Year 2

Home
Print this page. Printer friendly version

3.1: Facts and opinions


This activity encourages students to recognise the difference between fact and opinion.

Tasks

  1. Write the terms fact and opinion on the board. Explain to the students that a fact is something that is real and can be measured or observed whereas an opinion is what someone thinks or feels.
  2. Give each student a copy of Handout 13: Facts and opinions and ask them to mark with an "F" the statements they think are facts and those they think are opinions with an "O".
  3. As a class, discuss each of the statements helping students to clarify the distinction between fact and opinion.
  4. As an extension to this activity, you may wish to point out to students that there may be differences of opinion about what is fact. Ask students to discuss whether, for example, the statement, "Cook discovered Australia in 1770", would be accepted as fact by all people.
Teacher Notes
  1. Handout 13 may be modified if necessary to better reflect the experiences if the class.
  2. Teachers should take care when presenting statements to ensure that stereotypes are not reinforced.
Activity adapted from Facts and Opinions in SHIMAN, David A. The Prejudice Book: Activities for the Classroom, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1988.
Downloads