Tuesday

Rocket reads an opinion piece aloud, dropping a card into the balance cup for each sentence.

"Everyone in the neighborhood agrees with me." He pauses with the card in his hand.

"Go on," Raven says. "What do you notice?"

"There is nothing under it. No count, no quote, no example. Just everyone."

"Then it floats," Raven says. "Put it in the other cup. The empty one."

By the end of the piece, one cup holds four cards and the other holds three.

Nova hovers above the hanger, watching it tilt. "A piece can have strong claims and weak ones in the same paragraph," she says. "Sort them."

A supported claim has evidence under it: a count, an example, a quotation or something the writer saw. An unsupported claim has none.

Words like everyone, always, simply and obviously often sit on top of unsupported claims. They sound strong but hold nothing.

Raven thinks aloud: "The text says the sign-in sheet shows only four listeners last Tuesday. That is a count I could check, so the claim about Tuesday is supported."

Sorting claims is not the same as agreeing or disagreeing. A claim you like can still be unsupported.

This opinion piece ran in this week's Signal. Some of its claims are supported, and some are not.

You sorted the floaters from the heavy cards. Tomorrow is Writing Lab: evidence that is true but does not belong.