Lessons & Units :: Fact and Opinion Kindergarten Unit

Lesson 3: Identifying Facts and Forming Opinions

Lesson Plan

Animal Smell

Animal Smell
Learning Goal
Identify facts and form opinions from a text.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: Animal Smell by Kirsten Hall

  • Teacher Modeling

    will review what we have learned about facts and opinions. I will explain that today we are going to read Animal Smell by Kirsten Hall, identify facts, and form opinions as we read. I will model how to identify one fact I learned about polar bears (page 6) and how to form an opinion about polar bears. I will discuss which statement is a fact and why. I will repeat this by identifying facts and forming opinions on each page, up to page 9.

  • Think Check

    Ask: "How did I find facts in a book and form my own opinion?" Students should respond that you found facts in the book by reading the text and looking at the pictures in the book. You thought about how you think or feel about the book or something that you learned in the book to form your own opinion.

  • Guided Practice

    will identify one fact and form an opinion about each animal in the book, stopping at page 17. We will discuss why each statement is a fact or opinion.

  • Independent Practice

    will use the sentence starter “I learned…” to identify one fact about eels on page 18. You will also use the sentence starter “I think…” to form an opinion about eels. (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.)

Build Student Vocabulary buries

Tier 2 Word: buries
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story A squirrel buries nuts and seeds in the ground.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) To bury means to put something underground or underneath something. When a squirrel buries nuts, it is putting them in the ground and covering them with dirt.
Students repeat the word Say the word buries with me: buries.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts Dogs like to bury their bones in the ground so that they can find them later and eat them. When we were at the beach, my son buried his toys in the sand, and it was hard to find them. The student’s homework was buried under all the other papers.
Students provide examples Have you ever buried anything? Tell me about it by saying, “Once I buried a _____________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? buries
Additional Vocabulary Words huge, excellent

Build Student Background Knowledge

After reading Animal Smell, explain that animals use their sense of smell to hunt food, but also to help with their sense of taste. Time permitting, have the class try eating a flavored jelly bean with their noses plugged. Can they guess the flavor? Probably not. Try again with their noses unplugged. This time they can guess the flavor. Explain that this is because smell and taste are connected, even if they are different senses.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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