Writing for a Cause

After 9 weeks of instructing, modeling, practicing and several snow days, my students have learned how to write opinion paragraphs. They have become a very opinionated class, eagerly telling each other and me how they feel about everything and even trying to backup those feelings with supporting statements. Our last opinion writing project was based on a documentary that I watched called Blackfish. This movie follows an Orca whale named Tilikum and his life as a performing mammal. The documentary posed the question as to rather or not large sea animals should be kept in captivity at parks like SeaWorld. Although I could not show them Blackfish, we discussed pluses and deltas of Orcas being used for entertainment. Next students wrote a rough draft of their opinions. Finally each student created a poster illustrating those opinions. In addition, each poster had to graphically incorporate the student's supporting statements into the drawings.

The results were amazing! Most students felt that Tilikum and other whales should be released back into the ocean from which they were captured. As we worked, one student suggested that we send our posters to SeaWorld so that they would know how we feel. This sparked a whole conversation about standing up for one's beliefs and having a voice when people, other animals or things cannot speak for themselves. Social awareness at this age is a powerful tool that will hopefully lead my students to a life time of care for the world around them. This week, I proudly mailed a letter to SeaWorld on behalf of my students and included this photograph. My students truly are exceptional!