Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Fact Or Opinion Sensitivity Analysis

25 minutes

Part B: Media Analysis

20 minutes

Part C: Dialogue Mapping

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students understand...

the role of the media in reporting fact, but also in presenting points of view
why different people have different opinions
how they develop their own opinions and how they differ from/relate to others’ opinions.

Students can...

describe the language features of facts vs opinions
identify differing perspectives stated within a text and make connections between differing responses
reflect on strategies to seek out and make informed opinions about contentious issues.

Part A: Fact or opinion sensitivity analysis

Step 1

Distribute copies of the Student Worksheet to each student.

Give each table 5 minutes to write about why the canteen should give them free food (or a similarly easy and familiar topic). Have student volunteers present their arguments to the class.

Step 2

Define ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ with the class. You should ask students for definitions as this should be revision for them. However, some suggested definitions are:

Fact: A statement that is ‘true’. It can be proven.
Opinion: A statement that is about how someone feels. It can’t be proven as ‘true’.

Step 3

Ask students to identify what facts and opinions were presented about the canteen. Prompt students to consider why there was a mix of facts and opinions. Depending on the students’ scripts, you may also want to discuss why there were more facts than opinions, or vice versa.

Step 4

Present students with a number of headlines about Adam Goodes. Ask students to annotate the headline with an ‘F’ for fact and ‘O’ for opinion. If students believe a headline is part fact and part opinion, they can draw a line to each part. The headlines are:

“Adam Goodes’ dignity in face of racism a lesson to all” (10:59)

“Why this 13 year old child’s mistake is the wake up call the AFL needed” (11:01)

“Adam Goodes is a bad choice for Australian of the Year” (21:39)

"Why some fans are challenged by Goodes” (25:42)

Step 5

Discuss how students knew which was fact and which was opinion. Highlight obvious and less obvious clues for opinion such as:

Emotive language - language that makes the audience feel a strong emotion (innocent, evil, horrible, hurtful)
Expressions of personal emotions - devastated, love, wish
Language of judgment - good, bad, terrible, mistake, right
‘I/me’ language
High modality language - language of extreme certainty (must, will not)
Note: This is not always a giveaway of an opinion, it just can be.