BENCHMARK LITERACY TMblccresources.benchmarkeducation.com/pdfs/CC_G3U6W1_Instrctn.pdfthe Leveled Text Titles chart provided at the back of this Teacher’s Resource System. Use the

TM

LITERACYB E N C H M A R K

LITERACYLITERACY

Teacher’s Guide Grade 3 • Unit 6 111Week

® B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Fix-Up Monitoring/Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

Unit 6/Week 1 at a Glance

Day Mini-Lessons

ONE • Introduce the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

• Think Aloud and Use the Metacognitive Strategy: Fix-Up Monitoring

• Find Fact and Opinion in a Picture

• Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing

• Reflect and Discuss

TWO • Review the Metacognitive Strategy: Fix-Up Monitoring

• Use the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

• Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing


THREE • Extend the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

• Observe and Prompt for Strategy Understanding


FOUR • Read and Summarize

• Answer Text-Dependent Comprehension Questions: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion (Level 3: Prove It!)


FIVE • Metacognitive Self-Assessment

• Constructed Written Response

• Ongoing Comprehension Strategy Assessment

Number Games

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

on

People around the world have played number games for thousands of years. Many number games began in ancient civilizations. Other games come from the imaginations of people who like to work with numbers. You can have lots of fun with numbers.

You can buy some number games in stores, but others use everyday items such as stones. Some number games have many players, and others have few. Some number games are

simple, and others are more complex.Many games you play use numbers.

Have you ever played dominoes? It’s an entertaining game. Have you ever played hopscotch or magic squares? Those games are fun, too.

Number Games Number Games

“Are we there yet?” How many times have you asked that question during a long car ride or bus trip? When you did, you must have been bored! But you can have fun—and find out where you are—by looking at a map.

A map is a drawing of an area. One type of map is a road map. A road map shows the cities, towns, roads, and highways in a specific area. If you’re on a trip, you can look at a road map to see how far you are from where you are going.

People use road maps every day to get from place to place. The next time you go on a long trip, use a road map. You’ll be glad you did!D

isti

ngui

sh &

Eva

luat

e Fa

ct &

Opi

nion

Opinions: Opinions:Facts: Facts:

Road MapsRoad Maps

Sugar Maple Trees

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

on

Opinions: • Sugar maples are the

best trees. • The trees are beautiful

and provide a tasty treat. • Maple syrup is delicious

on pancakes.

Facts: • In summer, green leaves make food using sunlight. • Tree stores sugar sap in its trunk.• In autumn, leaves turn bright colors and fall off the tree. • In winter, the tree is dormant. • In spring, the tree grows new leaves, and sugar sap flows. • People collect sap and make maple syrup.

What is your favorite tree? Many people think sugar maples are the best! Not only are the trees beautiful, but they provide a tasty treat.

In summer, large green leaves capture lots of sunlight. The leaves use the sunlight to make food for the tree. The tree then stores any extra food as sugar sap in its trunk.

In autumn, the leaves turn a bright red, orange, and yellow before they fall off the tree. During the winter, the tree is dormant, or at rest.

In spring, the sugar maple starts growing new leaves. Since the new leaves need food, the sugar sap begins to flow inside the trunk. People can collect the sap and use it to make maple syrup. Maple syrup is delicious on pancakes!

Sugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple TreesSugar Maple Trees

Monarch Butterflies

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

on

Monarchs are the most beautiful butterflies in the world!

Monarch butterflies migrate south from their homes in Canada and the northern United States.

Day One

Benchmark Literacy • Grade 3 • Unit 6/Week 1 ©2014 Benchmark Education Company, LLC2

Read-Aloud (10 minutes)

Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Fix-Up Monitoring.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Getting Started Guide.

Mini-Lessons (20 minutes)

Introduce the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion SL.3.1b, SL.3.1c, SL.3.1d

Say: Imagine that we are having a class discussion about spiders. Someone says, “A spider has eight legs.” Someone else says, “I think spiders are creepy.”

Ask: How are these two statements about spiders different?

Turn and talk. Ask students to turn to a partner and share ways the two statements differ. Ask a few students to share with the whole group.

Explain: The statement that a spider has eight legs is a fact. We can prove a fact by observing it or by looking it up in a book. The statement that spiders are creepy is an opinion. It is a belief that may or may not be based on fact. An opinion often includes a signal word such as think or believe. Writers use both facts and opinions, too. Good readers know how to tell the difference between facts and opinions. We’re going to practice recognizing facts and opinions this week.

Think Aloud and Use the Metacognitive Strategy: Fix-Up Monitoring RI.3.1, RI.3.7, W.3.10, SL.3.1d

Display Poster 1.

Draw students’ attention to the butterflies and the people and read the people’s words. (Whiteboard users can use the highlighter tool.)

Explain: This picture is very detailed. It includes a nature photograph and cartoon figures. I don’t know what to look at first. I need to review the different parts of the picture and figure out which parts confuse me before I can decide what ideas it expresses. Let me show you how I do it.

Comprehension Anchor Poster 1Comprehension Anchor Poster 1

Monarch Butterflies

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

onN

onfi

ctio

n Po

ster

1

Gra

de 3

Monarchs are the most beautiful butterflies in the world!

Monarch butterflies migrate south from their homes in Canada and the northern United States.

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Identify facts and opinions based on an illustration.

• Identify and use the signal language for opinions.

• Monitor their understanding of a picture and fix-up problems they may have had.

• Use academic sentence frames to discuss strategies.

Related Resources

• Home/School Connections (BLM 1)

• BenchmarkUniverse.com

About the Strategy

• A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false.

• An opinion is a belief that may or may not be based on fact.

• Signal language, including verbs such as think or believe and adjectives such as best or worst, can help readers recognize opinions.

• Recognizing facts and opinions helps readers make judgments about whether information is accurate and reliable.

Day One

©2014 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 3 • Unit 6/Week 1 3

Make Content Comprehensible for ELLsUse the following strategies to help ELLs understand the poster content and acquire academic language.

BeginningRead the title and speech bubbles on the poster. Explain the concepts of facts and opinions. For example, say: It is a rainy day. That is a fact. You can prove it by looking outside. I love rainy days. It tells how I feel, so it is an opinion.

Point to and name people and objects in the photograph: girls, butterflies, trees. Ask students facts and opinions about each.

Beginning and IntermediateRepresent in a drawing, or ask ELLs to draw and label, a fact and an opinion that students give.

Comprehension Quick-CheckObserve whether students are able to articulate the fact and opinion in the poster. If they have difficulty, use the following additional explicit instruction.

Draw the fact and opinion graphic organizer on chart paper.

In the top row under Fact, write Monarch butterflies migrate south from Canada and the northern United States.

Say: This is a fact. We can prove whether it is true or false.

In the top row under Opinion, write Monarchs are the most beautiful butterflies in the world.

Say: This is an opinion. It tells how one person feels about the butterflies, and we cannot prove whether it is true or false.

In the opinion, underline the signal words most beautiful and in the world.

Say: These signal words help us recognize this opinion.

Say: Now you state another fact and another opinion based on the poster topic.

Think aloud: The photograph shows a tree and butterflies in the air. When I look closely at the tree, I notice many butterflies are resting in it. Why are there so many butterflies in one place? Usually, I see only one or two at a time. There must be a reason for them to be together. I think the speech bubbles might have some clues. After reading the speech bubbles, I realize that one gives a fact and the other states an opinion. The fact speech bubble says that monarch butterflies migrate south. I can use this fact to help me understand the photograph. It shows monarch butterflies that are migrating south together. I think they must be resting after a long flight south. Now I understand what the photograph is showing me.

Repeat what you didn’t understand and your fix-up strategy. Ask students to point out parts of the picture that they do not understand. Together explore ways to look at and think about the picture and speech bubbles to clear up any confusion.

Post these fix-up strategies on the wall as a Fix-Up Monitoring anchor chart, or invite students to write them in their reading journals or notebooks to use in the future.

Find Fact and Opinion in a Picture RI.3.1, RI.3.7, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d

Ask students what this picture shows about facts and opinions. Point out that figuring out how the statements by the two people are different can help students understand the difference between fact and opinion.

Ask students to tell which statement on the poster is a fact and which is an opinion. Remind them that a fact can be proven while an opinion is a belief that cannot be proven.

Provide the following academic sentence frames to support ELLs and struggling students:

The fact about monarch butterflies is . The opinion about monarch butterflies is .Clues that help me tell which is the fact and which is the opinion are

.

Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing W.3.10, SL.3.1d

Write down the fact and opinion students identify and reread them as a group. Then write the clues they used to identify the fact and the opinion. Give students the opportunity to expand on their shared writing.

Day One


Reflect and Discuss SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d

Ask and discuss the following questions: •Whyisitimportanttoidentifyfactsandopinions?Howdoesthishelp

you?•Howdidusingthefix-upmonitoringstrategyhelpyouunderstandthe

poster?•Whatclueshelpyouidentifyfactsandopinions?

Connect and transfer. Say: Remember, you can look for facts and opinions in a text, too. Tomorrow, we will practice looking for facts and opinions in a text.

Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 minutes)

Based on students’ instructional reading levels, select titles that provide opportunities for students to practice identifying facts and opinions. See the Leveled Text Titles chart provided at the back of this Teacher’s Resource System.

Use the before-, during-, and after-reading instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide for each text.

Individual Student Conferences (10 minutes)

Confer with individual students on their text selections and applications of strategies. Use the Individual Reading Conference Form on page 32 of Informal Assessments for Reading Development to help guide your conferences.

Word Study Workshop (20 minutes)

Use the Day 1 instruction provided in Word Study Unit 16.

Support Special Needs LearnersSupport visual learners and students with attention issues by projecting the whiteboard version of the posters. Allow students to come to the whiteboard and circle, underline, or highlight the facts and opinions in the text. Invite them to label what they see.

Access the graphic organizer provided on the whiteboard. Record facts and opinions with students.

Provide opportunities for active involvement. For example, assign some students the role of Fact and some the role of Opinion. Ask students to restate a fact or opinion found in the poster according to his or her role.

Access the image bank for enlarged images that students can use to practice the fix-up monitoring strategy, distinguishing and evaluating facts and opinions, and summarizing ideas.

Home/School ConnectionsOn Day 1, distribute copies of Home/School Connections (BLM 1). Each day during the week, assign one of the six home/school connection activities for the students to complete. Ask them to bring their completed assignments to class the following day. Make time at the beginning of each day for students to share their ideas.

Home/School Connections (BLM 1)Home/School Connections (BLM 1)

Name Date

Benchmark Literacy • Grade 3 • Unit 6/Week 1 ©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

BLM 1

Home/School Connections: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

1. Make Text-to-World Strategy ConnectionsSummarize a conversation you have with your family. Write one fact and one opinion that were used in the conversation. Bring your writing to school to share with the class.

2. Make Text-to-Text Strategy ConnectionsFind a newspaper or magazine article on a topic that interests you. Find one fact and one opinion in the article. Circle any signal words that help you identify the opinion. Bring your examples to school to share with the class.

3. Make a Strategy Connection to Social StudiesRead about an event in history that interests you. Write two facts about the event. Then write two of your opinions about the event. Underline the signal words you used in your opinions.

4. Make a Strategy Connection to ScienceAre opinions ever used in science? Read about a subject you have studied in a science textbook. If you find an opinion, write it. If you do not find an opinion, answer this question: Why do you think there are no opinions in the science text on this topic?

5. Make a Fact and Opinion ChartRead a magazine or newspaper article about a current event. Record some facts and some opinions from the article on a Fact and Opinion chart. You can ask a family member to help you. Together discuss whether you agree with the opinions. Sign your name and your family member’s name to your chart. Bring your chart to class to share.

6. Think and Write About the StrategyThink about how learning about facts and opinions has helped you become a more strategic reader. Write about how and when you use this strategy to help you understand what you are reading.

Recommended Genre: Informational Reports

Teach process writing, traits of writing, research, and grammar and conventions. Use the explicit mini-lessons for weeks 4–6 (see the 6-week pacing guide), or select and sequence mini-lessons based on the needs of your students.

Day Two


Lesson Objectis

Students will:

• Identify facts and opinions in a passage.

• Identify and use signal words for opinions.

• Use the fix-up monitoring strategy to help understand the passage.


Related Resources

• Texts for Close Reading, page 78


• Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 (BLM 2)

• Writing to Sources, page 14



Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Fix-Up Monitoring.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Getting Started Guide.


Review the Metacognitive Strategy: Fix-Up Monitoring RI.3.2, RI.3.7, SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d

Display Poster 2 with annotations hidden.

Read aloud the text with students.

Explain: Yesterday when I looked at the “Monarch Butterflies” poster, I reviewed and thought about its parts to help me understand what the photograph showed. When I don’t understand a part of what I study, I review it and think about the content to fix the problem. I’ll show you how I do this.

Reread paragraph 1. Think aloud: In the first paragraph, I didn’t understand what tasty treats have to do with sugar maples. Then I thought about the pancakes I had for breakfast. I put maple syrup on them, and they were delicious. I think maple syrup is a tasty treat sugar maples provide. I’ll look for facts about maple trees to see if I am correct.

Reread paragraphs 2 and 3. Think aloud: I’m not sure I understand why the author wrote about what happens to sugar maples in the different seasons. I’ll reread them, distinguish the facts from the opinions, and then study the facts and think about how they are related. I read that in summer, the tree makes and stores food. The leaves of the tree make the food. In the next paragraph, I read that leaves fall off the tree in fall. I can relate this fact to facts about leaves making food. Without leaves, the tree cannot make any more food. The tree now has only the stored food. Then I read that trees are dormant in winter. I think these paragraphs are about the food the maple makes and stores as sugar sap. The sugar sap must have something do with the tasty treat the maple provides. I’ll read on to find out.

Reread the last paragraph. Think aloud: This paragraph includes facts explaining that in spring the maple uses stored sap as food for new leaves. It also explains that people collect some of the sap and make maple syrup with it. Now I understand why the author wrote about the maple in different seasons. They help explain how sap becomes available for people to use. Now I know that maple syrup is the tasty treat the first paragraph mentions. Referring to maple syrup as a tasty treat is one opinion I can agree with.

Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 (BLM 2)Texts for Close Reading, page 78Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 (BLM 2)

Sugar Maple Trees

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

onN

onfi

ctio

n Po

ster

2

Gra

de 3

Opinions: • Sugar maples are the

best trees. • The trees are beautiful

and provide a tasty treat. • Maple syrup is delicious

on pancakes.

Facts: • In summer, green leaves make food using sunlight. • Tree stores sugar sap in its trunk.• In autumn, leaves turn bright colors and fall off the tree. • In winter, the tree is dormant. • In spring, the tree grows new leaves, and sugar sap flows. • People collect sap and make maple syrup.

What is your favorite tree? Many people think sugar maples are the best! Not only are the trees beautiful, but they provide a tasty treat.

In summer, large green leaves capture lots of sunlight. The leaves use the sunlight to make food for the tree. The tree then stores any extra food as sugar sap in its trunk.

In autumn, the leaves turn a bright red, orange, and yellow before they fall off the tree. During the winter, the tree is dormant, or at rest.

In spring, the sugar maple starts growing new leaves. Since the new leaves need food, the sugar sap begins to flow inside the trunk. People can collect the sap and use it to make maple syrup. Maple syrup is delicious on pancakes!


Day Two

Build academic oral language. Reread the remaining paragraphs. Encourage students to use fix-up monitoring to help them understand the facts and opinions. Invite students to tell how they used strategies such as using background knowledge, rereading, reading on, retelling, highlighting, and relating facts while they were reading. Reinforce the idea that good readers monitor their understanding and use these strategies to help them when they don’t understand something. Support ELLs and struggling readers with the following sentence frames:

One fact (opinion) in the passage is .Fix-up monitoring as I read helped me .

Use the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion RI.3.1, RI.3.7, SL.3.1d

Reread the poster text with students, annotations still hidden.

Say: Now think about the first paragraph. Which sentences are facts? Which are opinions?

If necessary, help students identify the first opinion: Sugar maples are the best trees. Explain that this is an opinion because it cannot be proven true or false. The word best signals that the sentence is an opinion.

Say: Let’s look closely to find other opinions in the passage. Which sentences are opinions?

Write the sentences that students identify. Then reveal the Opinions annotations. Ask: Did we find all the opinions? Let’s compare sentences.

Build academic oral language. Say: Facts can be proven true or false. Let’s find statements in this passage that are facts. What is the first fact you find? (In summer, green leaves make food using sunlight.) What is the next fact you find? (The leaves use the sunlight to make food for the tree.) How do you know these are facts? (They can be proven true or false.)


Beginning Read aloud the poster title and passage. Point to objects in the picture as you say their names (tree, bucket, snow).

Beginning and IntermediateAsk students to make statements about the objects they see in the picture.

If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates: favorite/favorito, sugar/el azúcar, capture/capturar, use/usar, trunk/el tronco, delicious/delicioso.

All LevelsPair ELLs with fluent English speakers during partner discussions and activities.

Model the use of academic sentence frames to support ELLs’ academic vocabulary and language development. (See suggested sentence frames provided.)

Opinions:

Sugar maples are the best trees.The trees are beautiful and provide a tasty treat.Maple syrup is delicious on pancakes.

Facts:

In summer, green leaves make food using sunlight.In autumn, leaves turn bright colors and fall off the tree.In winter, the tree is dormant.In spring, the tree grows new leaves, and sugar sap flows.People collect sap and make maple syrup.

Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 Sample Annotations


Day Two

Comprehension Quick-CheckTake note of which students can or cannot contribute to the discussion of the Poster 2 facts and opinions. Use the following activity to provide additional explicit instruction for these students.

Use an additional real-world example to help students grasp the difference between facts and opinions. For example: Thanksgiving takes place in November. (fact) Thanksgiving is the best holiday. (opinion) Record the fact and opinion on a graphic organizer. Then ask students to contribute additional facts and opinions on the topic.

Oral Language ExtensionDuring independent workstation time, pair students to construct oral facts and opinions related to a topic they have studied in class. Partner A states a fact on the topic. Partner B states an opinion on the topic. Then partners switch roles. Tell students to be ready to report on their facts and opinions during individual conference time.

Home/School ConnectionsAt the beginning of the day, make time for students to share their ideas based on the activity they completed the previous night.

At the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.

Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing RI.3.1, W.3.10, SL.3.1d

Prompt students to identify other facts in the passage. Students should understand that both facts and opinions can be used in a nonfiction passage.

Record students’ facts on chart paper. Then reveal the Facts annotations.

Say: Let’s compare our facts list to the list on the poster. Allow time for discussion.

Reflect and Discuss SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1c, SL.3.1d

Ask and discuss the following questions:•Howdoesusingthefix-upmonitoringstrategyhelpyouasareader?•Howdoesidentifyingfactsandopinionshelpyouunderstandwhatyou

are reading? •Howdosignalwordshelpyouidentifyopinions?

Connect and transfer. Ask: How will you use what we have practiced today when you read on your own?









Day Three


Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Fix-Up Monitoring.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Getting Started Guide.


Extend the Comprehension Strategy: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion RI.3.2, RI.3.7, RF.4.a, RF.4.c, W.3.10, SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d

Display Poster 3.

Say: Today you’re going to practice reading and identifying facts and opinions in a text. Remember to use what you’ve learned. You can use fix-up monitoring to help you understand.

Based on students’ needs and abilities, ask them to read the passage independently or with a partner. Tell them to locate and write the opinions in the Opinions boxes. Encourage students to list the facts in the Facts boxes. Tell students to underline, circle, or flag key information as they read.

Invite individual students or pairs to share the facts and opinions they identified. Record students’ findings on the poster or on chart paper. See the sample annotations.

Observe and Prompt for Strategy Understanding SL.3.1c

While using the poster, note students who demonstrate understanding of the concepts and those who seem to struggle. Use appropriate responsive prompting to help students who need modeling or additional guidance, or to validate students who demonstrate mastery.

Goal Oriented•Iamgoingtoaskwhetherastatementcanbeprovedornottodistinguish

between a fact and an opinion.•Iamgoingtolookforsignalwordstoopinionssuchasthink believe, best,

and worst.•Thissentenceisa(n) because .

Directive and Corrective Feedback•Canthatsentencebeproventrueorfalse?•Doesthesentencecontainasignalwordsuchasbelieve or best?

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Identify facts and opinions in a passage.

• Identify and use signal words for opinions.

• Use the fix-up monitoring strategy to help understand the passage.


Related Resources

• Texts for Close Reading, page 79


• Comprehension Anchor Poster 3 (BLM 3)

• Writing to Sources, page 14



“Are we there yet?” How many times have you asked that question during a long car ride or bus trip? When you did, you must have been bored! But you can have fun—and find out where you are—by looking at a map.

A map is a drawing of an area. One type of map is a road map. A road map shows the cities, towns, roads, and highways in a specific area. If you’re on a trip, you can look at a road map to see how far you are from where you are going.

People use road maps every day to get from place to place. The next time you go on a long trip, use a road map. You’ll be glad you did!D

isti

ngui

sh &

Eva

luat

e Fa

ct &

Opi

nion

Non

fict

ion

Post

er 3

Gra

de 3

Opinions: Opinions:Facts: Facts:

Road Maps

Home/School ConnectionsAt the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.


Day Three


BeginningPoint to the poster photograph and provide the language for what you see. For example: woman, map. Invite ELLs to point to and name the person and object with you.

Beginning and IntermediateIf you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates: map/el mapa, bus/el autobús, area/el área, type/el tipo, specific/específico.

Comprehension Quick-CheckThe responsive prompts on pages 8–9 are designed to help you meet the needs of individual students. Based on your observations, identify students who may need additional explicit reinforcement of the strategy during small-group instruction or intervention time.

Self-Monitoring and Reflection•Whatcouldyoudotofigureoutwhetherastatementisafactoranopinion?•Howdoesrereadingandreadingonhelpyouusefactstounderstand

passages?•Howdoesidentifyingsignalwordshelpyouidentifyfactsandopinions?

Validating and Confirming•Greatjobidentifyingfactsandopinions!•Youfoundsignalwordsthathelpedyouidentifyopinions.

Reflect and Discuss SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1c, SL.3.1d

Ask and discuss the following questions:•Whatkindsoftextshaveyoureadthatincludefacts?•Whatkindsoftextshaveyoureadthatincludeopinions?•Canatextincludebothfactsandopinions?Explain.

Connect and transfer. Say: Remember that many nonfiction texts you read have both facts and opinions. Look for the facts and opinions today when you read in small groups. Use the fix-up monitoring strategy to help you understand the passage as you evaluate facts and opinions.








Opinions:

You must have been bored; You can have fun by looking at a map; The next time you go on a long trip, use a road map; You’ll be glad you used a map.

Facts:

You can find out where you are by looking at a map; A map is a drawing of an area; One type of map is a road map; A road map shows the cities, towns, roads, and highways in a specific area; If you’re on a trip, you can look at a road map to see how far you are from where you are going; People use road maps every day to get from place to place.



Day Four


Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Fix-Up Monitoring.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Getting Started Guide.


Read and Summarize RI.3.2, RI.3.7, RF.3.4a, RF.3.4c, SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d

Display Poster 4.

Based on students’ needs and abilities, ask them to read the passage independently or with a partner. Remind students to use the fix-up monitoring strategy to help them understand what they read.

Build academic oral language. When students have finished, ask individuals or pairs to identify the facts and opinions in the passage. Encourage ELLs or struggling readers to use the academic sentence frame:

A fact in the passage is . An opinion in the passage is .

Answer Text-Dependent Comprehension Questions: Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion (Level 3: Prove It!)RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.7

Say: Sometimes you need to answer questions about a passage you’ve read. Some questions require you to identify facts and opinions. Today we’re going to read and answer questions. Some of the questions will ask you to identify a fact or an opinion.

Distribute BLM 5 and read Question 1 together. (“Which sentence is an opinion?”)

Ask: What is the question asking us to do? If students can’t tell you, ask: Is the question asking us to summarize? Is it asking us to find a main idea? What strategy will we need? (identify fact and opinion) How do you know? (It asks me to identify which of the three sentences is an opinion.)

Say: To find the opinion, I will have to read each sentence carefully and figure out whether it can be proven true or false. I will also look for signal words that can help me identify an opinion.

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Learn strategies for analyzing questions and finding answers, clues, and evidence.

• Identify facts and opinions in a text.

• Answer text-dependent fact and opinion questions.

• Use academic vocabulary to discuss strategies.

Related Resources

• Texts for Close Reading, page 80• Home/School Connections (BLM 1)• Comprehension Anchor Poster 4

(BLM 4) • Comprehension Questions (BLM 5)• Writing to Sources, page 14



Number Games

Dis

ting

uish

& E

valu

ate

Fact

& O

pini

onN

onfi

ctio

n Po

ster

4

Gra

de 3

People around the world have played number games for thousands of years. Many number games began in ancient civilizations. Other games come from the imaginations of people who like to work with numbers. You can have lots of fun with numbers.

You can buy some number games in stores, but others use everyday items such as stones. Some number games have many players, and others have few. Some number games are

simple, and others are more complex.Many games you play use numbers.

Have you ever played dominoes? It’s an entertaining game. Have you ever played hopscotch or magic squares? Those games are fun, too.


Day Four


Beginning Support the concept of number games by demonstrating a game such as hopscotch and asking students to count with you.

Beginning and IntermediatePoint to the poster photo of the people playing a game and say: The people are using numbers to play a game.

Use realia such as dominoes to show one kind of number game. Encourage students to use the sentence frame: The game of

uses numbers.

Say: Now we’re ready to read and analyze the answer choices. We know we need to find a sentence that cannot be proven true or false. The first sentence says, “You can buy some number games in stores.” This is a fact. It can be proven true or false. The next sentence says that some number games have many players. This can also be proven true or false. The last sentence says that hopscotch is a fun game. This cannot be proven true or false. Some people may think hopscotch is fun while others may not. So, the sentence is an opinion. I figured out the answer by evaluating each sentence and using what I know about facts and opinions. The answer makes sense. So, I’ll choose C.

Ask students to work independently or with a partner to answer additional text-dependent questions on BLM 5.

Review students’ answers and use the poster as needed to model analyzing questions and answer choices to determine the correct answers.

Opinions:

You can have lots of fun with numbers.Dominoes is an entertaining game.Hopscotch and magic squares are fun, too.

Facts:

People around the world have played number games for thousands of years.Many number games began in ancient civilizations.Other games come from the imaginations of people who like to work with numbers.You can buy some number games in stores, but others use everyday items such as stones.Some number games have many players, and others have few.Some number games are simple, and others are more complex.Many games you play use numbers.

Comprehension Questions (BLM 5)Comprehension Questions (BLM 5)

Name Date


BLM 5

Number Games: Comprehension Questions

Directions: Use information from the poster to answer questions 1–4.

1. Which sentence is an opinion?

A You can buy some number games in stores.

B Some number games have many players.

C Hopscotch is a fun game.

2. Which detail does NOT support the main idea that many games you play use numbers?

A Dominoes is an entertaining game.

B People have played number games for thousands of years.

C Have you ever played magic squares?

3. What inference can you make from the fact that people around the world have played number games for thousands of years?

A People like difficult games.

B Number games are fun.

C Ancient people did not have board games.

4. “Many number games began in ancient civilizations.” How can you tell this is a fact?

A It can be proven true or false.

B It contains the word many.

C It is one person’s belief.



Day Four

Comprehension Quick-CheckNote whether students are able to analyze each Level 3 text-dependent comprehension question and return to the text to find the information they need to answer the question correctly. If students have difficulty, use small-group reading time for additional practice answering these kinds of questions, which appear on standardized reading assessments. The Comprehension Question Card for each leveled text provides practice questions at four levels of comprehension. The Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Flip Chart helps you model the strategies students need to master.

Oral Language ExtensionDisplay Comprehension Anchor Poster 4 during independent workstation time. Invite pairs of students to read and talk about the poster together. Encourage students to generate a list of other number games and to offer facts and opinions about the games on the list. Remind students to be prepared to share their lists of games, facts, and opinions during independent conference time.


At the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.

Reflect and Discuss the Comprehension Strategy SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1c, SL.3.1d

Ask and discuss the following:•Whatstrategydidweusetoanswerquestionsaboutthetext?•Noticehowwerecalledwhatweknewaboutfactsandopinionsto

understand and answer questions.

Connect and transfer. Say: Practice identifying facts and opinions. This strategy can help you evaluate whether the information in a text is accurate and reliable. It can also help you when you take tests.




Use the Comprehension Question Card for each title and the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Flip Chart to practice answering Level 3 text-dependent comprehension questions.






Day Five

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Reflect orally on their strategy use.

• Create a facts and opinions graphic organizer and write a paragraph based on it.

• Answer multiple-choice and short-answer questions.

Related Resources


• Constructed Written Response (BLM 6)

• Comprehension Strategy Assessments, Grade 3



Revisit the week’s read-alouds to make text-to-text connections and provide opportunities for reader response. Use the suggested activities in the Getting Started Guide, or implement ideas of your own.

Assessment (20 minutes)

Metacognitive Self-Assessment W.3.10, SL.3.1a, SL.3.1b, SL.3.1d, SL.3.4

Ask students to reflect on their use of metacognitive and comprehension strategies this week. What did they learn? How will they use the strategies in the future? What do they still need to practice, and how can they do this?

Invite students to share their reflections in one of the following ways: conduct a whole-class discussion; ask students to turn and talk to a partner and then share their ideas with the class; or ask students to record their thoughts in their journals or notebooks.

Constructed Written Response W.3.5, W.3.10

Distribute copies of Constructed Written Response (BLM 6) and ask students to think about their favorite hobby. In the Fact column, students can write several facts about the activity. In the Opinion column, students can write opinions about the activity.

Ask students to write a paragraph that includes facts and opinions about their hobby, using notes from the graphic organizer. If students need extra help, offer topics and discuss facts and opinions they might write about the topics.

Read aloud the checklist at the bottom of BLM 6 to help students evaluate their work.

Challenge activity. Students who are able to may write an additional paragraph with details that support one opinion.

Support activity. If students cannot create their own paragraph with facts and opinions, review with them the definitions of fact and opinion. They can use the sentence frames: A fact about my hobby is and An opinion about my hobby is . Reinforce the fact that a nonfiction passage can contain both facts and opinions.

Constructed Written Response (BLM 6)Constructed Written Response (BLM 6)


Name Date

BLM 6

Constructed Written Response:Fact and Opinion

Fact Opinion

Fact and Opinion Writing Checklist

I wrote about a hobby.

I included facts.

I included opinions.


Day Five

Ongoing Comprehension Strategy Assessment

Distribute one of the Distinguish Fact from Opinion Comprehension Strategy Assessments from the Grade 3 Comprehension Strategy Assessment book (“The Most Exciting Job in the World,” pages 54–55, or “New Video Fun from Giant Games,” pages 56–57) students to read the passage and use the information to answer the questions.

Use the results of this assessment to determine students who need additional work with the strategy.

Record students’ assessment scores on the Strategy Assessment Record (page 133) so that you can monitor their progress following additional instruction or intervention.

Provide additional modeling and guided practice during small-group reading instruction using the recommended titles in this Teacher’s Guide.








Make Assessments Accessible for ELLsUse the following strategies to help ELLs demonstrate their understanding of the strategies.

BeginningUse Constructed Written Response (BLM 6) with ELLs at the beginning proficiency level.

Beginning and IntermediateUse the Comprehension Strategy Assessment as a listening comprehension assessment and scaffold students’ understanding of the text. As an alternative, allow students to tell you about the facts and opinions in one of the Comprehension Anchor Posters you have used during the week.

Intermediate and AdvancedSupport ELLs with academic sentence frames during the metacognitive self-assessment. Possible sentence frames to use are:

We use the fix-up monitoring strategy so that .

I will look for facts and opinions when I .

All LevelsPair ELLs with fluent English speakers during partner discussions and activities.


Documents

BENCHMARK LITERACY TMblccresources.benchmarkeducation.com/pdfs/CC_G3U6W1_Instrctn.pdfthe Leveled Text Titles chart provided at the back of this Teacher’s Resource System. Use the