Opinion Writing Mentor Texts in Second Grade: What is the Best Pet?

Opinion writing is a major emphasis of the Common Core Standards. How can we help our students with this genre of writing? By providing them with good models. Here are 12 opinion pieces on the best types of pets (4 on dogs, 4 on cats, and 4 on fish). Each set has 4 levels of writing (1 scoop, 2 scoops, 3 scoops, and 4 scoops). These models show children in an explicit manner what constitutes an effective opinion piece. Also included is an ice cream scoop visual rubric for evaluating the writing samples. These writing samples make outstanding anchor charts in the classroom! Please note: They are intended to look like “kid” writing.