English Language Arts and Reading.3.9.E.ii

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The student is expected to

recognize characteristics and structures of argumentative text by:

 

distinguishing facts from opinion; and

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

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.

a text written to demonstrate to an audience that a certain position or idea is valid and that others are not The writer appeals to reason, develops, defends, or debates the topic, connecting a series of statements in an orderly way so they lead to a logical conclusion.
One important step in analyzing argumentative text is understanding the difference between facts and opinions. Facts are details that are proved to be true by data and/or other reliable sources. Opinions are the author’s view or feelings about a particular matter and cannot be proven to be true. A text about Benjamin Franklin, for example, may include facts about him, such as Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence and published Poor Richard’s Almanac. However, an author’s claim that Franklin was the most important Founding Father would be an opinion based on the author’s feelings and knowledge about the individual and could not be proven.
Recognizing characteristics requires students to determine the specific components of something. In reading, students are expected to have a clear idea of the particular attributes of a variety of genres. For example, they should know that argumentative texts have unique characteristics, such as a claim, an intended audience, and the use of facts to support opinions. Students should recognize structures of argumentative text (e.g., introduction, claim, facts, and conclusion). Each one of these structures has a specific function in an argumentative text that students should identify and explain.

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.