answering these POV questions on their own.
Adapting This Lesson for Other Text Types: Informational
The standard for informational text is very similar to literature; here, for the lesson you would use primary sources and secondhand accounts on the same topic or event that provide a contrasting or distinctly different point of view. You could teach such a lesson during science or social studies. For example, you might select an event in history and use a current text (even a textbook) that explains the event and then doing a Google search find a firsthand account of the same event. An example in Colorado history would be a modern explanation of the Sand Creek Massacre and then an entry from a soldier who was there.
Want to try the lesson with current events? A suitable topic is just a click away on a search engine. I would replicate the basic design of the lesson above; however, I would teach this type of compare and contrast after the students had experience determining similarities and differences. The same graphic organizers used in the literature lessons could be used; however, students would need explicit instruction in the new terms such as primary sources, firsthand account, and secondhand account used here.
The focus questions for informational text would be
Is this a firsthand or secondhand account of the event or topic?
How do I know?
How does the POV differ between firsthand and secondhand accounts?
What are the similarities between the two?
What are the differences in the focus of the two?
What are the differences in the information provided in each text?
Just as with literature, the goal is for students to own and internalize these questions when interacting with informational text.
Core Connections
Grade 4
Reading Standard 6
Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
Companion Writing Lesson: Launching Opinion and Persuasive Writing
Getting Ready
The materials:
Mentor text to launch the sequence (picture book)
A variety of opinion and persuasive texts—print, photos, online, editorial comics, for example
Text sets
Mentor texts
Chart paper
Writer’s notebooks
Graphic organizers
Core Connections
Grade 4
Writing Standard 1
Write opinion pieces on topic or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
1 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.
2 Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.
3 Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g., for instance, in order to, in addition).
4 Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.
Writing Standards 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10
Context of This Lesson
Fresh out of the reading lesson, students are focused on POV, so we transition easily into a short study on opinion writing. Since it’s at the beginning of a new sequence (or unit, if you are teaching a full unit), you will do more modeling and co-constructing than is needed in subsequent lessons. We’ll begin by “noticing” how persuasive writing and opinion writing are written, and what makes them different from other types. I provide text sets for students to dissect: picture books, advertisements, articles, op-ed pieces, sports commentaries, and so on.
Core Practices
Turn and Talk
Reflection
Explicit Teaching
Responsive Teaching
The Lesson
T: Now we’re going to switch gears and instead of reading like readers, we’re going to read like writers. We’ve been talking about point of view in the texts we read and we’ve been discussing author’s intent. Well, when we write, we’re the author, so now we get to share our point of view. We actually are also trying to get others to see things as we do. And how do we get them to consider our take? We provide reasons for why we believe something about our topic, and we back up our reasons with facts and details. This is called writing an opinion piece. Sometimes we call this kind of writing persuasive because we’re attempting to persuade our reader to think the way we do. Have you ever tried to convince someone of something?
At this point, students will be clamoring to share their examples. Either choose a few or have students turn and talk so everyone gets a chance to be heard. Don’t let this become the main point of the lesson—keep it to a few minutes, tops!
T: I’ve brought an example of a persuasive text. Your job or purpose as I read it aloud is to think about what the author wants to persuade others to do or think.
Read the piece you’ve selected. I love to start withI Wanna New Room by Karen Kaufman Orloff (2010), or The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (2013); however, any persuasive or opinion text that is highly engaging and you know your students will enjoy is perfect.
Venn diagrams representing both the reading and writing. One is for the two fairy tales. The second compares and contrasts two books on POV.
After reading the text aloud, have students turn and talk with
