Monday
Monday: Claim, Reasons, Evidence
A coat hanger swings from the reading lamp above the Signal Desk, a paper cup tied to each end.
"A balance," Rocket says. "For weighing evidence. Letters go in the Signal this week, and some are heavier than others."
Raven unfolds a letter about a bench by the skate ramp and reads the first line. "What do you notice about it?"
"It tells us what the writer wants. A bench."
"That is the claim," Raven says. "Now find the reasons, and then find what holds each reason up."
Nova hovers beside the hanger, her light making it sway. "A claim with nothing under it floats away," she says. "Evidence is what gives it weight."
Rocket writes CLAIM on a card and drops it in the cup. The hanger barely moves.
Learn it: the three parts of an argument
A claim is what the writer wants you to believe or do. A reason is why the claim is true. Evidence is a fact, example, count or quotation that backs up a reason.
To trace an argument, find the claim first. Then list each reason. Then, under each reason, find its evidence.
Raven thinks aloud: "The text says skaters have nowhere to wait. That is a reason. Then it says the writer counted twelve people standing. That count is the evidence for the reason."
A claim can be supported or unsupported. A supported claim has reasons and evidence behind it. An unsupported claim stands alone.
- Claim: usually the first or last sentence. Ask: What does the writer want?
- Reasons: often signaled by first, second, because or here is why.
- Evidence: look for a count, an example, a quotation or something the writer saw.
Read it
This letter ran in this week's Signal. Letters to The Signal are written by neighbors, and the crew prints them as they come.
The skate ramp on Maple Street needs a bench, and the neighborhood should build one this spring.
Here is why.
First, skaters have nowhere to wait. The sign says one skater at a time on the tall side, so the others stand.
Last Saturday morning I counted twelve people standing at the bottom of the ramp at one time.
Second, grown-ups who come to watch stand for an hour or more.
Two of them told me they leave early because their feet ache.
Third, a bench gives helmets a home. Right now, helmets sit in the wet grass at the edge of the path.
I picked up three muddy helmets on one visit.
A bench would not be hard to build. The neighbors who built the ramp still have a stack of spare boards in the shed by the garden.
Rocket says the crew would paint it to match the yellow line.
A bench is a small thing. But twelve standing people, aching feet and muddy helmets are three good reasons to add one.
Signed, a skater on Maple Street
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
| Claim, reason or evidence? | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The claim is that the neighborhood should build a bench. | ? |
| "I counted twelve people standing" is evidence. | ? |
| "A bench gives helmets a home" is evidence, not a reason. | ? |
| The letter gives no evidence at all. | ? |
- Trace from the claim down to its evidence, then to the ending.
- Tap the cards in order.
Hang the three reasons below it, and under each reason write its evidence.
Claim found, reasons listed, evidence weighed. Tomorrow some claims turn out to have nothing under them.