Reasons and Evidence for a Point

1. Write: "We should have a longer break." Under it write two sentences: A "Children concentrate better after time outside." B "In our class, spelling scores rose from 14 to 17 out of 20 in the weeks we had a longer break."
2. Ask: "Which one tells you WHY, and which one PROVES it?" A is a reason; B is evidence.
3. Write on the anchor chart: "Point = what the author wants you to believe. Reason = why it is true (general). Evidence = proof the reason is true (specific: numbers, examples, results, quotes)."

1. Display: "(1) Every school playground should have trees. (2) First, trees keep students cool. (3) On a hot June day at Oak Lane School, the shaded part of the playground measured 24 degrees while the open asphalt measured 33 degrees. (4) Second, trees make playgrounds calmer. (5) After Elm Park School planted 15 trees, playground arguments reported to teachers fell from 30 a month to 18. (6) Finally, trees are good for the planet."
2. Highlight sentence 1 green and ask why it is the point: it is what the whole text wants you to believe.
3. Highlight sentences 2 and 4 yellow. Ask: "How do you know they are reasons and not evidence?" Because they are general — they would be true at any school — and they answer "why?".
4. Highlight 3 and 5 pink. Ask: "What makes them evidence?" They are specific: a named school, numbers, a before and after. Draw an arrow from 3 to 2 and from 5 to 4.
5. Now stop on sentence 6. Ask: "Is there any pink after it?" No. Highlight it yellow and write beside it: "reason with no evidence." Ask: "Do you believe it anyway?" Most will. Explain that agreeing with a reason is not the same as the author proving it, and that the author has left this one unsupported.
6. Model judging sufficiency. Ask: "Is one hot day at one school enough to prove trees keep every playground cool?" Draw out: it is real evidence, but one day at one school is a small sample. Write: "Reason 1 has evidence, but only from one school on one day. More schools or more days would make it stronger."

“A reason tells me why. Evidence proves it. If I can ask "How do you know?" and the sentence answers with something I could check — a number, a named place, a result — that is evidence. If it just says the same thing more firmly, it is still a reason.”

1. Pairs color: "(1) More students should walk to school. (2) Walking keeps children healthy. (3) A survey of 200 students at Hill Road found that walkers were active for 25 more minutes a day than those driven. (4) Walking also makes the roads safer. (5) It is fun to walk with friends."
2. They draw arrows from evidence to reasons. The answers to fish for: sentence 3 supports 2; sentence 4 has no evidence; sentence 5 is a reason with no evidence — and is close to opinion.
3. Pairs write one sentence judging the support: "Reason ___ is well supported because ___. Reason ___ is not supported because ___."
4. Take two judgments to the board. Ask the class which reason the author most needs to add evidence for, and what that evidence could be (for example, the number of cars outside school before and after a walking week).

“Your job is not to decide if you agree. Your job is to decide if the author has proved it. You can agree with something an author has not proved at all.”

1. Students complete the printable practice sheet alone, sorting statements into point, reason and evidence and matching evidence to reasons.
2. Early finishers write a piece of evidence for "Trees are good for the planet" that would fit the style of sentences 3 and 5 — specific, checkable, with a number.

1. Read: "Our school should start a garden. Gardens teach children about food." Ask: "What is missing?" Evidence. One student suggests what it could be.