• Students describe the differences between facts and opinions.

• Students identify statements in a text as facts or opinions.

• Students locate reasons, facts, and examples from a text to support the author’s point

• Students explain how the reasons and facts support an author’s point.

• Teachers review and model how to describe the difference between fact and opinion in a text.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to describe the difference between fact and opinion in a text.

• Teachers demonstrate locating reasons in a text that support the author’s point.

• Teachers explicitly model locating facts and examples to support an author’s point. 

• Teachers explicitly model giving explanations that connect reasons and facts to an author’s point.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to locate reasons and facts in a text and explain how they support the author’s point.

• Teachers provide opportunities for feedback as students locate reasons and facts in a text and explain how they support the author’s point.

When students struggle to identify a statement as an opinion, teachers can...

• utilize strategies such as anchor charts, graphic organizers, and interactive notebooks.

• draw students' attention to specific parts of an informational text to review. 

• have students write their own examples of opinion statements.

• work with students in smaller group settings or individually. 

• reinforce knowledge of signal words (i.e. feel, believe, think, best, worst).

When students cannot identify reasons and supporting facts for an opinion, teachers can...

• narrow students' search to a smaller part of the text.

• increase prompting and questioning; what does the author believe or want us to believe and why?

• Facts: something that actually exists; reality; truth.

• Opinion: a view or judgment about a topic, supported by reasoning and examples.

• 4.2.W.1: Prewrite and organize drafts

• 4.8.W: Independent writing