Finding Textual Evidence: “What the Cheese Told”

Lesson #_2_

Name: Kayla Clark Content Area: Literacy

Date: March 19th, 2018 Grade Level: 4th Grade

Goal(s): CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1: Refer to details and example in a text when explaining

what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

In the past few weeks I have observed the students working on reading passage and
Planning: answering questions from the passage. As they answer the questions, they are to look
back into the passage to find evidence for the answer that they are choosing. This lesson
focuses on the students’ ability to use the passage they read to answer the given
questions. The students will be using information that they received from the passage to
answer questions. The students will be not only asked to answer the questions regarding
the passage, but also give textual evidence to where they found their answers. It is
important for me to watch for the students who are having a hard time finding textual
evidence, and also pay attention to instances where there could be more than one example
of textual evidence for the same answer. At this point, I don’t feel that there are any
misconceptions when it comes to finding textual evidence, but it is important to explain
the importance of finding textual evidence when reading to answer questions. As I have
walked around checking morning work, some students answer the questions and never
highlight the textual evidence. I know they used the text to find the answer, but I want to
see their thought process.

Objective(s): 1. Students will find answers to given questions by identifying specific textual evidence
using details from the passage that they have highlighted.
:
Students will learn to use the following vocabulary words:
 Textual evidence
 Detective

Students will first be assessed on their ability to recall details from the passage using
Assessment: textual evidence and highlighting it to defend their answer. This is a formative
assessment that will be observed throughout the lesson to see if the students are able to
use the textual evidence to answer the given questions. Throughout the lesson and work
on the worksheet, I will be observing students answering the questions by going back and
looking for the textual evidence. At the end of the lesson the students will be given an
excerpt from a passage and one question. They will be asked to read the excerpt and
answer the question using textual evidence that they have highlighted.
Exit Ticket will have following excerpt and question on it:
“My name is Toby. I am a dog. I have been trained to detect certain smells. The smells
belong to certain chemicals and substances. The chemicals and substances are used to
start fires. Arsonists think these chemicals will burn up in the fire. What they don’t know
is that tiny traces remain. I can smell even the tiniest trace.”
 A trace is:
a. A lot.
b. A smell
c. A tiny bit
d. A chemical

Materials Needed:

 Passage, “What the Cheese Told”, one per student (35 copies)
 One set of questions per student (35 copies)
 Highlighters
 Document reader
 An apple

Procedures:

Student Readiness (3-5 minutes):

Engagement:
 Say: Today we are going to become detectives. You all have been practicing this already, but it is a
very important skill for good readers to have!
 Ask: What comes to mind when you think of a detective?
 Say: Take 30 seconds to turn to your table partners and tell them what a detective makes you think of.
 Ask: Who would like to share with the class what they thought or what they heard from a partner?
(Call on a student)
Purpose Statement:
 Say: “Today we are going to be detectives when reading a passage or text. By the end of this lesson
you will be able to find textual evidence to support your answers to given questions. This is an
extremely important skill to have, that I STILL use! When we read passages or texts and ask
ourselves questions about them we have to go back and find EVIDENCE, like a detective, to find the
right answer! Think of the questions as pieces of the puzzle to solving a crime. If you don’t have
every piece of the puzzle, or piece of evidence, you won’t be able to solve the crime! As a reader,
you need to make sure you have evidence to support your answer, to be sure that you have a correct
and clear answer!”
Input (15-20 minutes):
Instruction:
 Say: Textual evidence is evidence from a passage or text that you use to answer questions about that
text, just like detectives use evidence from a crime scene to solve the crime!
Model:
 Say: So if I were a real life detective, trying to solve a crime, I would look to the crime scene for
evidence. Let me show you crime scene number 1. (Show an empty table).
 Ask: If I were a detective, do you think I could solve the crime if there wasn’t any evidence there?
 Say: Now what if the criminal had taken a bite out of an apple (take bite of out apple) and accidentally
left it at the crime scene.
 Ask: Now, is there evidence for me to take to the lab and test in order to solve the crime?
 Say: It is the same when you are finding textual evidence. You need to support your answer with
evidence.
  Ask: A detective wouldn’t go to his boss with no evidence and say he solved the crime, right?
 Say: Okay. So let me read this excerpt from a story about Brittany
“Brittany tried to muffle her gasp of horror as she heard the thump, thump, thump get to the top of
the stairs. She tried to silence her gasp as the noise got louder and louder. It sounded as if it was
following along the wall of Brittany’s room! Thump, thump, thump, it went, faster and faster, closer
and closer.”
 Say: So let me read question number one on my worksheet. (use think aloud) When Brittany tried to
muffle her gasp of horror, she tried to me it: a. as slow as she could, b. as loud as she could, c. as fast
as she could, or d as quiet as she could. Hmm. Let me look back and see (reread the first two
sentences). Ooo! Here! (highlight “she tried to silence her gasp…”) it must be answer d!
Instruction:
 Say: So when I came to my first question, I read it first and read all of the possible answers. Then, I
went back to my passage and re-read to try to find the answer. When I found my answer, I
highlighted it to show where I got it from.
Guided Practice and Formative Assessment:
 Say: Okay, now it is your turn to try! We are going to read the passage together as a class, and then
you will go on to answer the questions about the passage.
 Can I have the paper passers from tables 1, 2 and 3 come get a packet for each person at your table?
(Once they’ve almost finished) Tables 4, 5 and 6 paper passers, come get packets! (Once they’ve
almost finished) Tables 7 and 8!
 Say: Alright, everyone open to the passage, we are going to read it altogether! (Begin to read the
passage)
 Say: (When done reading the passage) Alright, now it is time for you to be the detectives! Begin to
answer the questions on the next page and as you try to find answers, go back to the passage and
highlight the textual evidence.
 While students are working on the questions, walk around the class scanning to make sure students are
understanding the directions and also meeting the learning objective. (It is important to formatively
assess the students while they are working to watch for any misunderstandings or misconceptions).
Output (3-5 minutes):
Summative Assessment:
 Say: (When students are completed with their questions) Now, I have an exit slip for you! Each exit
slip has a small excerpt from a passage on it and one question. I want you to read the excerpt and
answer the question, the same way we just did. Make sure you highlight your textual evidence where
you found the answer to your question!
 Ask: Who can repeat to me what we are doing now? (Call on raised hand)
 Say: Right! Here are your exit slips. Flip them over and give me a thumbs up when you have finished
it! (Collect the exit slips)
Closure:
 Say: So today we learned more about how we can be detectives when we are reading. It is important
for a detective to have evidence to solve a crime, just as it is important for a reader to find textual
evidence to answer questions about a passage. Without evidence, a crime cannot be solved, nor can a
question about a text be answered.
 Say: Turn to your table partners and tell them what we learned today!