Or download our app "Guided Lessons by Education.com" on your device's app store.
Young readers have a hard time understanding fact versus fiction. Help your child learn the difference with this writing activity. As you read a tall tale, point out exaggerations. Then your daughter will choose a fact about herself to exaggerate wildly.
What You Need
- Paper
- Pencil
- A tall tale (see below)
- Crayons
- Stapler
What You Do:
- You can find a variety of tall tales on the American Folklore site. As you read, point out some of the exaggerations and encourage her to point out others. Discuss how an exaggeration is fiction, something that isn’t true.
- Now have her write a fact about herself. She might write about something she can do. “I can swim four laps.” Or she can write about how she looks. “I have long black hair.” Explain that facts are things that are true.
- Have her number lines 1 through 10 beneath her fact.
- On line 1, have her write her first exaggeration. On line 2, have her exaggerate even more, repeating up to line 10. She could increase the number of laps that she can swim (forty instead of four), or change where she is swimming (across the Atlantic Ocean), or add an element that makes it more complex (while towing the Titanic).
- Help her write and illustrate a storybook full of tall tales. Staple some pages together, and have her write a fact and an exaggeration on each one. By illustrating each exaggeration, she will further see how exaggerations differ from the real world.
Related learning resources
Fact or Fiction
Worksheet
Fact or Fiction
Learn the difference between fact and fiction by concocting a story in a favorite fiction style: science fiction!
Year 3
Worksheet
Fiction Vs. Nonfiction
Worksheet
Fiction Vs. Nonfiction
Learn to separate fact from fiction with this comparative worksheet.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Fact or Fiction Bubble Pop
Worksheet
Fact or Fiction Bubble Pop
Give your child the tools to decide the difference between fact and opinion with this fun and simple exercise.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Fact or Opinion: The Blobfish and More
Worksheet
Fact or Opinion: The Blobfish and More
Fact: This worksheet is about unusual animals from all over the world. Opinion: This is the best fact and opinion worksheet ever!
Year 3
Science
Worksheet
Fact or Opinion
Lesson plan
Fact or Opinion
This can be a stand-alone lesson or a support lesson to the Fact or Opinion: Part 1 lesson plan.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Lesson plan
Glossary: The Purpose of Fiction Texts
Worksheet
Glossary: The Purpose of Fiction Texts
Use this glossary with the EL Support Lesson Plan: The Purpose of Fiction Texts.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Glossary: Fact or Opinion
Worksheet
Glossary: Fact or Opinion
Use this glossary with the EL Support Lesson Plan: Fact or Opinion.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Fact Detective
Worksheet
Fact Detective
This worksheet asks children and caregivers to assume the role of fact detectives as they orchestrate a facts and opinions scavenger hunt in t
Year 3
Worksheet
Science Fiction Writing Prompt
Worksheet
Science Fiction Writing Prompt
Get into a mad scientist state of mind with this fun science fiction writing prompt! Your child will imagine and describe a magical potion.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Vocabulary Cards: The Purpose of Fiction Texts
Worksheet
Vocabulary Cards: The Purpose of Fiction Texts
Use these vocabulary cards with the EL Support Lesson Plan: The Purpose of Fiction Texts.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Subtraction Fact Word Problems
Worksheet
Subtraction Fact Word Problems
Kids flex their mental maths and subtraction fact skills as they solve word problems.
Year 3
Maths
Worksheet
Fact or Opinion? #1
Worksheet
Fact or Opinion? #1
Learn the difference between fact and opinion! Your child will build basic logic skills as she decides which statements are facts and which are not.
Year 3
Reading & Writing
Worksheet