Lesson 2: Fact vs.

Opinion Teacher: Kate MacLeod Subject: English Level: Grade 7 Time: 60 minutes

Curriculum Outcomes: 3.1 Students will demonstrate active speaking and listening skills such as making eye contact, rephrasing when appropriate, clarifying comments, extending, refining and/or summarizing points already made. 6.2 Students will make evaluations of judgments about texts and learn to express personal points of view. 6.3 Students, while learning to express personal points of view, will develop the ability to find evidence and examples in texts to support personal views about themes, issues and situations. Learning Objectives: Students will understand the difference between facts and opinions. Engagement Activity (15 minutes) Journals: Have students respond to the writing prompt provided. Display prompt on screen. Read and explain it. Give students 10 minutes to write in their journals. Take 5 minutes to ask for volunteers to share about what they wrote. Pre-Activity: (10 minutes) Let students know that this lesson will require some participation on their part. Reassure and encourage them to make them feel comfortable (e.g. there are no dumb questions). Let them know that this is how they will show understanding. Tell them to be prepared to be called on. Jot Pair Share: Briefly explain how a think pair share works. Have students think quietly for a minute about the difference between facts and opinions, and then jot down a few ideas. Write these questions on the board to prompt them. What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? How would you explain the difference to someone who is learning about the terms fact and opinion for the first time? Pair: have students turn to the person next to them. Each person shares what they thought. Partners combine their ideas to come up with a final definition they both agree on. Share: one person from each pair shares with the class. Determine a final definition for fact and opinion and write it on the board. Have students copy this into their LA section, Writers Workshop.

Activity: (20 minutes) Smartboard lesson: Part 1: Have students identify statements as either fact or opinion. The final slide is a T-chart in which 8 volunteer students will come up and drag one statement under either the fact or opinion category. Part 2: Go through a series of slides with a mixture of pictures, short video and/or music clips. For some slides, have students verbally share facts about the picture/music/video. For other slides, have students list their personal opinions. Students share one after another in a quick manner as called on. The teacher and students will be listening carefully to identify when a fact is shared instead of an opinion and vice versa. Teacher/students will clear up any confusion as students share their examples of facts and opinions. Guided Practice: As a class, read a paragraph and look for the facts and opinions within it. On the smartboard, underline facts with one color and opinions with another color. Discuss. What do they notice about the paragraph based on how it was highlighted? Have students do the second paragraph, and if they have time, the third paragraph as well. Students who finish early may take out their novel if necessary. Once everyone is finished, have students correct their own sheet. Students will not submit this sheet. Instead, I will tell them to come and see me if they struggled with it (i.e. scored lower than 7/11). Connect this lesson to everyday life: it is important (explain why it is important) to be somewhat skeptical (explain skeptical cautious/question what they see, hear, and read) of information. When viewing different types of media (have the students give the examples of media to recap what theyve learned) (the news, advertisements, etc.) it is important to reflect on how much of the information is factual (can be proven) and how much is opinion. Connect to this assignment: students need to be able to recognize facts when they are researching so that they do not try to back up their opinion only using other opinions. They also need to make sure that their opinion is an opinion and not a fact. Otherwise, their argument will not be unique or debatable. Post-Activity: (10 minutes) Show clip from show such as American Idol (see smartboard lesson) and ask if the judges are stating facts, opinions or both when they comment on the contestants performance. Have students jot down answers to the questions provided while they watch the clip. Generate a discussion in response to the clip and have students provide reasons for their answers. Closure: (5 minutes) Exit slip: have students label a list of statements as either fact or opinion. For the students who do not get the correct answers, I will either help them at the time in class or do a pull-out in the next class or two. Assessment: (Formative) Journal entries and student contributions during discussion on what they wrote, as well as contributions to fact vs. opinion discussion. I will circulate the room and help promote discussion

while they are in the pair stage. Exit slips will also provide an opportunity to check for understanding. Materials: -Journal prompt to display on smart board (smartboard slide) -Smartboard lesson -Hand-out with paragraphs to highlight -Exit slip (Journal Prompt)