Grade 3: Text Evidence to Support an Argument (Hayes)
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Common Core Standards
Reading Literature
RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Reading Foundational Skills
RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Speaking & Listening
SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.3.6 Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
Language
L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Description of Lesson
This video lesson titled “Text Evidence to Support an Argument” (Hayes) from americaachieves.org is the second lesson in a unit of 4 lessons, demonstrating a close reading of a text. The focus of the lesson is on having students identify and use evidence from the text rather than simply give an answer based on opinion or impression. The culminating task of this lesson is for students to work in pairs to find evidence from the text to defend a position in a written response.
Cautions
Teachers in Connecticut should be aware that although a specific text is used in this lesson, it could be used with any text that requires students to interpret evidence in order to take a position. While student work is included in the materials for the lesson, the samples are not annotated/scored, nor is there a rubric to provide sufficient guidance for interpreting individual student performance.
Rationale for Selection
This lesson is a good example of how to provide all students with multiple opportunities to engage with a text of appropriate complexity and scaffolding. It cultivates student interest and engagement in reading, writing, and speaking about a text in order to draw evidence to produce clear and coherent writing. Activities focus on building students’ academic vocabulary in context throughout instruction. The video lesson includes labeled stopping points of CCSS key shifts in instruction as well as a printable lesson plan, support materials, and student work samples.