Knowledge and Skills Statement
Provide students with an argumentative text. Direct students to underline facts and circle the opinions in the text. When students have finished, have students share examples they identified in the text and explain why they think each example is either a fact or an opinion.
Further Explanation
This assessment will provide the teacher with an opportunity to observe student understanding of facts and opinions as they explain their reasoning for each choice.
Research
Nunez-Eddy, E., Wang, X., & Chen, Y.-C. (2018). Engaging in argumentation: Strategies for early elementary and English language learners. Science and Children, 56(2), 51+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A552763085/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=45f308cb
Summary: This article describes argument strategies and activities that can be integrated within the 5E model (Bybee 1997) and demonstrates how argumentation can be assimilated into elementary classrooms. In this lesson exemplar, 25 students in a first-grade English Language Development classroom (all of whom were ELLs) were learning about animals and natural habitats. Because this class contained quite a few students in gifted education, a second-grade standard was chosen to facilitate differentiation and meet the needs of more advanced learners.