Paragraph Writing, Week 10 Expressing an Opinion, Pt. 1

Overview In this first of a two-week activity, students will brainstorm ideas for expressing their personal opinion about one of three topics. This will be a multi-paragraph assignment that builds on topics and structures acquired in previous weeks. In this first week, students will brainstorm ideas as a class on three topics. They will then select one these topics and begin to organize their ideas for an essay of 3 or more paragraphs. Toward the end of the class, students will begin to draft their essays. They will need to bring a full draft of their essay to class the following week.

First Hour Introduce the topic of writing an essay expressing your opinion. When someone expresses their opinion, what is their goal? (Convince others, “get something off their chest,” etc.) Introduce one of three possible topics: a) How could Moroccan television be improved?; b) How would you change Moroccan universities to improve them?; c) What should be the official language(s) of Morocco? Divide the class into thirds, and have each section brainstorm for a different topic (10 minutes). Ask them to share and post the ideas on the board in three columns. Give the assignment: Students are to write a multi-paragraph essay expressing their opinion on one of these topics. But before they write, they need to organize their ideas in an outline.

First Hour, Cont’d See handout, Example Week 10: Paragraph Writing. Go over handout, note the structure of the essay and its organization into paragraphs. Have students write an essay for expressing their ideas and opinion. What should go in the Introduction? What will their first point be? How they answer possible challenges to their argument? How can they provide detail for their ideas? How will they conclude? As students write their outlines, circulate, looking for good examples. At the end of the hour, discuss those examples with the whole class.

Second Hour Have students begin to write their essays. Remind them to write in paragraphs and to follow their outlines. Circulate among students. Stop every 15 minutes and read aloud one or two good introductions, then one or two good second paragraphs, one or two good third paragraphs and so on, and then one or two good conclusions. Assign the students to complete their drafts by next week and bring them to class.