Fact and opinion
Outline of the activity
Children were exploring how different styles of newspapers and other non-fiction texts use facts and opinions to influence writing styles. They studied on-line video clips from Espresso Productions including a feature writer talking about how an article is constructed and refined for press. They also studied archive newspaper cuttings from Espresso The children then researched and wrote feature articles using Microsoft Word and Publisher including facts and opinions on a subject of interest to them.
Skills Covered
Children understand the terms fact and opinion and are able to identify the differences between them. They understand that different styles of writing, language and layout change to suit different audiences. They use a DTP package to produce an article showing some of the characteristics of feature writing. Some children used the internet to research topics and cut and pasted pictures from the internet to improve results.
Rationale
Children made use of Espresso which incorporates video, multimedia, web and paper based materials which are delivered to the school network via satellite. The use of video stimulates and reinforces learning and the multimedia activities challenge the children.
Result
Children were highly motivated and interested in the research activities. They produced some high quality articles which featured interesting, relevant facts and opinions. An extremely up to date application of ICT was used effectively to enhance literacy work.
Further information about espresso can be obtained at www.espresso.co.uk
Click here to see the Publisher document produced by the children 
Other examples of fact and opinion
