Fact, Opinion or Reasoned Judgment

Start with the national parks sort, then read the skate park article together. Use Loaded Words and Opinions to show how one word can tilt a sentence.

Label 12 national park statements, from Yellowstone to Zion, as fact, opinion or reasoned judgment. Some statements can be proved, some only tell what a person feels, and some are opinions that rest on facts. The directions on the page read: Read the three kinds of statements in the box. Then write F, O or RJ on the line before each statement about national parks. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade comprehension exercises, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with fact vs opinion. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

An opinion backed by a fact. Because summer temperatures in Death Valley often climb above 110 degrees, visitors should carry plenty of water is a reasoned judgment from Fact, Opinion or Reasoned Judgment.

A word that carries strong good or bad feelings, like disastrous, heroic or scheme. Loaded Words and Opinions has students circle the loaded word in 8 sentences and rewrite each one neutrally.

Ask where it could be looked up. In Spot Opinions in a News Article, a reader could check the $450,000 cost of the skate park in the city's records.