Writing prompt Grade 4 English Language Arts
A Rain Garden for Cobbet Elementary: A Grade 4 Opinion Prompt
Students take a side on whether a fictional school should fix its flooded blacktop corner with a rain garden or a drain pipe, then write an opinion letter.
Objectives
- Students will state a clear opinion about one of two choices for a flooded schoolyard.
- Students will support that opinion with at least two reasons taken from the background material.
- Students will group their reasons into paragraphs and join ideas with linking words.
Vocabulary
- Rain garden
- A rain garden is a shallow planted dip in the ground that catches rain running off a roof or driveway and lets it soak slowly into the soil. Its deep-rooted plants help clean the water.
Also: soak in, runoff, opinion, reason
Teacher overview
Cobbet Elementary, in the fictional town of Hedgeford, has a low corner of blacktop that floods after every heavy rain, and the principal has two repair options with real tradeoffs. Fourth graders can hold an opinion on this question because both choices are defensible and the background gives concrete reasons for each. The prompt uses opinion and reason vocabulary rather than claim and counterclaim vocabulary, which is the grade-appropriate structure for W.4.1, though the organizer leaves one row for answering a student who picks the other choice. The misconception to address before drafting is that a storm drain cleans the water it carries; the background states plainly that the pipe would deliver dirt, oil, and litter to the creek unchanged.
Prompt
Background
Cobbet Elementary sits at the bottom of a small hill in Hedgeford. When it rains hard, water runs down the hill and across the blacktop. It pools in the northwest corner by the fourth grade doors. The puddle can stay for two days. Students walk around it, and the doors get muddy. Ms. Bramhall is the principal, and she wants the corner fixed this year.
She has money for one project, not two. Here are her two choices.
Choice A: a rain garden. Workers would break up the blacktop in that corner. They would dig a shallow dip and fill it with gravel, soil, and plants that do well in wet ground. Rain would run into the dip and soak into the ground instead of standing on the pavement. A rain garden also filters the water. Dirt and oil from the blacktop stick to the soil and the roots instead of washing into Windrose Creek. Classes could use the garden for science lessons. But the plants need care. Somebody has to pull weeds and cut back the plants each fall. The garden would also take away part of the blacktop, so there would be a little less room for four square.
Choice B: a new drain pipe. Workers would cut a drain into the low corner and run a pipe under the field to Windrose Creek. Water would leave the corner in minutes. Nothing would need weeding. The blacktop would stay the same size. But the pipe carries whatever is on the blacktop, including dirt, oil, and litter, straight to the creek. The town has been asking schools to send less runoff to Windrose Creek, because heavy flows wash mud into the water where fish lay eggs.
Writing task
Ms. Bramhall has asked students to write to her before she decides. Write an opinion letter to Ms. Bramhall. Tell her whether Cobbet Elementary should build the rain garden or install the drain pipe. Give at least two reasons for your opinion, and use facts from the background to support each reason. Group your reasons into paragraphs. Use linking words such as because, also, and for example. End with a sentence that sums up your opinion.
Planning Organizer
Fill in every row before you draft.
| Part of my letter | My notes |
|---|---|
| My opinion (rain garden or drain pipe) | |
| Reason 1 | |
| Fact from the background that supports reason 1 | |
| Reason 2 | |
| Fact from the background that supports reason 2 | |
| One thing I would say to a person who picks the other choice | |
| My 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
Dear Ms. Bramhall,
I think Cobbet Elementary should build the rain garden in the northwest corner. It fixes the puddle and it helps the creek at the same time.
My first reason is that the rain garden cleans the water before it leaves our school. The background says dirt and oil from the blacktop stick to the soil and the roots in a rain garden. With the drain pipe, all of that dirt and oil would go straight to Windrose Creek. The town has already asked schools to send less runoff there, because heavy flows wash mud over the places where fish lay eggs. I do not want our school to be the reason a fish nest gets covered.
My second reason is that our classes could use the garden. A pipe under the field would be buried, so nobody would ever see it again. A rain garden sits right outside the fourth grade doors. We could measure how fast the water soaks in after a storm. We could count which plants grow best in the wet part of the dip. That is a science lesson we would get every year for free.
Some people will say the garden is too much work, because the plants need weeding and cutting back each fall. That is true. But our class could take one weeding day in the spring and one in the fall. Also, we would lose only a corner of the blacktop, so there would be only a little less room for four square.
For those reasons, I think the rain garden is the better choice for our school and for Windrose Creek.
Sincerely,
A fourth grader at Cobbet Elementary
Rubric
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion | No choice is stated, or the letter names both choices without picking one | A choice is stated but changes later in the letter | One clear choice is stated near the beginning and held throughout | One clear choice is stated and the opening also previews the reasons that follow |
| Reasons and facts | Gives no reason, or a reason with no support | Gives one reason with a fact from the background | Gives two reasons, each supported by a fact from the background | Gives two or more reasons, each supported by a fact, and explains how the fact supports the reason |
| Organization and linking words | Ideas run together in one block with no linking words | Some grouping, one linking word used | Each reason has its own paragraph and at least two linking words appear | Paragraphs are grouped and ordered on purpose, linking words connect ideas, and the closing sums up the opinion |
| Conventions | Errors make sentences hard to read | Errors are noticeable but the meaning is clear | Sentences are complete with few errors; letter format is used | Sentences vary in length, letter format is correct, and errors are rare |
Differentiation
Support
Give these students a copy of the background with the reasons for each choice already sorted into a two-column chart. Provide sentence starters for the organizer rows, such as "I think Cobbet Elementary should," "One reason is," and "The background says." Allow a three-paragraph letter with one reason instead of two.
Extension
Ask students to add a short paragraph proposing a plan that answers the strongest objection to their choice, such as who would weed the garden or how the school could keep litter out of the pipe. The paragraph must use at least one fact from the background.
ELL supports
Pre-teach runoff, soak in, and rain garden with a demonstration: pour water on a cookie sheet and then on a tray of soil with grass, and have students describe what they see. Provide the linking words on a printed strip, and allow the organizer to be completed in phrases or drawings before drafting.