Starter quiz
- Match each word to its definition. (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- credible⇔convincing, trustworthy, reliable ✓
- scandal⇔an action or event that provokes outrage ✓
- compelling⇔convincing, persuasive ✓
- Which of these are examples of statistics? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- The children were 13, 12 and 9.
- About 4/5 of the students in the year passed the exam. ✓
- There was a new law passed in 2007.
- Over 76% of pupils in the class enjoyed the book. ✓
- 18 times 3 is 54.
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- Which word means being found guilty of a crime after already being found guilty for another, different crime? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- conviction
- offence
- reconviction ✓
- imprisonment
- rehabilitation
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- What is true of Bastoy prison island? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- It is an old Victorian jail.
- It is in Norway.
- It is a minimum-security jail. ✓
- It is criticised for being too kind to prisoners. ✓
- Those released from Bastoy have low reconvictions rates. ✓
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- How is a statistic different from a fact? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- Facts are true; statistics aren’t.
- A fact is a true statement; a statistic is about a sample of data. ✓
- A statistic uses numerical data; a fact doesn’t need to. ✓
- You can’t use statistics in fiction; you can include facts.
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- What is true of Erwin James’s feelings towards Bastoy prison island, as reflected in his article ‘The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people’? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- He prefers the British prison system to the Norwegian one.
- He is surprised by some of the things he experiences at Bastoy prison. ✓
- He is angry that the prisoners on Bastoy avoid harsh punishment.
- He is impressed by the low rates of reconvictions. ✓
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Exit quiz
- A ______ is a piece of factual data gathered from a large quantity of numerical data. (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- 'statistic ' ✓
- Which of the following examples are credible statistics? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- I ate four doughnuts, and drank three litres of milk yesterday.
- By 2021, over 67% of over 10 year-olds in the UK had read Harry Potter. ✓
- Over 99% of people need glasses apparently.
- I turned 16 in 2004.
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- Which of these words is an antonym for credible? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- likely
- untrustworthy ✓
- factual
- bad
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- Which of these sentences use the word reconviction (or a form of it) correctly? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- Despite investment in rehabilitation, reconviction rates remain high. ✓
- In light of the evidence, reconviction seems certain. ✓
- She was a reconvict because she was arrested once.
- He didn’t commit further crimes and so was reconvicted for life.
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- Which of these sentences use the word credible correctly? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- The story was so strange, I am not sure it was credible really. ✓
- The evidence against her was found to be credible so she was set free.
- We were given credible information about their location and found them there. ✓
- The actor gave a credible performance despite not knowing his lines. ✓
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- Which of these sentences use the word compelling (or its forms) correctly? (Non-fiction: crime and punishment)
- It was an uncompelled day, with clouds in the sky.
- She was compelled to do an encore by her audience. ✓
- You can’t compel me to do anything I don’t want to do. ✓
- The article made a compelling case for a different approach to imprisonment. ✓
- I compelled one meal to another and decided which I liked best.
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Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- A statistic is a piece of factual data gathered from a large quantity of numerical data.
- Statistics can make a writer’s arguments seem credible because their opinion is backed up with factual data.
- Writers show that their statistics are credible by including things like the source and date of the data they refer to.
- You can invent your own credible statistics in pieces of writing where you are not expected to conduct research.
Common misconception
Writing down any number in a piece of non-fiction writing is enough to show you know how to use statistics.
Statistics need to be credible. When creating your own statistics, you need to think carefully about how to make them sound believable by giving details like their source, date and data sample size.
Keywords
Credible - convincing, trustworthy, reliable
Reconvictions - being found guilty of a crime after already being found guilty for another, different crime
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