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Not Just the Facts
Module 1, Activity 1.1 - Fact vs. Opinion
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:

Students are introduced to the concepts of fact and opinion early on in their education, but continue to struggle to accurately differentiate between them. In addition, they are rarely taught the gradient between fact and opinion, which leaves them without the basic understandings they need to start journalism. This lesson teaches students the progression between fact and opinion through definitions, examples, a drill and practice task and the opportunity to apply their learning to a real news story.
Resources:

- An article from CBC News
- Computer lab for quiz

Activities:

Task One - What are the Facts?
Have students read the definitions on the student page for this lesson. The definitions, example and graphic will help students distinguish the difference between fact, inference, judgment and opinion.

Task Two - Test their Knowledge
Have students try the quiz to see if they understand the difference between fact, inference, judgment and opinion. Once they have demonstrated that they can differentiate between the four terms, they are ready to attempt the application of these terms on the assignment

Task Three - Task Three - Search the News
Have students select an article from a reputable news site, then save it to the desktop. Then have them open the article with a word processor and make a key at the top that includes fact, inference, judgment and opinion. Have students go through their articles and highlight each statement that falls into one of the categories. As they highlight each statement, students should cut and paste it into the appropriate category.

Objectives:

Students will be able to
- distinguish fact from opinion
connector cable View other lessons
for this objective.
Instructional Strategies:

Task 1 - Explicit Teaching (Direct)
Task 2 - Games (Experiential)
Task 3 - Concept Formation (Indirect), then Discussion (Interactive) if the extension is added.

Assessment and Evaluation:

Task One introduces the student to the concept, which they self-evaluate in the formative stage through the quiz. Once students have completed the quiz, they are ready to move on to Task Three, but not yet ready for summative evaluation or grading.

If you do choose to grade Task Three, remember that the articles the students use will differ. A holistic evaluation will be most effective. As this is an introductory exercise, its comparative value should be low if and when it is graded.
Extending the learning:
A logical extension of Task 3 would be a discussion regarding student findings in their articles. Three key questions:

1. What percentage of the statements fell into each category?
2. Which types of questions were most common in the beginning of the article? Was that consistent in the middle and the end?
3. If the article you read contained the views of the author (or bias), can you identify why?
 

Last Updated
May 30, 2005

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