| Home | ED P&L 791 |
| Media/Technology-Based Lesson Plan |
| “Learning Fact and Opinion through Online Newspaper Articles” |
| | introduction | considerations | tasks | learning processes | resources | evaluation | conclusion | |
I. Introduction
A. The Problem: to find two articles about the same topic; one article is fact based, one article is opinionated. The students will learn to accurately distinguish between fact and opinion.
B. Length of Lesson: approximately 45 minutes
C. Grade Level: 10
D. Students: 23
II. Considerations
A. Special Needs:
1. 3 students have ADHD, 1 student has a learning disability
2. Adaptations:
a. clearly written instructions
b. plenty of examples
c. the lesson will be broken into easy-to-follow steps
d. the students will be allowed extra time if necessary
e. they may be paired up with peer tutors
B. Racial/Ethnic/Class makeup:
1. 5 students African-American, 1 student Asian, 17 students Caucasian
2. Adaptations:
a. students will be able to select the specific material they use
b. this will enable them to work with what they feel comfortable
c. the lesson itself will discuss biases (opinions)
C. Class Attitudes toward Technology:
1. positive view toward technology
2. enjoy surfing the internet
D. Class Abilities with Technology:
1. proficient at word processing
2. extremely proficient at surfing the net
E. Teacher’s level of comfort with Technology:
1. she is comfortable using and teaching the Internet
2. this lesson only requires basic abilities with using the web
F. Technical Resources Available:
1. utilizes the computer lab
2. can be completed in one class period
III. Tasks
A. Problem to be Solved: to learn to accurately distinguish between fact and opinion
B. Objectives:
1. students will learn to use the internet to locate news sources
2. students will learn to navigate newspapers’ web pages
3. students will learn to search archives
4. students will learn to compare and contrast opinion/editorial articles and regular news articles
5. students will learn to read critically and actively
C. Materials Needed:
1. the students will need:
a. notebook paper
b. writing utensil
2. the teacher will need:
a. overhead of instructions
b. examples of fact articles and opinion columns
c. a computer lab
D. Procedures to Teach the Lesson:
1. Introduction
a. have the class brainstorm about the differences between fact and opinion
b. students will provide examples of fact and opinion
c. provide two examples of a fact story and an opinion story
2. Explanation of Assignment
a. students will locate 2 articles using the online version of newspapers such as USA Today or the New York Times. (The teacher will provide links or have students do a basic web search to locate the links.)
b. the 2 articles must be about the same event
c. 1 article must be an opinion, 1 must be a factual story
d. students will print out a copy of each story
3. Student Work
a. students write a brief summary of each article
i. for the factual one: provide a brief summary of what happened
ii. for the opinion: provide a brief summary of the viewpoint
b. students will highlight all of the sentences in the opinion column that state facts
c. students will highlight all of the sentences in the factual article that state opinions
d. evaluate whether the factual article is really factual
e. evaluate whether the opinion column accurately uses fact to support the points
f. turn in the assignment to the teacher
g. the assignment will be added to the students overall portfolio
A. Students will learn to do an Internet search and use links and URLs.
B. Students will learn to use the Internet for educational purposes (reading the news)
C. Students will learn to navigate a website to look for specific articles
D. Students will learn to use the “archives” function of websites
E. Students will learn to locate different types of articles on the same subject
F. Students will learn to distinguish between fact and opinion
G. Students will learn to read critically
H. Students will learn to evaluate print material and decide if it is fact or opinion
I. Students will work in “partnerships” to learn to help each other, even although each student will have a different topic of his/her choice
J. Students will learn to process information they read
K. Students will learn to write brief summaries which involves pulling out key points (distinguishing important information)
V. Resources
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Newspaper Links |
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The New York Times |
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The Columbus Dispatch |
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ABC News |
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Fox News |
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NPR News |
VI. Evaluation
A. Method of Evaluation
1. Students will be evaluated individually
2. Students will be given a rubric
3. If students are unhappy with their grade, they may resubmit the work
4. The students with special needs will be evaluated according to their IEP goals
5. Students will be evaluated according to the following rubric:
Rubric:
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Points Objectives |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Total Points |
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Locate 2 articles: 1 fact, 1 opinion on same subject |
The chosen articles are on the same topic and one is clearly factual while the other is clearly an opinion. |
The chosen articles are on the same topic, but both are factual or both are opinion. |
The chosen articles are not on the same topic, but one is an opinion and one is factual. |
The chosen articles are not on the same topic and neither are clearly factual or opinion. |
The articles are not from a news source, not opinionated or factual, and not on the same subject. |
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Write accurate summaries of both articles |
The summaries are well written, clear, concise and to the point. They demonstrate that the student understands the articles and can locate key points. |
The summaries are not very well written, but the student demonstrates a good understanding of the articles and key points. |
The summaries are poorly written, and the student appears to understand the articles but did not locate key points. |
The summaries are poorly written, it does not appear the student understood the reading and did not locate key points. |
The summaries are poorly written, and do not summarize the articles or key points. |
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Locate factual information in the opinion article |
The student has correctly highlighted all of the factual information in the opinion article. |
The student has correctly highlighted most of the factual information in the opinion article. |
The student has correctly highlighted most of the factual information, but has also highlighted some that is opinion. |
The student has highlighted equal amounts of factual and opinion information. |
The student has highlighted more opinion information than factual. |
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Locate opinion material in the factual article |
The student has correctly highlighted all of the opinionated information in the factual article. |
The student has correctly highlighted most of the opinionated info in the article. |
The students has correctly highlighted most of the opinionated info, but has also highlighted some facts. |
The student has highlighted equal amounts of opinionated and factual information. |
The student has highlighted more factual information than opinion. |
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Student evaluation of articles |
Evaluation is well written, has evaluated the articles according the highlighted sections. Student also demonstrates a clear understanding of the critical thinking required to evaluate printed material. |
Evaluation is not well written, but the student has evaluated the articles according to the highlighted sections. Student also demonstrates a clear understanding of the critical thinking required to evaluate printed material. |
Evaluation may or may not be well written, but the student has not evaluated the articles according to the highlighted sections. The student does demonstrate an understanding of the difference between fact and opinion. |
Evaluation is not well written, and the student has not evaluated the articles according to the highlighted sections. The student does demonstrate an understanding of the difference between fact and opinion. |
Evaluation is not well written, and the student has not evaluated the articles according to the highlighted sections. The student does not demonstrate an understanding of the difference between fact and opinion. |
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Grand Total of Points out of 25: |
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B. Communication of Student Performance
1. Students will receive the above rubric
2. Students will see what areas affected their grade
3. Students will be encouraged to share their work with their parents
4. Students will be encouraged to resubmit their work if they think they can do better
VI. Conclusion
A. Closure to Lesson
1. Review objectives
2. Ask students if they feel they met the objectives
3. Ask students what they would still like to learn
4. Review what students have learned
5. Remind students about the Rubric
6. Allow students who have not yet completed the work to turn it in tomorrow
7. Ask students how they liked the activity
B. Extension of Lesson
1. This lesson can be tied in to the book review lesson (expressing opinion, supporting opinion with fact)
2. Students will be encouraged to read future articles with the difference between fact and opinion in mind
3. Over the rest of the term, students will be asked to evaluate other sources of information according to the fact/opinion method
C. Student Feedback
1. students will complete brief questionnaires, asking what they liked about the lesson, what they disliked, what they learned
2. Students will be encouraged to create ideas for future internet projects
D. Teacher/Self Evaluation
1. Was the lesson successful?
2. Were the objectives met?
3. Did I manage the class time wisely?
4. Would I do this lesson again in the future?
5. How could I modify this lesson to be more productive?
6. What other ways could I use this lesson?
7. How did the students react?
8. Did the students stay on task?
9. Were the students involved in the learning process?
10. Did the students learn something new?
*revised 7-25-01*