Opinions....

We all have opinions--it's a natural part of life, but how do we get students to move beyond the basics of just having an opinion to having a qualified opinion based on research?

This is the ultimate question--As I've looked back on some of the opinion pieces my students wrote this past year, I cringe. We fell into almost all of the pitfalls. My students wrote about things, because they had an opinion, not because they were informed. This concept needs to change in the coming year. In fact, I wonder if this is a section we should remove from our publications until we're ready to move to reason and away from pure emotion. Perhaps this will be a lesson plan that I work on in order to really clarify the differences between belief/emotion and reason. Hmmmm.....

A lesson plan idea:
General topic that connects directly to students--change it regularly
i.e.: iPads in class

Initial response
Emotional response
Reasons for response
(based on at least 5 researched reasons from at least three different sources--Citations needed!)

Fill out idea chart and pitch paper
Write initial story

After the fact, respond to your initial story as a reader who disagrees--need to use legos over ethos and even pathos...

Model writing the story and how to find people and sources for a more reasoned response--model how to respond to your own writing...

Hmm...any suggestions for how to improve this???

Jamie Nusbaum
Sheboygan North HS

Sheboygan, Wis.