Fact or opinion? What's the difference? This set of worksheets will teach your students.

Remind your students that while people are entitled to their own opinions, they cannot have different facts. Facts exist independently of what anyone thinks. The following collection of worksheets will present different statements to the student, and ask for a determination of whether the statement is a fact or an opinion. Some worksheets will present a subject, and ask the student to write both a fact and an opinion about it. Others will ask the student to explain why a given statement is a fact or an opinion.



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Print Fact or Opinion Worksheets

Click the buttons to print each worksheet and associated answer key.

Exercise Worksheet 1

Practice Worksheet 1

 Read each sentence.  Determine if it is true/false or just someone's thought process.  Write answer on the line.

Fact or Opinions Worksheet 2

Worksheet 2

Sentences include: Dresses look nicer and more professional than a pants suit. The Big Mac is the best hamburger sold.

Baseball Worksheet

Baseball Opinions

Baseball season is the greatest sports season of the year. Throwing a baseball is a fun activity for a father and son.

Science Exercises Worksheet

Fact or Opinion Practice Worksheet 3

Sentence Examples Include: In 2011 a nuclear plant in Japan was damaged by an earthquake. Sally thinks her grandmother is the most loving grandmother in the world. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the earth. The average American black bear weighs around 880 pounds.

Evaluate Sentences Worksheet

Evaluate Sentences

Sentence Examples Include: Rocks are naturally occurring solid aggregates of minerals or mineraloids. I agree that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The city of Los Angeles has entertaining places to visit on a family vacation. Rain is a liquid form of precipitation and sleet is a frozen form. Heliotherapy is an alternative medical therapy involving exposure to the sun.

### Worksheet

Write your Own

 Write a complete sentence fact and opinion about each word.  An complete example is provided.

Sentence Writing Worksheet

Sentence Construction

You will be given a topic and then asked to construct two sentences. One which is based on your individual opinion and one that is not at all.

Writing Worksheet

Run With It

In this practice worksheet you will given a concept and then asked to run with it, by writing another two sentences.

Working with Nouns Worksheet

Opinion or What? Practice

You will be given a noun and then asked to run the same kind of writing technique we have been working with.

What Is Iy Worksheet

Is It A Fact? Worksheet

We get more practice using this technique to help us truly master this concept.

Provable Worksheet

Is it a Provable Fact or Just an Opinion?

Very short sentences for very quick assessment of what is present in each of these statements.

Can It Be Proven Worksheet

How Can It Be Proven?

Read each statement. Circle your answer to the best of your ability. If it's a fact, explain how it can be proven. If it is an opinion, write that it cannot be proven.

Is It True Worksheet

Is It True Worksheet

Read each statement. If it’s a fact, explain how it can be proven. If it is an opinion, write that it cannot be proven.

Classify Them Worksheet

Polar Bear Sentences

Read each statement. Is it a fact or an opinion? Write both of them on the line.

Classification Worksheet

Classification Worksheet

Read each sentence. If it is a fact, write an F on the line. If it is an opinion, write an O on the line.

In the Kitchen Worksheet

In the Kitchen

Write one fact and one opinion about each topic.

Tiger Worksheet

Tiger, Tiger!

Read each statement. Is it a fact or an opinion? Color in the tiger next to each fact.

Question Worksheet

Questions Opinion

Read through all of the statements. Then classify each of them by writing your answer on the line.

Box Out Worksheet

Box It Out!

Write one fact and one opinion about each of the given topic.

The Truth Worksheet

The Truth

This is a two part worksheet. You will start by classifying the work of other and then you will craft your own sentences using the same type of classification system.

Review Worksheet

Mixed Skill Review

You will review all of the skills that we have highlighted up until now.

Checkbox Worksheet

Checkboxes

Check the correct box to tell us which category you would sort each of the statements into.

Pick A Topic Worksheet

Pick A Topic

Write down as many facts as you can about the assigned topic. Then, on the lines below, express your opinion about the topic.

Pick A Topic Worksheet

Prove It!

Identify whether each statement is with a reason or purpose behind each choice. Write down how you can prove each fact.

Turtly Worksheet

Turtly

Write one fact and one opinion about each topic that is given to you.

How To Determine if a Statement Is a Fact or Opinion

Understanding the innate difference between a fact and an opinion is a key to making good decisions. Whether it be facts about a product we are about to purchase or about the record of a political candidate. There are entirely industries that are focused on blurring the public's ability to distinguish between these two. The purpose of any form of writing or any form of expression can hide the difference between facts and opinions very subtly. It can help better understand if what you are taking is objective and takes all accounts on the matter into perspective. Being able to consistently determine this will heighten your research skills to the next level. Facts are fully verifiable and there is no argument as to whether they are valid. This is where scientific research comes into play. Facts when used properly in context can help us draw strong conclusions and give our work meaning. Opinions are based on judgement and can be plagued with bias. Beyond look at facts, we can make our judgement on a piece based on who put it together. If you reading a statement on how healthy drilling for oil is that was prepared by the people that are looking to make money from it, bias heavily comes into play and can be seen as an assortment of facts spun in a context to make it appear as evidence.<br>

If you want to improve your reading comprehension skills, an excellent way to do that is to learn how to read and think critically. Thinking critically is essential to best understand your motivations and how something you read is helpful to you or not. To do that, you should be able to determine if something is a fact or opinion.

What Are Facts?

Facts are universally true statements. That means they are valid for everyone, no matter who they are or believe. They are objective and based on data and observations. You can verify a fact with evidence, and it cannot be debated. Statements could be presented to you as a fact, but they could be inaccurate or misleading. As the reader, it is your job to check the evidence for any facts you come across before believing them. Here are some examples of facts.

- The sun rises every morning.
- Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States.
- The Earth revolves around the sun.

What Is an Opinion, and How Is It Different from a Fact?

An opinion is based on a person's thoughts, emotions, value system, attitude, or judgments. These statements cannot be verified by evidence and are subjective. They can change from person to person based on their judgment. You can debate an opinion and ultimately agree or disagree with it. You can hold an opinion in great regard, but it should not weigh more than a fact in your decisions.

- The sun is terribly hot.
- Abraham Lincoln was a great president.
- The Earth is a giant planet.

These are all opinions. You may think that Abraham Lincoln being a great president is a fact, but it is an opinion. Even though many people believe it to be accurate, someone can debate against it since some people can hold the opposite view.

They Look Alike

We can easily confuse the two, especially when some opinions can pretend to be facts. Here is where we apply our knowledge and distinguish between them properly. Keep an eye out for the following when you ask yourself, “Is this a fact or opinion?”

An Informed Opinion or Prediction

Predictions are always opinions since there is no way we can verify something that's in the future in the present. Even if an expert says something based on multiple facts, research, and observations, it is still an opinion unless it can be verified in the present time. These are informed opinions, and they are essential but still opinions.

For example, if a doctor says you will suffer a heart attack if you don't change your lifestyle, that is an opinion. It may be based on evidence and the doctor's experience, but there is no way to verify a heart attack in the future. However, if the doctor says you are at high-risk for a heart attack, that is a fact. We can verify it by looking at your medical tests and the doctor's observations.

Helpful Advice Is Not a Fact

Advice can be based on extensive research and data. It does not change that it is subjective to the advisor's judgment. When you see words like "should," "must," and "ought to," you can tell that it is what someone thinks is right and not a universal fact.

Feelings and Emotions

Statements based on feelings and emotions are almost exclusively opinions. It is rare for a statement with value words like pretty, good, best, excellent, disgusting, and evil to be a fact. Value words like these are used to express what you feel about something.

Are Opinions Not Useful?

Opinions are not unnecessary. They are essential for sharing knowledge. Opinions can be strong and compelling or weak. Opinions are based solely on how you feel weak and not very convincing to people who feel differently from you.

If you base your opinions on multiple pieces of evidence and your moral beliefs and judgment, it will be compelling for others to agree with you.