Any suggestions or activities to help teach this? We have gone over the idea that facts can be proven and opinions are what someone thinks or feels. However, my students seem to think that if they don't agree with something, or if they don't know if it is true or not, it must be an opinion. I have tried to help them identify key words that give clues as to whether it is a fact or an opinion, but we still need to work at it. Can anyone help?
What about a "2 Corners" game? You will hang signs with the words Fact and Opinion in two corners of your room. You write statements with facts and opinions on index cards-enough for each child to have one. Each child reads his/her statement and must decide if it is fact or opinion. Once they decide, they walk to their corner of the room. I allow students to wispher to a neighbor in their corner to check to see if they are in the right spot. We then go over each statement and decide if everyone is in the right corner. I make the students tell me the clue words that helped them figure out why they chose the corner they chose. The kids in my room always like playing and we actually play several rounds; changing up the cards. I usually make enough for 3 games. Hope this helps!
Can you encourage them to look at it as whether or not they could look it up on the internet (encyclopedia, etc)?
You could also play a game with the kids that are in the room.
Write two sentences on the board:
Britteny is wearing a pink shirt.
Britteny is wearing the prettiest shirt in the class.
Which is fact? Which is opinion? Why?
I say "Prettiest is an opinion word because I may think it's the prettiest, but Trinity may think her shirt is the prettiest in the class."
We go on like this for a few more, then come back to it another day to see if they have a better grasp.
02-08-2007, 05:41 PM
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