English · Foundation

Active learning ideas

Identifying Key Information in Non-Fiction

Active learning turns abstract text skills into concrete, visible tasks. For Foundation students, matching physical movement, sorting, and annotation to fact-finding keeps engagement high while building comprehension habits early. These activities make key information tangible, so students can see what to prioritize before they move to more complex texts.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9EFLA08

• 20–35 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Placemat Activity
• 30 min · Small Groups

Fact Hunt Relay: Team Races

Divide the class into small teams with a non-fiction text per team. One student runs to the text, reads to find one key fact, runs back to write it on the team chart, then tags the next teammate. Continue until each text yields three facts; teams share charts.

Explain how to find the most important information in a non-fiction book.

Facilitation Tip

During Fact Hunt Relay, assign each team a colored highlighter so you can quickly spot which facts they agree are most important.

What to look for

Provide students with a short paragraph about a familiar topic, like 'Dogs'. Ask them to underline one sentence that is a fact and circle one sentence that is an opinion. Review answers together.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Placemat Activity
• 25 min · Pairs

Sorting Station: Facts vs Opinions

Prepare sentence cards from simple texts. In pairs, students sort cards into 'fact' or 'opinion' piles and explain choices to each other. Regroup to share one example from each pile with the class.

Construct a list of facts learned from a short informational text.

Facilitation Tip

Set a 90-second timer for Sorting Station so students must justify their choices fast, which sharpens their reasoning.

What to look for

Give each student a picture of an Australian animal (e.g., a koala). Ask them to write two facts they learned about koalas from a provided short text and one sentence explaining where they found the most important information in the text.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Placemat Activity
• 35 min · Whole Class

Highlight Heroes: Guided Annotation

Photocopy short non-fiction pages. During whole-class read-aloud, students use highlighters or sticky notes to mark key facts as you model. Pairs then compare highlights and justify selections.

Differentiate between facts and opinions in a simple text.

Facilitation Tip

In Highlight Heroes, model underlining only nouns and verbs that carry key facts, not every word, to keep focus tight.

What to look for

Show students two sentences about a topic, one fact and one opinion (e.g., 'Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves.' vs. 'Koalas are the cutest animals.'). Ask: 'Which sentence tells us something we can prove is true? Which sentence tells us how someone feels? How do we know?'

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Placemat Activity
• 20 min · Individual

My Fact Journal: Personal Lists

Provide each student with a simple text and journal. They draw or write three key facts, then share one with a partner for thumbs-up feedback. Collect journals for quick conferences.

Explain how to find the most important information in a non-fiction book.

Facilitation Tip

For My Fact Journal, provide a template with three columns: fact, source, and why it matters, so students practice summarizing as they write.

What to look for

Provide students with a short paragraph about a familiar topic, like 'Dogs'. Ask them to underline one sentence that is a fact and circle one sentence that is an opinion. Review answers together.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Focus on small, repeated exposures to key information rather than long explanations. Use concrete objects or images paired with short texts to anchor meaning. Avoid overloading with too many facts at once; instead, build depth through sorting and ranking tasks. Research shows that when students physically move or sort information, their recall and discrimination of facts improves compared to passive reading alone.

Students will confidently distinguish main facts from extra details and opinions. They will label, sort, and record key information accurately in team and individual tasks. By the end, they can explain why some facts matter more than others using simple text evidence.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Fact Hunt Relay, watch for students who highlight every sentence as a key fact.

  Pause the relay and ask each team to circle the three facts they think are most important to the animal’s habitat or diet. Have them explain their choices to the class before continuing.

• During Sorting Station, watch for students who label opinions as facts because they sound true.

  Ask students to read their chosen sentences aloud and hold up a green card for facts or a red card for opinions. Discuss why opinions can’t be proven and which words give that away.

• During Highlight Heroes, watch for students who ignore captions and only focus on the main text.

  Point to a caption and ask, "What fact does this add to the animal’s story?" Have them underline the caption and connect it to the main text with a line.

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Methods used in this brief

• Placemat Activity