Writing prompt Grade 3 Social Studies & Civics
Should Pintail Water Its Ball Field in a Dry Summer?
After six dry weeks, the fictional town of Pintail must decide whether to keep watering its ball field. Students write opinion letters with reasons, plus a rubric.
Objectives
- Students will write an opinion letter that states a position, gives two reasons from the background, and ends with a closing sentence.
- Students will compare the benefits and costs of a town water choice during a dry spell.
Vocabulary
Key words: opinion, reason, dry spell, park board
Teacher overview
The fictional town of Pintail is six dry weeks into summer, and its park board has asked families whether the town should keep watering the ball field or stop until rain returns. The choice has honest reasons on both sides, which makes it a fair test of this grade's opinion writing. Students weigh what watering costs a dry town against what a green field gives back, then put their position and reasons into a letter.
Prompt
Background. Read this before you plan.
The town of Pintail has a ball field at Duck Pond Park. Kids play games there every Saturday. This summer has been very dry. Almost no rain has fallen for six weeks. The town's wells are getting low.
The park crew waters the field three evenings a week. Each watering uses about as much water as 200 bathtubs. That water comes from the same wells that homes use.
Here is what else the town knows. If the watering stops, the grass will turn brown. Brown grass is not dead grass. It rests, and it turns green again after rain comes back. But hard, brown ground can scrape players when they slide. Some families say the field is the best part of summer. Other families say saving well water for homes matters more right now.
The park board wants letters from kids who use the field.
Writing task. Write a letter to the Pintail park board. Tell them your opinion: should the town keep watering the ball field this summer, or stop until the rain returns? Give two reasons. Use facts from the background. End your letter with a closing sentence.
Planning Organizer
| My plan | My notes |
|---|---|
| My opinion (keep watering, or stop for now) | |
| Reason 1, with a fact from the background | |
| Reason 2, with a fact from the background | |
| 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 letter:
Dear Pintail Park Board,
I think the town should stop watering the ball field until the rain comes back. I love Saturday games, but I have two big reasons.
First, the wells are getting low, and homes need that water. The background says each watering uses about as much water as 200 bathtubs, three times a week. That is a lot of water to spend on grass when it has been dry for six weeks.
Second, the grass will be okay. Brown grass is not dead grass. It rests, and it turns green again when the rain returns. We can still play catch on it, and we can be careful about sliding until the field is soft again.
Water for homes matters more than green grass for one summer, so please save the well water now.
Your friend, Reyna
Rubric:
| Criterion | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion | No clear opinion is stated | An opinion appears but changes or hides mid-letter | One clear opinion is stated at the start | One clear opinion is stated at the start and echoed in the closing |
| Reasons and facts | No reasons, or reasons without any background facts | One reason, or reasons that use no facts from the background | Two reasons, at least one tied to a background fact | Two reasons, each tied to a background fact, with the reason explained in the writer's own words |
| Organization | Ideas appear in no order; no letter parts | Some letter parts present; reasons run together | Greeting, opinion, two reason paragraphs or sentences, and a closing in order | All letter parts in order, with linking words such as "first," "second," and "so" connecting the ideas |
| Conventions | Errors make the letter hard to read | Frequent errors, but the message survives | A few errors that do not block meaning | Clean sentences, capitals, and end marks throughout |
Differentiation
Support
Let students talk through the organizer with a partner before writing, and provide the frames "I think the town should ___ because ___" and "My second reason is ___." Accept a letter of four strong sentences.
Extension
After the letter, have students add one sentence that names the other side's best reason and responds to it politely, which is a first step toward the counterargument work that begins in later grades.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "opinion," "reason," and "dry spell," and read the background aloud twice, once straight through and once pausing for students to mark one fact per paragraph. Allow the organizer to be completed in phrases or the home language before drafting in English.
Extensions
Hold a five-minute park board meeting: three volunteers read their letters aloud, the class tallies which opinion each letter supports, and students discuss whether any letter's reasons changed someone's mind, and why a board reads letters before deciding.