Age: 10-11 years

Duration: 70 min

Objectives

• Distinguish news reports from opinion/editorial pieces by tone and purpose.
• Identify author perspective, audience, and persuasive techniques in an editorial.
• Annotate one editorial for bias signals and supporting reasons.

Vocab

• editorial / opinion: "An editorial argues for a viewpoint; news reports facts."
• perspective / bias: "Perspective is the author's angle; bias favors one side unfairly."
• audience / purpose: "Audience is who reads it; purpose is why it was written."
• persuade: "Persuade means convince the reader to agree or act."

Warm-up (5min)

News or opinion? — read two short excerpts (same topic) — table talk: which is fact report? which argues? List 2 clue words (should, believe, according to).

Main Activity (55min): "TIME for Kids"

"Editorial Analysis Studio" — Round 1: Side-by-side packets — news article vs editorial on student-relevant topic (~300 words each). Round 2: Purpose grid — News: who/what/when; Editorial: claim/reasons/call to action. Round 3: Persuasive technique hunt — rhetorical question, emotional example, expert quote, repetition — label in editorial. Round 4: Bias discussion — "Is bias always bad?" — balanced 5-min talk using frames. Round 5: Annotation task — highlight thesis, 3 reasons, 1 technique; margin-note audience. Round 6: Write 4-sentence response: "The author wants ___ to think ___ because ___ ." Link to essay prep — editorial structure mirrors argumentative essay. TFK portfolio #2.

Wrap-up (5min)

Share one persuasive technique spotted: "The writer used ___ to convince us."

Teacher Tips

• Bridge TFK reading to essay writing — show editorial = published argumentative piece.
• Bias talk needs nuance — distinguish perspective (ok) from false facts (not ok).
• Preview Lesson 17 media literacy — editorial reading sets up fact-check mindset.