Opinion Writing

We have been working really hard on learning to write our opinions!  We did a lot of activities involving what is a fact and what is an opinion.  Once students had a firm grasp on this concept,  we started to talk about what makes a stong opinion.  We've had many discussions why "It is awesome" isn't a strong argument.  We've really worked on generating strong reasons to support our opinion.  We've also talked a lot about the structure of our writing pieces.  We know that each piece of writing should have an opening sentence that states our opinion or focus, 3 strong reasons to support our opinion and a closing sentence that restates our opinion.

 

Snags and Logs with Four Winds

Today we learned all about how rotting logs, called "snags", help the environment as well as many smaller animals and insects!  The students listened to a play, inspected logs, and we were able to really dig into logs to look for animals!  After 12 years, a snag turns back into rich soil for the forest floor where new trees can grow! What an amazing cycle!  Here are some photos from our hands on learning!