Citing Evidence in Expository Text County Curriculum Leads November 13th Shelly Craig:

Why Teach Specific Skills of Citing Evidence in Expository Text Students should be able to communicate an opinion or a claim effectively and support it with evidence from expository text to show its validity Content Standards, Common Core State Standards, and SBAC scoring all require students to be able to cite evidence effectively Students need these skills to operate effectively as citizens

Steps for Teaching Students to Cite Evidence: 1. Model the importance of citing evidence 2. Choose texts and questions that reward close reading 3. Explain what makes evidence “strong” 4. Ask follow-up questions 5. Draw on power of pairs 6. Help students reflect on their evidence

Organizing Evidence To Support a Claim

Indicators of student learning: Preponderance of evidence in their writing What is the strength of the evidence? Is the evidence is focused on the claim? Is it based on summative comments? Are there elaboration of main idea and use of source material to develop the main idea throughout the writing? Reading to find evidence models our expectations for writing.

Guide Students to Interact with Text People are saying something for a specific reason. What is the reason? Are we asking, “What does that mean?” Are we reading to understand or to be tested? Are we treating the text (author) as a participant in our discussion? Are we annotating to show evidence and gain clarity of comprehension? Finding evidence isn’t a chore, it’s an adventure. Are we seeking answers to intriguing questions?

Discussion Circles Show Depth of Knowledge If we are reading to understand, our shared inquiry will show evidence of our understanding. We don’t all have to arrive at the same answer, as long as we have evidence to support our claim. It is respectful and shows confidence when we acknowledge other opinions, as we explore evidence. Foster collaboration and shared inquiry. Are we listening to understand? Or listening to comment?