Duck or Rabbit? Great Opinion Writing Piece

On our grade card in first grade we are to have the kids write an opinion piece and give them a grade for it.  I was so excited when I came across this Duck or Rabbit opinion writing idea at First Grade Fairytales.  The kids listened to the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal which I was glad to find on youtube since I didn't have the actual book yet.  

In the story, there are 2 characters and one believes it is a duck while the other believe it is a rabbit.  They discuss reasons why they think it is a duck or rabbit throughout the book.   It is a very cute book.  When we finished the book, the kids had to decide what they first thought it was and then they got to color their duck/rabbit to look like a duck or rabbit.  Then they had to write their opinions as to why they thought it was a duck or a rabbit.  They had a lot of fun with this and they turned out really cute.  Check them out:

I had the majority of them say it was a rabbit.  Only a few thought it was a duck.  

Have a great day!

Opinion Writing - What's Your Favorite Candy?

Last week I started an opinion writing unit with my 2nd graders. I wanted to try some easy things first before jumping into our Writing About Reading (Lucy Calkins). We have talked about Fact and Opinion a lot already this year, so the kids had no trouble with the concept. I used these great anchor charts to get us going:

Here's a few of my favorites:

 

 

By the way, what is your favorite candy? Leave me a comment below with your e-mail and I will send you a little freebie! Freebie no longer available.