CITING TEXTUAL EVIDENCE - Warren County Public Schools

CITING TEXTUALEVIDENCEI can cite several pieces of textual evidence to supportanalysis of what the text says explicitly as well asinferences drawn from the text.Thursday, March 21, 13

Explicit Textual EvidenceWhen we have ideas about what we read, we need tocite Explicit Textual Evidence to support our ideas.When we read, we often are asked to answer questionsor express our ideas about the text. In order to letpeople know we aren’t making stuff up, we should useExplicit Textual Evidence to support our opinions oranswers.In real life, people who can back up an opinion about atext with Explicit Textual Evidence are taken moreseriously than people who can only give a reason of “justbecause.”Thursday, March 21, 13

Explicit Textual EvidenceWhat does Explicit Textual Evidencemean? The name really says it all.Explicit directTextual from the textEvidence support for your answer,opinion, or ideaThursday, March 21, 13

Explicit Textual EvidenceGiving Explicit Textual Evidence about your answers or opinionsregarding a text is pretty simple. You just have to do three things:1. State your idea: State the idea you had about the text (if you areresponding to a specific question, be sure your idea restates thequestion).2. Cite what in the text led you to that idea: Give supportingevidence from the text (by paraphrasing or directly quoting from thetext).If you are directly quoting from a text, you must use quotationmarks. Sentence starters In the first paragraph, the author says.Thetext states.The text describes/For example.The author explains.Early in thetext, the author/For instance3. Explain the Evidence: Explain how the quote(s) or paraphrase(s)you pointed out support your idea. Sentence starters This shows.This isbecause.This means.This reveals.This i"ustrates.This highlights thedifference between.Thursday, March 21, 13

ExampleCats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds everyyear in the United States alone, a new report concludes.That’s nearly a billion more birds — at least — thanestimated by some previous studies, Peter Marra toldScience News. This research scientist, who works at theSmithsonian Conservation Biology Institute inWashington, D.C., led the new study. Any long-termsolution will be controversial. Some people proposecatching wild cats and neutering them, which meansperforming minor surgery to make them unable toreproduce. That won’t make them kill fewer animals. But itwill slow the increase in number of these natural-bornkillers. Others people have proposed catching and killingferal cats.Thursday, March 21, 13

The author’s purpose was to makepeople aware that cats killing birdshas become a problem and that anysolution to the problem will becontroversial. In the first paragraph,the author points out that, “Cats killbetween 1.4 billion and 3.7 billionevery year.” The author’s use of thatstatistic really catches a reader’s eyebecause they are such big numbers.This shows just how big the problemis. Then, in the second paragraph,the author says that there are twocontroversial ways to solve theproblem, by either catching wild catsand performing surgery on them sothey can’t reproduce or catching andkilling them. The author wasdemonstrating that the possiblesolutions are controversial becausemost people probably would not likethe idea of cats being caught inorder to either operate on them orkill them.Thursday, March 21, 13Model AnswerQuestion: What was the author’spurpose in writing this text?Here, the writer answers the question with an ideaabout the text.Here, the writer includes a direct quote from thetext as evidence.Here, the writer comments on how the quoted textthat was cited as evidence helped form the ideathat was stated to answer the question.Here, the writer paraphrases from the text to givea second piece of evidence.Here, the writer comments on how theparaphrased text helped form the idea that wasstated to answer the question.

Your g marine predators that try to snack on a hagfish get a nasty surprise. Whenthreatened, the slender hagfish releases enough snotty goo to gag a shark.Materials scientists from Douglas Fudge’s laboratory at the University ofGuelph in Canada have now found a way to create strong, stretchy fibers fromthe slime.Hagfish slime contains tiny fibers that give it strength and help keep it fromtearing apart. (Those fibers also help gag any shark or other hungry predator.)The fibers are made of proteins similar to those found in fingernails and hair.(Proteins are often called the “building blocks of life.”) The Canadian scientistsused the slime proteins to create threads about as long as an unsharpened No.2 pencil, but much skinnier.Hagfish threads have remarkable tensile strength: That means they can stretcha long way before breaking — almost as far as spider silk can, explains Fudge.What’s more, he notes, fabrics from hagfish threads would be moreenvironmentally friendly than many modern materials, like nylon (which comesfrom petroleum).Thursday, March 21, 13

What is an inference?An inference is something that you think is true basedon information that you have.An inference is NOT directly written in the text.To make an inference, we use evidence from the text,and our prior knowledge.Sometimes we have to “read between the lines.”Authors don’t always tell us everything. We need to usetextual evidence and prior knowledge to understandthe text better.Thursday, March 21, 13

ModelingQuestion: Is video game addiction a real problem?As a class, we will read The Washington Post article,“Video-game addiction a real problem, study finds”.As we read, we will highlight in yellow (or underline inpencil) the evidence that supports that video-gameaddiction is a real problem. We will highlight in pink(or underline in pen) the evidence supporting thatvideo-game addiction isn’t a problem.Thursday, March 21, 13

Citing the EvidenceAfter you read and find the information from the textthat will help you answer the question, you will use thegraphic organizer entitled, State, Cite, ExplainWrite down the question.State the idea you had about the text (if you areresponding to a specific question, be sure your idearestates the question).QuestionStateIs video-game State the ideaaddiction a you had aboutreal problem?the text.Thursday, March 21, 13CiteExplain

Citing the EvidenceNow give supporting evidence from the text. To citeexplicitly, paraphrase or use quotes from the text. Ifyou use direct quotes from a text, you must usequotation marks. You should combine what thereading says and your thoughts to answer the question(Is video-game addiction a real problem?) to create newmeaning -- the inference. Place the evidence youfound from the article in the (Cite) box.QuestionStateCiteIs video-game State the idea Cite what inaddiction a you had about the text ledreal problem?the text.you to thatidea.Thursday, March 21, 13Explain

Citing the EvidenceFinally, explain how each piece of evidence supportsyour idea.QuestionIs video-gameaddiction a realproblem?Thursday, March 21, 13StateCiteExplainExplain howState the idea Cite what in the each piece ofyou had about text led you toevidencethe text.that idea.supports youridea.

Independent PracticeRead the text: The Forever War of the Mind (The New YorkTimes)As you read, highlight in yellow (or underline in pencil)the evidence that supports that post-traumatic stressdisorder is a problem for soldiers. Highlight in pink (orunderline in pen) the evidence supporting that posttraumatic stress disorder isn’t a problem for them.Work with your group and the selected text tocomplete the graphic organizer, State, Cite, Explain.Your group will present your ideas and evidence to theclass.Thursday, March 21, 13

evidence from the text (by paraphrasing or directly quoting from the text).If you are directly quoting from a text, you must use quotation marks. Sentence starters In the first paragraph, _ the author says.The text states.The text describes/For example.The author explains.Early in the text, the author/For instance 3.