Citing Textual Evidence/Inference

​Citing Textual Evidence/Inference

​Day 2/3 of Citing Textual Evidence/Inference: Today, I will model the process of citing textual evidence using the acronym R.A.C.E.

Multiple Choice

The R.A.C.E.  strategy for citing textual evidence is an acronym that helps students remember which steps and in which order to write a constructed response to a prompt. Which is the correct acronym for R.A.C.E.?

• Rematch, Adjust, Concentrate, Evaluate

• Redo, Act, Catch, Eat

• Restate the question as a statement, Answer the question, Cite Textual evidence, Explain What It Means

• Restate the question as a statement, Answer the question, Correct the mistakes, Explain What Conflict  

​Step #1- R: Restate the Question

​The first step is to change the question into a statement. Students need to remove the question words like who, what, when, where, or why but restate the key words in the questions.

​R: Restating the Question Example

​For example, if the question was "Why did Jill decide to give her mother a jewelry box?" The answer would start this way, "Jill decided to give her mother a jewelry box because.....

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​Think of two other way that we could reword that answer by following the first step of restating the question as a statement......

​Step #2- A: Answer the Question

​After restating the question, the second step is to finish the sentence and answer the question. Students may use their own knowledge as well as inferences from the text to identify.

​A: Answer the Question (Continued)

​A few tips for this..... It's important that they make sure to answer the specific question being asked. Scholars also need to answer every part of the question. Sometimes questions have more than one part. Remember to list the character's name before using the pronouns such as he, she, they....

​Step #3: Cite Text Evidence

​This is the tricky part. First, scholars need to find relevant evidence to support their answer. Then, they need to write it correctly using a sentence stem....

​Sentence Stems to Citing Textual Evidence

​1. "According to the passage...."

​2. The author stated....

​3. In the second paragraph....

​4. The author mentioned...

​5. On the third page...

​6. The text stated...

​7. Based on the text.....

​Be sure to quote the line text exactly as it is written by the author and to use quotation marks correctly!

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​E: Explain What It Means

​The last part of the constructed response where students tell how their textual evidence proved their point. Again, some simple sentence starters to help scholars stay on track........

​What is an inference in terms of citing textual evidence?

​An inference is an important idea that the author wants the reader to understand throughout the text or paragraph that has supporting details. But it is not explicit; not directly stated. An inferred statement that one declares is true and is supported with text evidence.

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​Example of Developing Inference:

Example #1: If you see someone eating a new food and he or she makes a unpleasant face, then you infer he or she does not like it. But it is not stated directly in the text.

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​Example #2: A character has a diaper in her hand, spit-up on her shirt, and a bottle warming on the counter. What can you infer about this scenario?

​How to Make an Inference

​Step #1: Identify the Inference Question

​Step #2: Trust the passage.

​Step #3: Hunt for clues in the passage.

​Step #4: Narrow down the choices.

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The most obvious questions/statements that request an inference.......

1. ​According to the passage, we can reasonably infer...

2. ​Based on the passage, it could be suggested that...

3. ​Which of the following statements is best supported by the passage?

4. ​The passage suggests that this primary....

5. ​The author seems to imply that....

6. ​With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

​Simple Sentence Starters to Explain How Your Textual Evidence Proved Their Point....

​1. This shows...

​2. This proves...

​3. This is a good example of...

​4. This means that...

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