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Kids love to tell you what they think and opinion writing is the perfect outlet for them to do it appropriately. These elementary opinion writing prompts will have your students wanting to write so they can tell you exactly what they think about topics that are relevant and interesting to them!
Opinion writing is the perfect way to introduce the more formal persuasive writing genre. It allows students to practise developing and justifying their own ideas before requiring a multi-paragraph essay with multiple pieces of evidence, proof or examples.
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72 FUN OPINION WRITING PROMPTS IN YOUR INBOX!
Get a FREE printable PDF version of all the opinion writing topic ideas in this post! Be sure to use a personal email address to make sure it gets to you!
FUN & GAMES OPINION WRITING IDEAS
From table games, to sports and TV & entertainment, your students will love to write an opinion paragraph on these interesting topics!
- What is the best game to play with friends? Why?
- Are card or dice games better? Why?
- Which are better – indoor or outdoor recesses? Why?
- If you could plan the ultimate weekend, what would it look like and why?
- What is your favourite TV show? Why?
- In your opinion, who is the best actor in the world? Why?
- What sport is your favourite to watch? Why?
- What is the best board game to play with friends? Why?
- Do you think that school sports are important? Why or why not?
- At what age do you feel children should be allowed social media? Why?
- Would you rather sing or dance in front of an audience? Why?
- How do you feel about video games? Explain.
FRIENDS & FAMILY OPINION WRITING TOPICS
Asking students to write about familiar topics is important for developing confidence and there is nothing students know better than their own family and friends. This category is full of opinion writing topics that your students are sure to already have strong thoughts about.
- What is your favourite activity to do with your family and why?
- If you could plan your next family vacation, where would you go and what would you do? Why?
- Would you rather have brothers or sisters? Explain your reasoning.
- Do you think children should receive an allowance? Justify your thinking.
- If you had to do one chore every day until you grow up, which one would you choose? Why?
- Would you rather your friends think of you as funny, kind or smart? Why?
- Should kids have to help around the house? Explain why or why not.
- How many siblings is the perfect number? Why?
- Where would you like to go with your friends: the zoo, the movies or the skatepark? Why?
- What qualities make a really great friend? Describe each quality and explain why it is important.
- What, in your opinion, makes you a good friend? Explain.
- What do you think is the best thing about your family? Why?
SCHOOL FUN OPINION WRITING PROMPTS
The key to a topic being interesting is that it is relevant to students. The school category gives students the chance to tell you how they feel about favourite subjects, homework and more with entertaining topics for opinion paragraphs.
- What is the best subject in school? Why?
- Which subject is the worst? Why?
- Should students receive grades? Why or why not?
- Should teachers give homework? Justify your opinion.
- Do you think college and university should be free? Why or why not?
- Which subject is the most important? Why?
- What is your opinion on school uniforms? Explain your thinking.
- What one book do you think all students should have to read? Why?
- What is one subject you would like to see added at school and why?
- What qualities make a great teacher? Describe each quality and explain why it is important.
- What is your opinion on watching movies at school? Explain your thoughts.
- Do you believe that school sports should be mandatory for all students? Why or why not?
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NATURE & ADVENTURE TOPICS FOR OPINION WRITING
This category will have students thinking about the world around them from serious topics such as environmental issues to fun outdoor activities. Choose from simple preferences between types of environments to really imaginative topics like the animal trait they would most like to have.
- Would you choose beach or mountains? Why?
- What is your favourite outdoor activity? Why?
- Which season is the best? Why?
- What unusual animal do you think would make the best pet and why?
- What is your opinion on global warming?
- Would you rather hike to a waterfall or ancient ruins? Explain your opinion.
- Which animal is the scariest? Why?
- How do you feel about camping and why?
- Would you rather go bungee jumping or swim with sharks? Why?
- What do you think is the most important thing we should do for the environment and why?
- What animal skill or trait would you most like to have and why?
- What is your opinion on zoos? Why?
72 ELEMENTARY OPINION WRITING PROMPTS
Get a FREE printable PDF version of all the opinion writing topics in this post – an instant writers’ workshop activity! Be sure to use a personal email address to make sure it gets to you!
FOOD & DRINK OPINION WRITING PROMPTS
Let students write opinion paragraphs about their favourite, and least favourite, foods and drinks. Some writing topics are fun and others are more philosophical. Many could make for a great verbal debate too!
- What is your favourite snack? Describe it and explain why it is your favourite.
- If you had the choice, what is one food you would never eat again? Why?
- If you could, what food would you happily eat for every meal?
- Do you prefer hot or cold drinks? Why?
- Would you choose vegetables or salad? Explain your decision.
- Invent the perfect dessert. Describe it and explain why it is so great.
- Should people be vegetarians? Why or why not?
- If you had to eat one vegetable every day for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?
- Describe your perfect meal and explain why.
- At what age should drinking alcohol be legal? Justify your opinion.
- Is a hot dog a sandwich? Why or why not?
- Does pineapple belong on pizza? Justify your opinion.
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MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS FOR OPINION WRITING
There really is no end to fun opinion writing prompts for elementary grades. Here I’ve created 12 bonus writing prompts that are full of writing ideas from aliens to cellphones.
- Do you think aliens exist? Why or why not?
- What is the hardest job in the world? Explain your thinking.
- At what age do you think people should be able to drive? Justify your opinion.
- Would you rather go to the moon or Mars? Why?
- If you were running the country for a day, what law would you change and why?
- Who would you most love to meet? Why?
- Should kids be allowed cell phones? Why or why not?
- Do you think video games should be considered a sport? Justify your opinion.
- What is your dream job? Why?
- Name a superhero power that you would love to have and explain why.
- If you were entered into a talent show, what would your performance be? Why?
- What day of the week do you feel is the worst? Why?
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