Fun Activities for Teaching Fact vs. Opinion to 3rd Graders

📚 Objectives

• 🎯 Students will be able to define "fact" and "opinion."
• ✅ Students will be able to distinguish between factual statements and opinions.
• 🗣️ Students will be able to express their own opinions and support them with reasons.

🍎 Materials

• 📃 Chart paper or whiteboard
• 🖍️ Markers
• ✂️ Pre-cut sentences (facts and opinions)
• 🎲 Dice
• 🍪 Optional: Snacks for a taste test activity

☀️ Warm-up (5 minutes): What Do You Know?

• 🗣️ Begin by asking students what they already know about facts and opinions.
• ✍️ Write their ideas on the board.
• ❓ Prompt: "What makes something a fact?" "What makes something an opinion?"

👨‍🏫 Main Instruction

1. 🎤 Definition & Examples (10 minutes)

• ✔️ Define fact: A statement that can be proven true or false.
• ✔️ Define opinion: A statement that expresses a feeling, attitude, belief, or judgment.
• 📝 Provide examples of each:
  • Fact: "The sky is blue."
  • Opinion: "Blue is the prettiest color."
• ❓ Ask students to provide their own examples.

2. ✂️ Fact vs. Opinion Sort (15 minutes)

• 🎲 Divide the class into small groups.
• 📃 Give each group a set of pre-cut sentences (mixture of facts and opinions).
• 🤝 Have the groups sort the sentences into two categories: Fact and Opinion.
• 🗣️ Each group shares their sorting results and explains their reasoning.

3. 😋 Taste Test Activity (15 minutes)

• 🍪 Provide a variety of snacks (e.g., crackers, fruit, chocolate).
• ✍️ Have students write down a fact and an opinion about each snack.
  • Example:
    • Fact: "This cracker is rectangular."
    • Opinion: "This cracker tastes delicious!"
• 🗣️ Students share their facts and opinions with the class.

4. ✍️ Opinion Writing with Reasons (15 minutes)

• ❓ Pose a question that requires an opinion (e.g., "What is the best animal and why?").
• 📝 Have students write a short paragraph expressing their opinion and providing at least three reasons to support it.
• 🗣️ Students share their opinions and reasons with the class.

📝 Assessment

1. ✅ Exit Ticket: Fact or Opinion?

• 📃 Give each student an exit ticket with a few statements.
• ✔️ Students label each statement as either a fact or an opinion.

2. 🧪 Practice Quiz: Identify Fact and Opinion