Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

University of Richmond Lesson Plan Form

Name: Mark Brown-Wright Grade Level/Subject: Seventh grade English Introduction Date: Tuesday 1st October 2013 Number of Students: 26

Lesson topic: Fact and Opinion Length of Lesson: 90 minutes VA Standards of Learning 7.3 b) Distinguish between fact and opinion, and between evidence and inference. 7.3 c) Describe how word choice and visual images convey a viewpoint. 7.3 a) Identify persuasive/informative techniques use in nonpoint media including television, radio, video, and Internet. 7.7 g) Select vocabulary and information to enhance the central idea, tone, and voice. Context This is the first lesson on a unit that will be focusing on media literacy and will culminate in the students creating an audience specific media message, justifying it, and then presenting it to class. This lesson is directly followed by a lesson on Arguing, persuading, and advising, which will further develop and build upon todays lesson. Global Themes This lesson presents the first steps in being able to critique media messages. Understanding and being able to identify and differentiate between fact and opinion is a very important skill that will help students develop their critical thinking skills.

Content Objectives Students will: 1. Students will produce two pieces of writing that show opposing opinions. 2. Students will dissect a number of texts identifying what is fact and what is opinion. Assessment Aligned to Objectives Formative 1. Students will produce two pieces of writing that show opposing opinions.

o The students will create five facts based on a football game or competition with a winner, and will write two short reports that are heavily opinionated, one in favour of one side, and the other in favour of the other, but using the same facts for each. The teacher will review their work and will look for a continuity of the facts in both pieces of writing with a good use of emotive language to demonstrate opinion. 2. Students will dissect a number of texts identifying what is fact and what is opinion. o After writing their first report, and after writing both as a class we deconstruct the students reports and identify what is opinion and what is fact. We will create a graphic organiser together. We will repeat this activity at the end of the lesson using the students second report and a famous advertising campaign. The teacher will look for the students understanding of finding a basic fact in an opinionated sentence.

Summative

Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

Materials/Technology and Advanced Preparation White board with two circle Venn Diagram and two column graph drawn and labeled. Class worksheet Homework Sheet Printouts of Got Milk? campaign. Google Docs presentation including video and Got Milk? posters. Curriculum framework. Teaching and Learning Sequence TIME TEACHER ACTIONS Introduction/Anticipatory Set Five I will ask students to try and spot Minutes the fact about milk in a Got STUDENT ACTIONS

Milk? video advert. I will ask them to write down their answer.
Five Minutes

Students will watch the video and will write down what they believe is the presented fact about milk.

I will ask students for them to give their own definition before showing them a dictionary definition

Students will write down as clearly as they can what they believe the definitions of the words fact, and opinion are. They will amend their definitions if needed after seeing the dictionary definitions.

Lesson Development Five I will lecture on the difference Minutes between fact and opinion. I will show the Got Milk advert one more time and will check if students found the milk fact.
Ten Minutes

Students will listen silently and are encouraged to take notes. Students will raise their hand when submitting their answer for the milk fact. Students will raise their hand before submitting an answer. They are expected to be able to think about examples of texts that use either mostly fact or opinion. Students are to work independently on part one of their worksheets. They are encouraged to ask questions if they have them.

Twenty Minutes

As a class we will brainstorm what texts commonly use opinion and what texts are more factual. I will write answers on a Venn diagram on the board. I will instruct students on how to complete part one of their Fact and Opinion worksheet; creating the facts, and writing report one. Once they are working I will walk through the class and assist where needed. (Roughly 5 minutes from the 20 to be on writing the Facts, the remainder on the report)

Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

Ten Minutes

I will bring the class attention back to me. I will call on students to read aloud a few lines from their first report. I will then ask for other students to tell me which they think are the opinionated sentences. I will direct students to complete part two of their worksheet, where they must use the same facts, but write from an opposing opinion. Again I will walk around the class and assist where needed. I will lead a class discussion where we will talk about the different ways the students presented the same facts by using opposing opinions. We will draw on the students reports, and from the Venn diagram we created. Using Google Docs presentation and printouts I will present a number of Got Milk poster adverts and as a class we will discuss, and record on the board, what are facts and what are opinions in the posters and how the posters persuade us that Milk is brilliant.

When called upon students are to read aloud a few lines from their report. The rest of the class are expected to raise their hand before telling me what they believe are the heavily opinionated sentences. Students are expected to work independently and quietly. They are encouraged to ask questions if they have them.

Fifteen Minutes

Ten Minutes

Students are encouraged to raise their hand and participate in the discussion. They should present some of their own examples of fact and opinionated fact to support their claims.

Closure
Ten Minutes

When called upon, the students will read aloud the posters. They will then raise their hand when suggesting what the facts and what the opinions are in each poster. Students are also expected to be making notes.

Homework: Students are to complete the Reading Non-Fiction: Fact and Opinion Worksheet. References http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/ks3bitesize/english/nonfiction_factop.shtml http://dictionary.reference.com/

Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

Lesson Organizer Prior Knowledge and NEW Instructional Content

This year the students will not have covered this content. However will have worked on fact and opinion in previous years. Opening activities: o Got Milk? YouTube video will already be set up to play. o Students will be asked to watch out in the video for the one fact about milk and write it down. (Ans: Milk helps to build strong bones.) o I will play the video at least twice, but no more than three times. o Students will be then be asked to write in their notebooks a definition in their own words for fact, and for opinion. o I will then show and quickly discuss the dictionary definitions for each. Students will amend their definitions if needed. Lecture: o I will begin by showing the Got Milk? video one more time and asking students to confirm that they had the correct answer. o I will then discuss some of the other statements in the video and suggest that they were mostly opinion. (e.g Milk is only for babies.) o I will talk about the purpose of advert being to persuade people to buy a product. o I will then explain the word bias, and will relate it to opinion. For this I will use the example of a football commentator and will suggest that if he supports a certain team what he says when one team scores might be biased one way or the other, (celebrating or upset). Class brainstorm/Venn diagram: o Using my white board I will draw a large two circle Venn diagram. I will label one fact and the other opinion. I will ask students to think of different types of media and what types of language they use most often. o If the students struggle with media ideas I will ask the students to discuss where they would put the examples I submit to the diagram. (e.g. Nature programme, Political leaflet or radio advert, cook book, Newspaper report on schools). o I will be looking for students to participate and think about what messages certain media productions are trying to convey. My hope is that students will construct a Venn diagram that shows that although certain media messages show mostly fact or mostly opinion they more often than not will always contain both. Worksheet part one: o I will instruct students to complete part one of their worksheets. They will need to create a competition where there is a clear winner and write this down. (I will suggest to them that using sports teams, or people will be the easiest, even if they are made up teams). o They will then need to create five facts of what happened, and write down who won. (I will use an example of two football teams, and will say the facts could be , team one scores, team two score, team one gets a red card, team two scores, team one makes a substitution, team two wins.) I will tell students to spend no more than 5 minutes on the facts before moving onto report one. o Once they have completed their five facts I will ask them to write a short report 4

Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

putting their five facts into a highly opinionated paragraph. I will remind them to use adjectives to help create opinion (e.g. what a brilliant goal by team one). o Students will work silently. They may ask questions. o I will walk around the class to help students who struggle. I will also be making sure that their facts match up from the fact list to the report. Pulse Check/read aloud. o I will bring the students attention back to me. I will draw a table on the board, with two columns. (Fact and Opinion). o I will call on students to read one or two sentences (not the whole report), from their report. (I will read the students work aloud if needed to but the student reading it first is preferable.) o I will ask the other students in the class to listen out for, and to try and differentiate what is fact and what is opinion in the sentences. I will write their answers on the board. (e.g. answers: so and so scored = fact. Brutal injury = opinion) o I will be checking for understanding from both the sentences and the other students finding fact and opinion. o (Question examples: What makes that sentence an opinion, is this opinion in favour or against? How do you know?, what is fact in that sentence?) Worksheet part two: o I will direct students to complete the second report on the back of their sheets. I will make clear that they must use the same five facts, and with the same outcome, but written with an opposing bias. They are now the supporter of the other team. (So a brilliant goal, turns into the goal keeper was very close to stopping that one) o Again I will walk around the class and help where needed. I will also, again, check to make sure there is continuity with the facts. Discussion: o I will ask students what they found were the different ways they presented the same fact but from a different opinion. o I will ask some students to read a sentence again, but from report two. o I will relate back to the Venn diagram and suggest that adverts, and political campaigns present facts, but often from an opinionated perspective. I will then ask the students what effect this might have on the reader. (Ans: to persuade, or to argue a point of view.) Closure: o I will remind the students to make notes. o I will show on a presentation, and handout copies of Got Milk? celebrity poster adverts. o I will read aloud the posters and will ask the students to suggest what is fact and what is opinion. I will write answers in the chart used earlier in the lesson. o I will then ask students what effect the use of fact and opinion in these posters has. (Ans: informs us how great milk is, and persuades us to consume it.) o If mentioned we will briefly talk about celebrity endorsement. Students will copy their homework down and take the homework sheet on their way out. 5

Mark Brown-Wright

Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan.

01/10/2013

Instructional Modifications to ASSIST Students

Main Events of Instruction

Instructional Modifications to CHALLENGE Students

Anticipatory Set:

Lecture: The differences between fact and opinion. As class: Brainstorm what kind of texts would be largely fact and which would be largely opinion. Worksheet (part one): Students write a short report from the perspective of someone biased towards a particular point of view. (Including both fact AND opinion.) Report: Students read some of their examples and as a class we determine what is fact and what is opinion. Worksheet (part 2): Students write a short report using the same facts but from someone with an opposing biased opinion. Discussion: What forms of media show bias and for what reason? Students to find an online advert or YouTube video that demonstrates bias and opinion and place link into my dropbox.
June 2013