may require students to explore the logic, or lack thereof, behind counterclaims.

Another shift regarding sentence variety and word choice occurs. In the high school grades, students are now asked to ensure their writing is concise. The students will now need to eliminate redundancy, edit wordy phrasing, remain in the active voice, and eliminate unnecessary language. 

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