I love using mentor texts to make writing fun and meaningful. One of my favorite stories to use when I teach opinion writing is Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. In the story, a boy’s friends pressure him to step on an ant. He’s about to do it—until the ant pleads his case and asks the boy to see the situation from his point of view. My absolute favorite page is when the ant and the boy swap shoes, with the illustration showing the ant towering over the boy. It’s such a powerful visual for perspective-taking.
After reading, I split the class into two groups: students who think the boy should step on the ant and those who think he should not. Students work together to come up with reasons to support their opinions, which naturally leads to rich discussion and strong text evidence. As students share, I record their ideas on an anchor chart. I also give students the option to keep their original opinion or change it after hearing others’ thinking—something they love and take very seriously.
Students then write their opinion using a clear structure: a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a closing sentence. (I use the opinion writing sentence starters from these writing reference folders)
To support this lesson, I created a free resource that includes:
-A coloring page where students choose yes or no
-Opinion writing pages (with and without sentence starters)
-A chart for recording reasons why the boy should and should not step on the ant
This text is such a great way to build opinion writing skills while encouraging thoughtful discussion and empathy in the classroom.
