OREO Strategy – Lesson 2

Vocabulary: pro, con, point of view, reason

Common Core

Connection:

Grade 2 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the

opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Grade 3 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

b. Provide reasons that support the opinion.

c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.

d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

Grade 4 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s

purpose.

b. Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.

c. Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g., for instance, in order to, in addition).

d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

Objectives:

The Students Will Be Able To:

Use a pro and con chart to identify an opinion.

Essential Questions: How do I determine what my opinion is?

Accommodations: Students may receive one-on-one assistance during the independent practice portion. Students may be scaffolded to understanding during guided

practice.

Relevance to

students’ lives:

Students will be involved in situations where they will need to think critically in order to determine a position on an issue or on a course of action to

take.

Integration to other disciplines: Literature

Materials: Snow Day by Lester Laminack

Prior Knowledge: In the previous lesson, students verbally stated their opinions and reasons.

Procedure and

Student Work:

Discuss standard, essential question, and objective.

Review the OREO strategy and its parts as a writing strategy that will help students state their opinion and back it up with detailed evidence.

Explain that students may be asked on standardized testing to read a passage and formulate an opinion and provide evidence, or to present the

author’s opinion and use evidence to support it.

Discuss that writing is always approached from a point of view. Examples such as newspaper articles, a blog, a friendly letter are all written from

different points of view for different audiences.

Read Snow Day, by Lester Laminack. Pre-reading activity is to listen to the story from the point of view of either the adults or the children.

State the opinion prompt - Should the teacher have a snow day at home or go to work? Discuss the point of view of the story - whose point of view

is it written from? (the adult)

Introduce "pro" and "con" as vocabulary words. Which point of view will be the pro for our story prompt? (the adult's - he wants to stay home) and

which will be the con point of view? (the student's, because it is the opposite)

Model with one pro reason and one con reason that is drawn from evidence in the story (ex: a pro is that the teacher will be able to build a snow fort

with a zillion snowballs)

Guided practice - students will volunteer information to complete the rest of the pro and con chart.

The teacher will model how to write a simple paragraph that states his opinion and lists two reasons.

Students will decide their opinion, based on the group pro and con chart, and write a simple paragraph that states two reasons.

Assessment:

The teacher will assess the student work according to the following rubric:

*High: Students were able to give an opinion statement (opening sentence) that stated their preference on the topic, and 3 or more supporting

reasons

*Medium: Students were able to give an opinion statement (opening sentence) that stated their preference on the topic, and 2 supporting reasons

*Low: Students were missing an opinion statement (opening sentence), and/or 1 or no reasons

Reflection/Closure: How can using a pro and con chart help you identify your opinion?

Review standards, essential question, and objective.

What was our objective today?

What was our standard today?

Did we answer our essential question? What is the answer to our essential question?