Every School Needs a Recycling Contest

3rd Grade Common Core RI.3.1 Opinion article 162 words ⏱ 20 minESL A1–A2

An opinion article by a student who argues that every school should have a recycling contest, with reasons and an opposing view.

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Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Last year, my school had a recycling contest. Each class collected plastic bottles, paper and cans for two months. The class that collected the most won a trip to the beach. In my opinion, every school should have a contest like this.

First, a contest makes recycling fun. Before the contest, many students threw bottles into the regular trash. During the contest, everyone looked for bottles in the schoolyard, at home and even at their grandparents' houses!

Second, students learn to work as a team. In my class, we made a plan. Some students collected paper, others counted the bottles, and two students made posters to remind everyone.

Some people say that contests are not fair, because only one class wins. I understand this, but I think every class wins something. The school becomes cleaner, and we all learn good habits.

Recycling is important for our planet. A contest is an easy way to start. Let's make it happen in every school!

📘 Word bank

recycling: using old things again to make new ones
contest: a competition where people try to win
collected: gathered things together
cans: metal containers for drinks or food
trash: things you throw away
remind: to help someone remember
fair: treating everyone in the same way
habits: things you do again and again, without thinking
planet: a large round object in space, like Earth

✏️ Questions

Key details
What did the winning class get?
Key details
Give TWO things the classes collected.
Fact, opinion & point of view
Which sentence is the writer's OPINION?
Author’s purpose & structure
What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
Key details
What did two students in the writer's class do?
Fact, opinion & point of view
What do some people say against recycling contests?
Inference
Why does the writer think that "every class wins something"?
Reference words
What does the word "it" in paragraph 5 refer to?

Questions

What did the winning class get?
1. A trip to the beach.
2. New posters for the classroom.
3. A day without homework.
4. Money for the school.
Give TWO things the classes collected.
______________________________________________________________
Which sentence is the writer's OPINION?
1. Each class collected cans for two months.
2. Every school should have a contest like this.
3. The class that collected the most won a trip.
4. Two students made posters.
What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
1. To describe the trip to the beach.
2. To give the rules of the contest.
3. To show that students are lazy.
4. To give the first reason: a contest makes recycling fun.
What did two students in the writer's class do?
1. They counted the bottles.
2. They collected paper.
3. They made posters.
4. They cleaned the schoolyard.
What do some people say against recycling contests?
______________________________________________________________
Why does the writer think that "every class wins something"?
1. Because every class gets a small prize.
2. Because the school becomes cleaner and everyone learns good habits.
3. Because all the classes collect the same number of bottles.
4. Because the teachers choose a new winner every week.
What does the word "it" in paragraph 5 refer to?
______________________________________________________________

Answer key

a) A trip to the beach.
Any two of: plastic bottles, paper, cans.
b) Every school should have a contest like this.
d) To give the first reason: a contest makes recycling fun.
c) They made posters.
That contests are not fair, because only one class wins.
b) Because the school becomes cleaner and everyone learns good habits.
A recycling contest.

Every School Needs a Recycling Contest

✏️ Questions

Questions

Answer key

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