Fact or Feeling? (Subjective/Objective)
"The temperature outside is 82 degrees Fahrenheit." Is this statement subjective or objective?
Objective (It can be proven true or false with a thermometer).
What makes a news article objective? (A) It includes the reporter's personal thoughts, or (B) It only includes facts that can be proven.
(B) It only includes facts that can be proven.
True or False: A good summary should be just as long as the original story.
False (A summary should be much shorter, giving only the main points).
Why is this a bad summary of a movie? "I thought the movie was awesome and the main character was really funny."
It includes personal opinions (Summaries must be objective).
Is a summary supposed to be subjective or objective?
Objective (It should only state what happened in the text, not your opinion of it).
"Spaghetti is the most delicious dinner anyone can make." Is this statement subjective or objective?
Subjective (It's a personal feeling or opinion).
Listen to this sentence: "The soccer team suffered a terrible, embarrassing loss on Saturday." Which two words make this statement subjective?
"Terrible" and "Embarrassing" (These are opinion/judgment words).
When summarizing a fiction story, what three parts of the plot are the most important to include?
The beginning, the middle (the problem), and the end (the resolution).
What is the "sabotage" in this summary of a chapter about sharks? "Sharks live in the ocean, they have sharp teeth, and the author used a really cool font for the chapter title."
It includes an unimportant, random detail (The font choice doesn't matter).
Which of these is a fact? (A) Spiders are creepy. (B) Spiders have eight legs. (C) Spiders are the best pest controllers.
(B) Spiders have eight legs.
Change this subjective sentence into an objective one: "Our school principal is incredibly nice."
"Our school principal said hello to three students today." or "Our school has a principal."
True or False: A book review written by a 5th grader is usually an objective text.
False (A book review tells whether you liked it or not, making it subjective).
If you are summarizing an informational article about volcanoes, should you include the names of every volcano mentioned, or just the main ideas about how volcanoes form?
Just the main ideas (Specific names are minor details).
What is wrong with this summary of The Three Little Pigs? "Three pigs built houses out of straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf blew down the straw and stick houses."
It's missing the ending/resolution (It doesn't say what happened to the third pig or the wolf).
If you write a summary of a biography about George Washington, which detail is a main idea that belongs in the summary? (A) He was the first US President. (B) He wore a blue coat in a painting.
(A) He was the first US President.
This sentence contains both! Identify which part is objective and which part is subjective: "The red running shoes cost $50, which is way too expensive."
Objective: "The red running shoes cost $50." / Subjective: "which is way too expensive."
If a science textbook says, "The cheetah is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds of 70 mph," why is this considered objective?
Because it uses measurable data/facts that scientists can test and prove.
Use the "Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then" strategy to summarize Little Red Riding Hood in one sentence.
Little Red Riding Hood wanted to visit her grandma, but a wolf tricked her, so a woodsman rescued them, and then they were safe.
A student writes a summary that is mostly copied word-for-word from the book. What is this called in one word?
Plagiarism (or "copying/not putting it in their own words").
Fix this "sabotaged" summary sentence to make it completely objective: "The author wrote a boring article about how recycling helps reduce trash in oceans."
(Remove the opinion word) "The author wrote an article about how recycling helps reduce trash in oceans."
Look closely at this sentence: "Scientists have proven that chocolate ice cream tastes better because of its complex sugar molecular structure." Is this statement objective or subjective? Explain the trick the author is trying to play on the reader.
It is subjective. The trick is that the author uses "scientific" sounding words to dress up a personal opinion. Taste preference is always subjective, even if you try to back it up with science.
Historians often look for bias in old documents. Read this diary entry from a soldier: "Our brilliant general led us to a stunning victory against a clumsy enemy." Rewrite this sentence so that it states the exact same historical outcome, but is 100% objective and free of bias.
"The general led the army to a victory against the enemy." (Words like brilliant, stunning, and clumsy must be removed).
If a fiction story relies on a massive, unexpected plot twist at the very end that completely changes the meaning of the whole book, should that plot twist be included in a 3-sentence summary, or should it be left out to avoid spoilers? Explain why.
It must be included. A summary's job is not to be a movie trailer that teases a story; its job is to give an accurate, objective overview of the entire plot, which includes the resolution/twist.
Read this summary of an article about honeybees: "Honeybees are vital pollinators for our food supply, but their populations are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and pesticide use." This summary is accurate and objective, yet it is still sabotaged because it misses a crucial, fundamental rule of summarizing. What did the student forget to do?
They forgot to cite the source or attribute the author (e.g., they didn't start with "According to the article..." or "The text explains..."). Without this, it looks like the student is stating their own knowledge rather than summarizing someone else's text.
Read this statement: "The documentary about climate change was incredibly boring." We know this is subjective. However, how could you turn the fact that people found it boring into an objective statement?
By using measurable data or polls. For example: "An audience poll showed that 85% of viewers rated the documentary as 'boring'." (The feeling of being bored is subjective, but the statistic that 85% felt that way is an objective fact).