CAUSE & EFFECT FACT OR OPINION

Cause & Effect Fact or Opinion By: Lisa Griffith CAUSE & EFFECTFACT OR OPINION By: Lisa Griffith

4th grade English Language Arts Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Standard Students will be able to recognize the difference between cause and effect and fact and opinion. Use the Information on the Slides to complete the activity at the end!

Cause The boy’s broken arm caused his mom to take him to the hospital. The loud noises caused the baby to cry. • The producer of an effect, result, or consequence. • The one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result. • A basis for an action or response; a reason. EXAMPLES

Effect • Something brought about by a cause: result. • The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. • As an example, a young girl crying would be the effect of her brother hitting her. The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance. The medicine did not have the desired effect on the EXAMPLES

fACT • Knowledge or information based on real occurrences • Something that is true based on logical evidence. • A statement that can be proven and backed by effective resources. The sky is blue and the grass is green. The united States of America is represented by the American flag with 13 stripes and 50 stars. EXAMPLES

Opinion “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion” “The Rolling Stones are the best Rock Band in history.” • A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by proof. • A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert. • A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing. • The prevailing view of an individual without fact or evidence, simply an observational statement. Examples

PRACTICE TIME Click on each of the following and practice your fact opinion/cause and effect skills! 1 2 3

Question 1 Refer to the sentence below: The Cleveland Cavaliers are the best NBA basketball team in the world.: Is this statement a fact or an opinion? (select answer below) FACT OPINION

Question 2 Refer to the situation below to answer the question provided. Billy was swinging on his swing set when he hear a dog bark and got scared. He fell off of the swing and broke his arm. Is Billy’s dog barking a cause or an effect of the broken arm? CAUSE EFFECT

Question 3 Consider the situation below. The president of the United States gave a very moving speech that left many people in tears. Would the fact that the audience is in tears be the cause of the effect of the presidents speech? CAUSE EFFECT

TRY AGAIN! The Cleveland Cavaliers are the best NBA basketball team in the worldis not a fact because the statement is simply a personal observation not based on any factual evidence. :

CORRECT The Cleveland Cavaliers are the best NBA basketball team in the worldis an opinion because it is simply a personal observation without scientific evidence backing the thought.

CORRECT In the situation of Billyfalling form the swing, because the dog startled Billy and thereby causing him to fall from the swing and break his arm. The dog’s barking was the cause because it startled Billy and he fell to break his arm.

TRY AGAIN! The dog’s barking is not the effect of the broken arm because Billy’s broken arm followed the barking, therefore not making it plausible for the barking to be an effect of the broken arm.

TRY AGAIN! The fact that the audience is in tears is not the cause of the speech because in order to be the cause the tear would have had to come before the speech and not after the speech.

CORRECT The fact that many people were in tears after the presidents speech is why the tears are considered an effect of the speech and not a cause.

Bibliography Ertl, S. (2001). Fact Versus Opinion. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4017 Education Development Center Inc. (2008). Cause & Effect Site. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.literacymatters.org/content/text/cause.htm Brown, M. D. (2006). Cause-and-Effect Writing Challenges Students. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr376.shtml

CAUSE & EFFECT FACT OR OPINION