2. Opinions supported by Facts A lot of what we read!

3. Everyone has a purpose for doing something. You drink because you are thirsty. You sleep because you are tired.

4. When an author writes a story they have a purpose for writing it. Often we read material that includes someone’s opinion and then their opinion is supported by facts.

5. Your job (as the reader) is to: identify the opinions and find what facts are given to support the opinion.

6. Read the selection. The circus is coming to town! It will start on Friday and end on Monday. Elephants are the most amazing of all the animals in the circus. An elephant can store up to two gallons of water in its trunk. Each elephant can carry an object that weighs 600 pounds. Tickets for the circus cost too much. An adult ticket costs $20.00; a child ticket costs $12.00. A family of four will spend at least $64.00 to go to the circus.

7. Then, identify the opinions. The circus is coming to town! It will start on Friday and end on Monday. Elephants are the most amazing of all the animals in the circus. An elephant can store up to two gallons of water in its trunk. Each elephant can carry an object that weighs 600 pounds. Tickets for the circus cost too much. An adult ticket costs $20.00; a child ticket costs $12.00. A family of four will spend at least $64.00 to go to the circus.

8. Now, find the facts that go with those opinions. The circus is coming to town! It will start on Friday and end on Monday. Elephants are the most amazing of all the animals in the circus. An elephant can store up to two gallons of water in its trunk. Each elephant can carry an object that weighs 600 pounds. Tickets for the circus cost too much. An adult ticket costs $20.00; a child ticket costs $12.00. A family of four will spend at least $64.00 to go to the circus.

9. You can also write your own opinions based on given facts. National Cereal Day is dumb holiday. FactOpinions March 7 th is National Cereal Day.

10. Of the more than 294 million people in the U.S, 49% start their day with a bowl of cereal. The average American eats 160 bowls of cereal each year. Breakfast cereal is the third most popular item sold in grocery stores after carbonated beverages and milk. Astronauts from Apollo 11 ate cereal while in space. The cereal was mixed with fruit and pressed into cubes since the lack of gravity kept the astronauts from pouring it into a bowl with milk. There are 2.7 billion packages of cereal sold every year – that’s enough boxes to wrap around the Earth thirteen times. Now, write your own. Fact(s)Opinions Too many people eat cereal for breakfast.

11. Now, it’s your turn to practice with a passage. Read the selection Identify the opinions. Find the facts that support the opinions. Then practice writing opinions to go with facts.