Standard: 4.RI.8 – Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.
Grade level: Grade 4
Subject: English Language Arts
Domain: Reading: Informational Text
Teacher Overview
This standard focuses on helping students understand how authors use reasons and evidence to support their points in informational texts. Mastery of this standard is crucial as it builds critical reading skills that are necessary for analyzing and understanding complex texts in higher grades. Students should have a firm grasp of identifying main ideas and supporting details in a text. They should also be familiar with distinguishing between facts and opinions.
After mastering this standard, students will be able to critically evaluate the strength of an author’s arguments and the quality of their evidence, which is essential for higher-level reading comprehension and analytical writing.
Common Misconception 1
A common misconception is that students may think every statement in a text serves as a reason or evidence. This misunderstanding can lead to confusion when distinguishing between the author’s main points and supporting details.
Intervention 1
Use graphic organizers to help students categorize different parts of the text and practice exercises that focus on identifying specific reasons and evidence.
Common Misconception 2
Another misconception is that reasons and evidence are always clearly stated in the text. Students may struggle with texts where the evidence is implied rather than explicitly mentioned.
Intervention 2
Provide guided questions and examples where students need to infer reasons and evidence. This can be done through think-alouds and collaborative discussions.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Students should understand the basic structure of informational texts, including main ideas and supporting details. They should also have experience identifying the main idea and key details in a text.
Subsequent Knowledge
Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate the strength of an author’s arguments and the quality of their evidence, which will be essential for higher-level reading comprehension and analytical writing.
Instructional Activities
- Use graphic organizers to map out an author’s reasons and evidence in a text.
- Have students work in pairs to discuss and identify evidence in a given article.
- Conduct a class debate where students must use reasons and evidence to support their arguments.
- Assign a project where students create their own informational text, including reasons and evidence to support their points.
