Teaching Opinions in Kindergarten

I am going to share how to effectively teach students to write their opinions. This is Part 1 of a 2 part blog post. Read on and grab the freebie at the end!

Do you need new ideas to teach opinion writing? Read this blog post to get free printables and ideas to get your students sharing their opinions.

Opinions, Opinions, Opinions!

Let me tell you, students have a lot of opinions! My students tell me what they like, dislike, or what they think about a topic all the time. So, it’s my job as their teacher to teach them how to write opinion pieces to share their point of view. Teaching students to state and write their opinions is important. What they say and think matters and their words are powerful enough to make a difference!

In Kindergarten, students are expected to write opinion pieces about a topic using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing. This means that we are asking kindergartners to consider what they think about the topic, why do they think that, and to say, draw or write to show their opinion.

This can be tricky! Writing your opinions and speaking your opinions are completely different skills. For now, let’s focus on providing opportunities for our students to say their opinions. Then, hop over to my second blog post about writing opinions for additional ideas and resources.

Let’s Get Started!

I always start my opinion unit with students sharing their opinions orally before writing them down. I would make a statement like, “Pizza is the best lunch!” and I would invite them to agree or disagree with what I said and supply a reason. If they don’t supply a reason, that’s okay! This is a good time to just listen to what they say. We learn through conversations what an opinion sounds like.

Throughout the week, I provide students opportunities to share their opinions with each other and remind them that opinions are not right or wrong, they are what you think and how you feel. We also come up with a definition for opinion and fact.

When do I provide opportunities for students to share their opinions?

Morning Meeting

I have students answer a question of the day about their likes, dislikes, and feelings. This is a fun way to get students to share their opinions using fun topics. I usually project the question on the Promethean Board.

Library Center

Literacy center is another time of day to get your students to write their opinions. During the library center or independent reading time, I provide students the opportunity to answer reading responses that ask opinion questions. I have students write about their favorite character in the book or their favorite part in the story or what would they do if they were in the characters’ situation. Literacy centers are a great opportunity to get your students to write their opinions!

Download these printables to get your students to discuss their opinions!