First Grade · Writing · week 20

Sorting Facts from Opinions

Sort statements into facts (provable, true for everyone) and opinions (a personal feeling or judgment).

A FACT is something true that you could check or prove, like "A spider has eight legs." An OPINION is what someone thinks or feels, like "Spiders are creepy."

Informational writing sticks to facts. This week you practice telling the two apart before you write your own "all about" piece.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Play a quick back-and-forth game: you say a sentence, your child calls out "fact" or "opinion," then swap roles.
  • Use the test question "could we check this and prove it?" as the simplest way to sort a fact from an opinion.
  • Point out that a piece of writing can have both, but informational writing this unit should mostly stick to facts.
  • Have fun with silly opinion examples (broccoli tastes bad, cats are funnier than dogs) to keep the sorting light.
Talk about it:
  • What test question can you ask to check if something is a fact?
  • Can you give an example of a fact and an opinion about the same topic?
  • Why does informational writing mostly use facts instead of opinions?

Mastery looks like: They correctly sort statements into facts and opinions and can generate one of each about their own topic.

Common stumbles: Calling a strongly felt opinion a fact just because it feels very true to them.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Writing for this learner.
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