Writing prompt Grade 3 English Language Arts
Should Dogs Swim in Kestrel Reservoir? A Grade 3 Opinion Prompt
A grade 3 opinion writing prompt about a fictional town deciding whether to open a dog beach on its drinking water reservoir, with an exemplar and rubric.
Objectives
- Students will state an opinion about the dog beach in one clear sentence.
- Students will support that opinion with two reasons from the supplied list.
- Students will connect their reasons with linking words and finish with a closing sentence.
Vocabulary
- Reservoir
- A human-made lake, usually created by a dam, that stores water for later. Reservoirs supply cities and farms and help control floods.
Also: opinion, reason, germs, closing sentence
Teacher overview
Wexley is a fictional town whose drinking water sits in an open reservoir that people can walk around, which is the ordinary arrangement in many places and the reason source protection rules exist. The prompt asks students to advise the town council on a dog beach, and the supplied reasons are genuinely balanced, so a well-argued paragraph on either side earns full marks. A third-grade writer typically states an opinion and then repeats it in different words instead of giving a reason, so the organizer and rubric both separate the opinion from its support.
Prompt
What you need to know
Kestrel Reservoir holds the drinking water for the town of Wexley. A wall of dirt and stone keeps the water in. Pipes carry that water to the town water plant. The plant cleans it. Then it goes to every tap in Wexley.
A gravel path runs around the reservoir. People walk there all year. Right now, dogs must stay on a leash. Nobody, and no dog, may go into the water.
Some people want the town to open a dog beach at the north end. The town council asked for letters from students. Here is what the council has heard so far.
Reasons people give for a dog beach:
- Summer days get hot, and dogs need a place to cool off.
- The north end is far from the pipe that carries water to the plant.
- The town could put up a fence and set out bag stands for waste.
- Families who walk the path could stay longer with their dogs.
Reasons people give against a dog beach:
- Dog waste holds germs, and rain washes waste off the shore into the water.
- The plant would have to work harder to clean water with more germs in it.
- Tern Pond is two miles away, nobody drinks from it, and dogs could swim there.
- Someone would have to watch the shore every day once the rule changed.
Your writing task
Write an opinion paragraph for the Wexley town council. Tell the council whether dogs should be allowed to swim in Kestrel Reservoir. Start with one sentence that gives your opinion. Then give two reasons from the lists above. Use linking words such as "because," "also," and "another reason" to join your ideas. Finish with a closing sentence that tells the council what to do.
Planning Organizer
Fill in every box before you begin your paragraph.
| Part of my paragraph | What I will write |
|---|---|
| My opinion (one sentence) | |
| My first reason (from the list) | |
| My second reason (from the list) | |
| Linking words I will use | |
| My closing sentence |
Check your organizer before you draft. Each reason box must hold a reason from the lists, not the same idea as your opinion box said in different words.
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 Wexley should not let dogs swim in Kestrel Reservoir. One reason is that dog waste holds germs. Rain would wash that waste off the shore and into our drinking water. Another reason is that the water plant would have to work harder to clean water with more germs in it. Dogs do need a cool place on a hot day. That is why the town should open a dog beach at Tern Pond instead. Tern Pond is only two miles away, and nobody drinks from it. Please keep Kestrel Reservoir closed to swimming and send the dogs to Tern Pond.
Rubric
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion | No clear opinion, or the reader cannot tell which side the writer picked. | An opinion appears somewhere in the paragraph but not in the first sentence. | The first sentence states the opinion clearly. | The first sentence states the opinion clearly and names who the writer is advising. |
| Reasons | No reason from the lists, or the opinion is simply repeated. | One reason from the lists. | Two reasons from the lists, each in its own sentence. | Two reasons from the lists, each with an added sentence explaining what would happen as a result. |
| Linking words | No linking words. | One linking word joins two ideas. | Two or more linking words connect the opinion and both reasons. | Linking words connect every part, including a phrase that answers a reason from the other side. |
| Closing sentence | The paragraph stops without a closing sentence. | A closing sentence appears but does not match the opinion. | A closing sentence restates the opinion in new words. | A closing sentence restates the opinion and tells the council one thing to do. |
Score the reasons and the writing, never the side chosen. Both sides can earn Advanced.
Differentiation
Support
Give these students the reason lists cut into strips so they can pick two by hand and set the rest aside. Provide a paragraph frame with the five sentence starters written out, and let them say each sentence aloud to a partner before writing it.
Extension
Ask students to add two sentences that answer the strongest reason on the side they did not pick, naming that reason and saying why it did not change their mind. Keep them to reasons on the supplied lists.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "reservoir," "leash," "waste," and "germs" with a sketch of a lake with a path around it. Provide sentence frames: "I think Wexley should ___," "One reason is ___," "Another reason is ___," and "For those reasons, the council should ___."
Extensions
Students can turn their paragraphs into a short council meeting, with half the class reading letters for the beach and half against, and one student as the council member who must decide. Asking that student to name the two reasons that decided it shows the class which support carried the most weight.