Identifying and supporting claims

Identifying and supporting claims

Or, how to argue carefully

There are several 8th grade writing and reading standards about using claims/arguments

"Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources..."

"Conduct short or more sustained research projects to answer a question..."

"Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and/or other information and examples..."

Open Ended

Why are these skills important in everyday, adult life?

Tomorrow we are going to start a writing project

We will use claims and evidence!

Today we are going to practice two skills

• #1 Identifying supporting details

• #2 Choosing the best evidence

I am borrowing these skill examples from two IXL lessons

• Eighth grade K.4 Identify supporting details in informational texts

• Eighth grade K.3 Choose evidence to support a claim

• Email Mr. Keas if you want to practice these skills for extra credit

Skill #1

Identifying supporting details

When making claims or other arguable statements in your writing, you should support them with evidence

• specific details

• facts

• quotations

Read this paragraph about primates liking sweet foods

Primates, I learned, love sweets for reasons that are simple enough to explain: sweetness is the natural sign of ripeness, and the best assurance, especially when balanced with just enough acids, that the thing you're eating is good to eat. Yet the picture is more complex. The primate instinct for sugar is particular, adjustable, and sometimes seasonal. The lesser mouse lemur of Madagascar, a gourmand among monkeys, raises its threshold during the rainy season so that, when sugars are less abundant, it requires less sweetness.

Multiple Choice

What is the best evidence to support the statement that in nature, sweet foods are more likely to be safe and nutritious than bitter foods?

• The primate instinct for sugar is particular, adjustable, and sometimes seasonal

• The lesser mouse lemur of Madagascar, a gourmand among monkeys, raises its threshold during the rainy season so that, when sugars are less abundant, it requires less sweetness

• sweetness is the natural sign of ripeness, and the best assurance, especially when balanced with just enough acids, that the thing you're eating is good to eat

Read this paragraph about growing American corn

The landscape that corn has made in the American Middle West is unmistakable. . . .Corn the plant has colonized some 125,000 square miles of the American continent, an area twice the size of New York State; even from outer space you can't miss it. It takes a bit more looking, however, to see some of the other landscapes that corn the commodity has created, in obscure places like Garden City, Kansas. Here in the high plains of western Kansas is where America's first feedlots were built, beginning in the early fifties.

Multiple Choice

What is the best evidence to support the statement that corn is plentiful in America?

• the plant has colonized some 125,000 square miles of the American continent, an area twice the size of New York State; even from outer space you can't miss it

• Here in the high plains of western Kansas is where America's first feedlots were built

• The landscape that corn has made in the American Middle West is unmistakable

Writing tip

If you are researching evidence for support, make sure you have a clear, specific question in mind. This will help you find information.

Example -- I want to research how technology changed military actions in the Civil War

This is a very broad topic. It will be hard to research because it's not very specific.

The trick is focusing your question!

You can use your general background knowledge about the topic to come up with a more specific question.

Multiple Choice

What's a better, more specific topic that would show how technology changed military actions in the Civil War?

• Religious differences between North and South

• How new rifled muskets replaced old-fashioned smoothbore muskets

• How the industrial revolution made slavery more profitable

Skill #2

Choose evidence to support a claim

A claim is a statement of a writer's argument, position, or opinion. When you make a claim in a piece of writing, you should also give evidence.

• Evidence = details that support your claim

• Strong evidence = shows why your claim is valid or true

Bad evidence

• contradicts or opposes your claim

• is off-topic or doesn't address why your claim is true

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence best supports the claim "Boxing should be banned as a professional sport?"

• Boxing promotes discipline, increases self-esteem, and encourages physical fitness

• Boxing glamorizes aggression and physical violence against other people

Open Ended

What made the wrong answer on the last slide bad evidence?

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence best supports the claim "fluoride should be added to drinking water?"

• More than half of Americans have fluoride in their drinking water.

• Some experts say that the fluoridation of water may threaten people who suffer from kidney disease.

• Many experts agree that the fluoridation of water helps to prevent tooth decay

Multiple Choice

Why is the following statement NOT good evidence for that claim?

"More than half of Americans have fluoride in their drinking water."

• It promotes the opposite claim

• It is off-topic

• It doesn't prove or disprove anything

Multiple Choice

Why is the following statement NOT good evidence for that claim?

"Some experts say that the fluoridation of water may threaten people who suffer from kidney disease."

• It promotes the opposite claim

• It is off-topic

• It doesn't prove or disprove anything

What to do now

• think of a topic you would like to research

• focus on a specific question or claim

• Work on IXL writing skills or research for the rest of class

• In-person only: go to Google Classroom and select "submit" on this assignment