Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 17/01/2026
Subject: English as a Second Language
Lesson Topic: identify and understand factual information, ideas and arguments in a range of texts
Learning Objective/s:
  • Identify specific factual details in a passage.
  • Summarise the main idea of a text in one sentence.
  • Distinguish fact from opinion and justify the distinction.
  • Analyse the structure of an argument and locate supporting evidence.
  • Answer multiple‑choice and short‑answer questions accurately within the time limit.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector or interactive whiteboard
  • Printed copies of sample texts (article, report, letter, advertisement, narrative excerpt)
  • Worksheets with fact‑finding and argument‑mapping tasks
  • Highlighters and pens
  • Past‑paper multiple‑choice question sheets
  • Answer key for teacher reference
Introduction:
Begin with a quick poll: How many of you have ever struggled to pick out the facts from a news article? Today we will build on your existing reading strategies—skimming, scanning and highlighting—to locate factual information, main ideas and arguments in different text types. By the end of the lesson you will be able to identify facts, summarise ideas, and distinguish fact from opinion in exam‑style questions.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑now (5'): Students answer three rapid‑fire fact‑finding questions from a short paragraph displayed on the board.
  2. Mini‑lecture (10'): Review key reading strategies (skimming, scanning, highlighting) with examples on the projector.
  3. Guided practice – Fact‑Finding Relay (12'): Teams receive a passage and race to list factual details; teacher circulates to check understanding.
  4. Argument Mapping activity (12'): Whole class analyses a persuasive article, identifies claim, supporting arguments, evidence, and creates a diagram on chart paper.
  5. Multiple‑choice practice (10'): Students complete 5 past‑paper questions individually, then compare answers in pairs using the answer key.
  6. Check for understanding (6'): Quick exit quiz on distinguishing fact vs. opinion using Kahoot or hand‑raise.
Conclusion:
To wrap up, we revisited how to locate facts, summarise main ideas and map arguments, and you demonstrated these skills in the activities today. For homework, complete the worksheet of additional multiple‑choice questions and bring a short news article to class for the next fact‑finding challenge.