Lesson plan Kindergarten English Language Arts

Leaves in the Storm Drain: A Bramblewood Opinion Writing Lesson

A 25-minute kindergarten lesson where students decide whether raking leaves away from a storm drain is a good idea and dictate an opinion with one reason.

Grade: Kindergarten
Subject: English Language Arts
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 25 min
Prep: Low prep
Materials: Picture card showing a storm drain covered in leaves with a puddle, Picture card showing the same drain raked clear with no puddle, Drawing paper and crayons

Standards

W.K.1 Common Core ELA

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).

How this material aligns: Students state and dictate or write an opinion on whether raking leaves away from the storm drain is a good idea, matching W.K.1's state-a-preference-through-drawing-and-dictation task.

All materials for W.K.1 →

D2.Civ.14.K-2 C3 Framework

Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.

How this material aligns: The lesson's closing task has students describe raking leaves away from the drain as one way neighbors keep their street from flooding, a community-improvement action this standard names.

All materials for D2.Civ.14.K-2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-16.

Objectives

Students will describe what happens on a street when leaves cover a storm drain.
Students will state and dictate or write an opinion on whether raking leaves away from a drain is a good idea.
Students will give one reason that supports their opinion.

Vocabulary

Storm drain: A storm drain is the grate at the edge of a street that swallows rainwater and sends it through pipes to the nearest creek or river. That water is usually not treated, so only rain belongs down the drain.

Also: leaves, puddle, rake

Teacher overview

On Bramblewood Street (a fictional neighborhood used for this lesson), fall leaves pile up over a storm drain at the curb, and after the next rain, water backs up into a puddle across the sidewalk. A neighbor rakes the leaves away, and the puddle drains within the hour. This lesson uses that before-and-after picture to give kindergartners their first opinion-writing task about a real kind of problem a street can have: state whether raking the leaves away is a good idea, and give one reason. The lesson also introduces the idea that a small neighborhood chore can be one way people keep their street working well for everyone.

Show both picture cards side by side for the whole lesson so students can point to the difference between the covered and cleared drain. Tell students that clearing a drain beside the street is a job for a grown-up, because drains sit at the edge of traffic.

Procedure

Hook (4 min): Show the picture of leaves covering the drain with a puddle next to it. Ask, "What do you notice about this street after it rained?"

Picture comparison (7 min): Show the second picture of the same drain, now raked clear, with no puddle. Ask students to compare the two pictures and describe what changed. Explain in one sentence: "The leaves were blocking the drain, so the rain could not go through until a neighbor raked them away."

Class discussion and thumbs vote (5 min): Ask, "Do you think raking the leaves away from the drain was a good idea?" Have students show thumbs-up for yes or thumbs-down for no, then call on two or three students to say one reason for their vote.

Independent opinion task (7 min): Each student draws a picture showing the drain either covered or cleared and dictates or writes one opinion sentence with a reason, such as "I think raking is a good idea because the puddle went away." Circulate and scribe for students who dictate.

Closure (2 min): Read two or three opinions aloud. Ask the class to repeat together: "A clear drain lets rain go where it should."

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Item 1 answers the hook question, and item 2 covers the independent opinion task.

Answer: The drain was covered in leaves, so rainwater could not pass through it and formed a puddle on the sidewalk instead.
Answer: Answers will vary but should state a clear opinion, raking is or is not a good idea, with one supporting reason, such as "it is a good idea because it stops the puddle."

Differentiation

Support

Offer two sentence starters for the opinion task ("I think raking is a good idea because ___." or "I think raking is not needed because ___.") and let students complete the blank with a single word or a pointed picture.

Extension

Ask confident students to name one more chore that keeps a street's drains clear, such as sweeping trash away from the curb, and to explain how it helps in the same way raking does.

ELL supports

Pre-teach drain, leaves, puddle, and rake with the two picture cards and a raking gesture (arms sweeping to one side). Allow the opinion task to be completed with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down plus a single spoken word for the reason.

Extensions

Walk the school grounds looking for any drain or gutter near the building, and check together whether it is clear or covered, reporting findings to the custodian if leaves or trash need clearing.