Candy Corn-Opinion Writing for Kids---Fun Writing Ideas

What are your thoughts about candy corn?! They’re popular once a year and it seems people either love them or hate them.

As for teaching, bringing these candies into a writing lesson sparks kids attention right away!

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.*

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

A week before Halloween, I decided to conduct an opinion writing piece with my after school writing club. I brought in a bag of candy corn* for the children to eat. And lo and behold, some wanted them and some didn’t. Some tried them for the first time.

CHARACTERISTICS AND USES

We discussed the characteristics of this Halloween candy and its uses and had to decide if it was a good candy or a useless one. The kids had to form their own opinion about candy corn and then write about it!

Common Core State Standards

NOTE: This lesson can address the following Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.W.K.1, W.1.1, W.2.1, W.3.1, W.3.1.A, W.3.1.B, W.3.1.C, W.3.1.D, W.4.1, W.4.1.A, W.4.1.B, W.4.1.C, W.4.1.D, W.5.1, W.5.1.A, W.5.1.B, W.5.1.C and W.5.1.D.

NOW FOR THE LESSON!

To get a full understanding on how I conduct each writing lesson you may want to read the Writing Prompts Introduction post. The lesson outlined below (and all other prompts posted) will make more sense and be easier to follow and use. Here’s the lined paper I use for PreK-K, Grades K-2 and Grades 2-7

Tell the Story Line

First, tell the story line: “You’re going to write your opinion about candy corn and explain why you do or don’t like them.”
Second, hang images of candy corn, show the candy bag and give each student 3-4 candy corns to try. (Of course, they can have more when they’re done writing!)

Here’s a PDF picture of candy corn for you to print and hang.

Brainstorm

3. Third, brainstorm the candy corn colors, texture, taste, uses, ingredients. and nutrition.

4. List their responses on the board. Here are some examples:

Colors: orange, white, yellow, brown

Texture: hard, squishy, crystalized, sticky, gummy

Taste: sugary, sweet, buttery, frosting-like

Uses: cupcakes, cakes, trail mix, holiday design

Ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, salt, honey, soy protein, gelatin, confectioner’s glaze, dextrose, artificial flavor, titanium, dioxide color, yellow 6, yellow 5, red 3 and blue 1

Nutrition: 0 Fat, 0 Protein, Lots of sugar.

Show the 5 Sections

Opinion

Color/Texture/Taste

Ingredients/Nutrition

Uses

Conclusion

As mentioned in my writing prompts introduction: K-1^st Graders are encouraged to write 1 sentence for each section, 2^nd Graders 2 sentences, 3^rd Graders 3 sentences and so on.

NOW TO WRITE!

Guide the students through the following steps. They are free to use their own words. Remind them that ANYTHING can happen in their story as long as they follow the steps to keep their story organized.

Introduction

First, decide your own opinion about candy corn and write it in the introduction.

Young or Struggling Writers

Young or struggling writers will only write one sentence here such as:

I love candy corn! Or Candy corn is bad!

Older or Advanced Writers

Older or advanced students can begin by hooking their reader with questions or a description. These students should end their introduction by stating their opinion. Here’s an example:

Halloween is fast approaching. Families are putting up decorations. Children are choosing costumes. Classes are visiting pumpkin patches. Most importantly, grocery stores are filling their shelves with candy corn. I love candy corn!

Color/Texture/Taste

2. Second, write about the first reason you do or don’t like candy corn. Specifically mention the color, texture and taste.

First of all, they are hard, squishy and gummy in my teeth. The tastes lasts a long time. My favorite is the frosting flavor.

First of all, the colors are boring. The chewy candy gets stuck in my teeth. The sugar gives me a headache.

Ingredients/Nutrition

3. Third, write about the second reason. Mention the ingredients and nutrition.

The honey and cocoa are a perfect mix. The candy is a great sugar rush to get you through those end of the semester fall finals.

Candy corn are made of pure sugar and corn syrup. Some even contain hydrogenated oils which are terrible for your brain. Worst of all, they give you a sugar crash after, leaving you slipping and falling in your seat. Before you know it you’re fast asleep with drool dripping down your lip. EMBARRASSING!

Uses

4. Fourth, write about the third reason. Focus on its uses.

Candy corn has endless uses during the fall. They can fill a candy jar or the top of cupcakes. You can put them in with peanuts and popcorn to make a great after school snack.

Candy corn are completely useless. Who wants more sugar on top of sugary frosted cake or cupcake? Gag! Plus, what holiday designs are really worth the cost and terrible health effects of these sugar triangles?!

5. Lastly, write a conclusion that restates your opinion. Use different words from the introduction.

Candy corn is the perfect Halloween sweet. If you don’t think you like candy corn, give them one more chance! At least, try them with a healthy mix of peanuts and popcorn. If you absolutely refuse, just give them to me!

Candy corn is horrible. If you think you like candy corn, take a long moment to reconsider. Is it really worth sacrificing your health and cheerful mind for these drab candies? I don’t think so.

Print the Lesson

Here’s the full lesson for you to print out and use.

ADD AN EASY ART ACCENT

Easy art accents are highly motivating to writers and reward them for the work! In addition, they add color and charm to each child’s story. Take it a step further, add FOOD to a writing prompt and all of a sudden, kids are ready to write! Bringing in candy corns for the students to try was a big hit and also a big part of this writing lesson.

In addition to eating candy corn, here are 3 art accent ideas to go along with their opinion about candy corn:

CANDY CORN STICKERS

Use candy corn stickers to fill the border.

GLUE AN IMAGE

2. Cut out tiny images of candy corn for the students to glue to the bottom of their writing piece. Here’s a full page of them for you to print and cut out.

GLUE THE CANDY CORN

3. Glue the candy corn* itself to the border. Because of the weight of the candy corn, it’s best to print the lined paper on cardstock for this idea.

A shout out special thanks to companies like Brach’s* and Jelly Belly* that create candy corn and help make writing fun for kids!

Candy Corn Science

For years, I’ve been following the master of slime and science at Little Bins for Little Hands. Take the Candy Corn Lesson a step further and complete any one of these fall candy science activities.

Once students finished their writing, they worked on their candy corn art accent around the border.