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Upper Elementary Opinion Writing Unit

This Opinion Writing Unit for Grades 4–5 gives your students the structure, skills, and scaffolds they need to grow as critical thinkers and craft clear, well-supported opinion essays. Through sixteen step-by-step lessons, students move through the entire writing process—from forming opinions to publishing final drafts—while building reasoning skills, organization, and confidence in their writing.


With mentor texts, interactive notebook pages, scaffolded writing steps, and teacher-led slides, you’ll help students go beyond surface-level “I think” responses into thoughtful, well-structured arguments that showcase strong claims, logical reasons, and relevant evidence.

✨ Here’s what they’ll learn:

  • Opinion Structure – Understanding the purpose and structure of an opinion essay (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion).
  • Stating a Clear Opinion (Thesis) – Writing focused opinion statements that introduce a topic and position.
  • Developing Strong Reasons – Generating logical reasons that support a central claim.
  • Using Evidence – Supporting opinions with facts, examples, and details from texts.
  • Opinions vs. Facts – Distinguishing between personal beliefs and verifiable information.
  • Linking Words & Transitions – Connecting ideas clearly using transition words and phrases.
  • Body Paragraphs – Organizing writing so each paragraph supports one main reason.
  • Counterarguments – Acknowledging opposing viewpoints and clarifying thinking.
  • Strong Conclusions – Restating opinions and synthesizing key reasons.
  • Revising & Editing – Differentiating between editing conventions and revising ideas for clarity, strength, and organization.
  • Publishing – Polishing final drafts for presentation.

Why this works

This unit doesn’t just hand students a prompt and say “state your opinion.” Instead, it provides a clear, scaffolded thinking process: guided mentor-text studies, interactive notebook practice, modeled writing, independent drafting, and built-in opportunities for feedback through conferencing and discussion. Students get multiple chances to form claims, organize reasons, support their thinking with evidence, and revise—building confidence in reluctant writers while challenging advanced students to strengthen their reasoning.

Lesson Breakdown

  1. What Is an Opinion?
  2. Opinions vs. Facts
  3. Identifying Opinions and Reasons in Mentor Texts
  4. Collecting, Sorting, and Ranking Information
  5. Debate One: Presenting Opinions
  6. Choosing and Researching Topics
  7. Stating Opinions and Writing Thesis Statements
  8. Gathering Supporting Evidence
  9. Drafting Opinion Body Paragraphs
  10. Using Linking Words
  11. Revising First Drafts
  12. Second Debate: Switching Sides
  13. Writing Conclusions
  14. Integrating Technology
  15. Editing vs. Revising
  16. Final Drafts and Publishing

What’s Inside

  • 16 detailed teacher lesson plans with pacing notes
  • Teacher slide decks (PDF + Google Slides)
  • Student notebooks (print + digital)
  • Opinion writing rubrics for 4th–6th grade (full and condensed versions)
  • Opinion writing conference checklists for student and teacher use
  • Opinion reference booklet with anchor charts, mentor examples, and reminders for key opinion skills
  • Pacing guides for flexible implementation
  • Editable graphic organizers and checklists
  • 100% digital + low-prep setup

Perfect for:

  • Teachers who want a step-by-step structure for teaching opinion writing across upper elementary.
  • Students who need scaffolded, confidence-building practice in reasoning and argument.
  • Any 4th–5th grade ELA classroom balancing standards prep with authentic, real-world thinking and writing.

⏱ Flexible pacing: Designed for 3–4 weeks but can be stretched longer. Works in 45-minute blocks or longer class periods.

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Samantha S. says, "This resource has made teaching narrative writing to my 7th graders a breeze! I love how each day is laid out and set up so students learn a little bit about narrative writing and build their own narratives step-by-step. I made a couple of changes to some of the mentor text examples, as I am using this in conjunction with literature circle novels and I wanted it to match what my students are currently reading. Overall, I have felt so organized using this, and most importantly, my students have been engaged! "

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amy G. says, "SUCH a valuable resource! There's so much here, and it's all appropriate for my state's learning targets. Many of my students wrote really impressive narratives, thanks to the help of this resource!"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Frances C. says, "I love using this with my middle schoolers. It really helps break it down for the students. I also love the amount of modeling she does for her students."