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Classroom activity Grade 3 English Language Arts

Fact or Opinion at Yewbank Reservoir: A Grade 3 Card Sort

A grade 3 card sort in which groups sort twelve statements about fishing on a drinking water reservoir, then write an opinion backed by two of the facts.

Objectives

  1. Students will sort statements about a town question into facts and opinions.
  2. Students will explain which words in a card signal an opinion.
  3. Students will write an opinion sentence supported by two reasons.

Vocabulary

Reservoir
A human-made lake, usually created by a dam, that stores water for later. Reservoirs supply cities and farms and help control floods.

Also: fact, opinion, reason, litter

Teacher overview

Groups of three sort twelve statement cards about one question in the fictional town of Yewbank: should the town let people fish along the shore of the reservoir that holds its drinking water? Seven cards state something a person could check, and five state what somebody thinks, which gives students a real reason to look at the words rather than the topic. Many third graders decide that a card is a fact because it sounds serious or carries a date, and that any card they disagree with is an opinion. Watch for that during the sort, and use card 5 and card 9 in the debrief, because both are agreeable and both are opinions.

Activity Directions

  1. Before class, copy the card page so that each group of three has one set, and cut the sets apart or have groups cut their own. Set out two labeled trays or paper circles per group.
  2. Read the situation aloud to the whole class: Yewbank Reservoir holds the drinking water for the town of Yewbank, and the town board is deciding whether to let people fish from the shore.
  3. Write the two words Fact and Opinion on the board. Ask for one example of each about the school lunchroom before any cards are handed out.
  4. Give each group a set of cards. Groups read every card aloud, one at a time, and place it in a tray. A card may not be placed until all three students agree.
  5. After ten minutes, stop the sort. Each group holds up the one card it argued about the longest and reads it to the class.
  6. Run a second round. Groups pick up their Fact tray only, and find two fact cards that a person could use as reasons for letting people fish, and two a person could use against it.
  7. Students return to their seats and write item 13 on the handout, which asks for an opinion and two reasons. Give ten minutes for this.
  8. End the activity when the opinion sentences are written. Debrief with one question: "Which words on a card told you it was an opinion?" Collect answers such as should, best, fun, and unfair, and list them on the board.
Fact or Opinion at Yewbank Reservoir: A Grade 3 Card Sort — Grade 3 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

The question in front of the town board: Yewbank Reservoir holds the drinking water for the town of Yewbank. Right now, nobody may fish there. Some people want the board to open the north shore for fishing. Sort each card below into Fact or Opinion.

  1. Yewbank Reservoir holds the drinking water for the town of Yewbank.
  2. Opening the reservoir for fishing would be the best thing this town has ever done.
  3. A fence runs along three sides of the reservoir.
  4. The town board will vote on the fishing plan at its April meeting.
  5. Kids in Yewbank need more places to fish.
  6. Last summer, town workers picked up bait cups and fishing line at the boat ramp.
  7. It is unfair to keep people away from water they pay for.
  8. Water leaves the reservoir and goes to the treatment plant before it reaches any home.
  9. Anyone who fishes should have to carry their own trash home.
  10. A gravel path already runs from the parking lot to the north shore.
  11. Fishing is more fun than swimming.
  12. Geese swim on the reservoir every day.
  13. Write your opinion. Should the town board open the north shore for fishing? Begin with "I think" and give two reasons. Take each reason from a fact card, and write the card number beside it.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: Fact. A person could check this at the town office, and the situation paragraph states it.
  2. Answer: Opinion. The word "best" tells you somebody is judging rather than reporting.
  3. Answer: Fact. Anyone could walk around the reservoir and count the fenced sides.
  4. Answer: Fact. The meeting date is on the board's calendar and can be checked.
  5. Answer: Opinion. The word "need" here is what a person thinks, and other people would disagree. Many students will call this a fact because they agree with it.
  6. Answer: Fact. This is a report of something that happened and was seen.
  7. Answer: Opinion. The word "unfair" is a judgment about the rule, not a report of it.
  8. Answer: Fact. A person could follow the pipe or ask a plant worker.
  9. Answer: Opinion. The word "should" tells you this is what somebody wants a rule to be.
  10. Answer: Fact. Anyone could walk the path and see the gravel.
  11. Answer: Opinion. The word "fun" is different for different people.
  12. Answer: Fact. A person could stand at the fence and watch.
  13. Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any opinion that begins with "I think" and gives two reasons, each traced to a numbered fact card. A yes answer might use cards 10 and 3, since the path and the fence show the shore is already set up and controlled. A no answer might use cards 6 and 8, since litter was already left at the ramp and the water goes on to become drinking water. Do not grade the opinion itself. Grade whether the reasons come from fact cards.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a set of eight cards instead of twelve, keeping cards 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12, and highlight the opinion signal words on the cards before the lesson. For item 13, provide the frame "I think the board should ___ because ___ and because ___," and let the student say the reasons aloud while a partner writes them.

Extension

Ask students to rewrite two opinion cards as facts a person could check, and two fact cards as opinions, then trade with a partner and sort the new cards. This forces attention to the wording rather than the subject.

ELL supports

Post the signal words should, best, need, fun, and unfair on a chart with a thinking-face icon drawn beside them, and post checkable words such as holds, runs, picked up, and swim beside a magnifying-glass sketch. Read every card aloud twice during the sort. Allow students to answer item 13 in a mix of English and their home language, then work with a partner on the English draft.

Extensions

The class can hold a two-minute town board meeting in which four students read their opinion sentences aloud and the rest of the class votes. Afterward, ask which reasons changed minds, and mark on the board whether those reasons came from fact cards or opinion cards.