1.3 To use language for thinking

English first additional language

Grade 6

Module 4

To use language for thinking

Activity 1:

To use language for thinking

[lo 5.2.3]

Lets look at two very important aspects of language – fact and opinion! We use fact and opinion every day when we speak and write, without even realising it. It is important that we understand the difference between the two. Study the definition below and then we will see if you can distinguish between fact and opinion in an article.

A fact is something that is true.

An opinion is one person’s viewpoint. It may or may not be true.

Drama critic, Sophia Winkle, wrote the play review below, after she had seen a Broadway play. Some of the statements are facts , and some are opinions . Read the article and draw a line under every sentence that states an opinion. There are five such sentences.

Herbert Scooter's play, “The Handlebars on My Bicycle Are Loose”, opened on Broadway last night. It is the first play Mr Scooter has written. It ought to be his last.

The play has five acts and runs for seven and one-half hours. Mr Scooter could have made four plays out of it, but that would have been four times as bad. Fifi LaGlitter, the leading lady, has never appeared on Broadway before. I can understand why, because a bowling ball has more talent than Miss LaGlitter. She missed three entrances and forgot her lines fourteen times. It's too bad she didn't forget her whole part. Unlike me the rest of the people in the audience fell asleep in the middle of the second act. If I had been as smart, I would have gone to sleep, too.

List three facts from the article:

• Look at the picture. Describe the reaction of the four audience members in one sentence.

• Is this a fact or an opinion?
• Now let us take it one step further. Indicate whether the following statements are Fact or Opinion. Write an F or an O next to each statement.

Write three facts of your own:

Write three opinions of your own:

Educator Assessment Chart:

Assessment