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1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 15 of 19

True, Pretend and Opinions

What is real, what is pretend, and why people think differently.

What your child practices

Practices telling what could be true from what is make-believe, noticing that people see the same thing differently, seeing people like us in books, and giving an opinion with a reason.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 1W1 · telling real from make-believe, and giving an opinion with a reason

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A fact is true for everyone: a dog has four legs.
  2. An opinion is what someone thinks or likes.
  3. People can feel differently, and that’s okay.

Example: Which is a fact? “A cat has fur.” or “Cats are the best.” Can we check it? Cats do have fur. “The best” is an opinion. Answer: A cat has fur.

True, Pretend and Opinions in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 15 of 19 in 1st grade English Language Arts, after Reading Smart and before Plan and Write.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Mia likes rain. Sam does not. Can both be right about their feelings?

    • No, only Sam
    • No, only Mia
    • Yes

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence is false?

    • Snow is cold.
    • Snow is warm.
    • Snow is white.

  3. Question 3

    A story says a fox talks. Is that real?

    • No, it is make-believe
    • Yes, always
    • Yes, foxes talk

  4. Question 4

    You see only one kind of family in a book. What can you say?

    • Nobody else exists
    • I wish I could see my family too
    • That family is wrong

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence is true?

    • Birds have feathers.
    • Birds have scales.
    • Birds have fur.

  6. Question 6

    Two people see one game. One says fun, one says too loud. Why?

    • They saw different games
    • Each has a different viewpoint
    • One is lying

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