Fairless 1

Name
Nicky Fairless

Grade
BBES 6th
th
Grade

Subject
Textual Evidence - Answer, Cite, Explain.

Overview & Purpose
This lesson is designed to teach sixth grade students to cite explicit textual evidence from articles
in an effort to support their ideas about a claim. These exercises will prepare the students to
collect explicit textual evidence for their end of the year research paper.

Educational Standards & Goals Addressed
CC.6.R.L.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CC.6.R.L.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is
conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal
opinions or judgments.

Learner Objectives
After this lesson the students will be able to state and idea, cite the text that led them to that idea,
and explain the evidence that supports the idea.

Activity 20 minutes
1. Read the packet defining explicit textual evidence pertaining to the reasons why explicit
textual evidence is important. (pg 1)
2. Define explicit textual evidence. (pg 2)
3. Discuss how to give explicit textual evidence in 3 steps (pg 3)
State your idea
Cite what in the text led you to that idea
Explain the evidence
4. Read the sample article. (pg 4)
5. Discuss the model answer to the question What was the authors purpose in writing
this text?
Read the text
Read the explanations direct toward the areas of the text as shown by arrows
6. Now practice the three steps with the article on the Hagfish by reading the question,
How does the author help readers understand the term tensile strength?
7. Answer the question by using the three steps idea, cite, explain
8. What I am looking for:
Idea Hagfish slime is strong.
Fairless 2

Cite
i. tiny fibers give it strength and help keep it from tearing apart
ii. Hagfish threads have remarkable tensile strength: that means they can
stretch a long way before breaking
iii. almost as far as as spider silk can, explains Fudge.
iv. Fabrics from Hagfish threads would be more environmentally friendly
than many modern materials, like nylon.
Explain
i. it gets its strength from the tiny fibers
ii. it has a high level of stretching ability as described by remarkable
iii. compares to the stretching ability of a spider web, which is known to
stretch a long way before it breaks
iv. compares to nylon, which is known as a product to withstand tension
Background Information
Explicit Textual Evidence evidence taken directly from the text in a direct quote or by
paraphrasing

Resources
Link to Citing textual evidence packet
http://www.warrencountyschools.org/userfiles/2607/Textual%20Evidence%20Powerpoint.pdf

Evaluation
The success of this lesson will be determined by the ability of the students to discuss the
different explicit textual evidences that are pulled from the article, as well as explain why the
evidence supports his or her idea.

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