Writing prompt Grade 3 English Language Arts
The Five-Minute Shower Challenge: A Grade 3 Opinion Writing Prompt
A grade 3 opinion prompt where students decide whether families in a drought-stricken fictional town should try shorter showers, using real household water-use facts.
Objectives
- Students will state an opinion on a water conservation challenge and support it with reasons.
- Students will use real household water-use facts as evidence in an opinion piece.
Vocabulary
Key words: conserve, challenge, reason, opinion
Teacher overview
Cobalt Ridge (a fictional town used for this prompt) is in the middle of a dry summer, and the town has asked families to use less water at home until it rains again. This prompt asks third graders to take a position on the "five-minute shower challenge," a plan some families are trying to help save water. Because the challenge involves a real tradeoff, comfort versus conservation, it gives students genuine reasons to weigh before they write.
Prompt
Background: Cobalt Ridge has had no rain for weeks. The town's water is getting low. The town council wants families to save water at home. One idea is a five-minute shower challenge. Each person tries to finish a shower in five minutes or less. A normal showerhead uses about 2.5 gallons each minute. A short shower can save real water. A home uses about 300 gallons of water each day. About 70 percent of that water is used inside the home. Most goes to showers, sinks, and toilets.
Writing task: Write your opinion. Should families at Cobalt Ridge try the five-minute shower challenge? Give two reasons. Use one fact from above to support a reason. End with a closing sentence.
Planning Organizer
| Category | Your notes |
|---|---|
| My opinion (should families try the challenge?) | |
| Reason 1 | |
| Fact from the background material that supports Reason 1 | |
| Reason 2 | |
| Closing sentence |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Exemplar & Rubric
Exemplar response:
I think families at Cobalt Ridge should try the five-minute shower challenge. My first reason is that showers use a lot of water fast. A standard showerhead sprays about 2.5 gallons of water every minute, so a ten-minute shower can use 25 gallons or more. A five-minute shower uses about half that much. My second reason is that the whole town's water supply is low right now, and every family that saves water helps everyone. The background material says the average household already uses about 300 gallons of water a day, and most of that is used inside the house. If every family in Cobalt Ridge saved a few gallons during showers, the town could save a lot of water together. I think trying the five-minute shower challenge is a smart way for families to help during the dry summer.
Rubric:
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion | No clear opinion stated | States an opinion but it is unclear or changes partway through | States one clear opinion about the shower challenge | States a clear opinion and restates it in the closing sentence |
| Reasons & evidence | Gives no reasons | Gives one reason with no supporting fact | Gives two reasons, with at least one supported by a fact from the background material | Gives two or more reasons, each supported by a specific fact from the background material |
| Organization | Sentences do not connect to each other | Some sentences connect; opinion and reasons are mixed together | Opinion, reasons, and a closing sentence appear in a clear order | Opinion, reasons, and closing sentence appear in a clear order, with linking words such as "because" and "also" connecting ideas |
| Conventions | Frequent errors make the writing hard to understand | Noticeable errors, but the writing can still be understood | Few errors; complete sentences throughout | Complete sentences with correct capitalization and end punctuation throughout |
Differentiation
Support
Provide sentence starters for the Planning Organizer ("I think families at Cobalt Ridge should/should not try the challenge because ___.") and allow Reason 2 to be given orally before writing.
Extension
Ask students to think of one reason a family member might have trouble with the challenge, such as a younger sibling needing help washing, and explain how the family could still try the challenge despite that reason.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "conserve," "challenge," and "reason" with simple visuals (a shower timer, a raindrop, a checklist) before introducing the background material. Allow the Planning Organizer to be completed with short phrases instead of full sentences.