Evidence Based Language

When I analyze data from standardized exams, I consistently find one thing - that students struggle with supporting evidence.  In my experience, this means that students struggle to understand the difference between an example and evidence.  Students do a great job of finding examples from a literary text that relate to a given thesis statement.  However, this is not what is required when writing a critical or analytical essay.  This task requires supporting evidence - information that persuades the reader to reach a given conclusion.  I often tell students that when they think they are done writing an essay, they should add two more sentences that clearly explains why they believe that the example that they have described proves that their thesis statement is true.

Since this is such an important skill that students need to develop, it is important for me to scaffold the skill into more manageable bits.  By breaking up a complex task into smaller steps, I allow students to find success by mastering less complex tasks.  This will help me to build confidence so that when students are eventually asked to write a critical or analytical response to a literary text, they feel that they are well prepared and capable.  One of the early pieces that I teach my students is the language to use when using evidence in their writing.  Some of the words and phrases that students are encouraged to use in their own writing are:

• because...
• for instance...
• for example...
• I noticed...
• one reason why...
• from the reading I know that...
• according to the text...
• it said on page...
• when the author said...

Not only are students encouraged to use this language when using supporting evidence, but they are also asked to notice these terms when we study mentor texts.  By noticing how other writers use supporting evidence, they can see how to more strongly convince their reader of their conclusions.

I encourage my students to use this language not only in their writing, but also to practice speaking about examples vs. supporting evidence.  Often I will put students into partners or small groups and assign an essay prompt.  For example, I might give the class the essay question, "are Romeo and Juliet truly in love."  From there I will assign one partner the pro side and the other the con.  Using evidence based language, students defend their assigned viewpoint.  The key to success here is ensuring that students use the given language every time they provide a new piece of supporting evidence.  This helps them to ensure that they are truly providing evidence for their side, not just giving examples.

Food for thought... how do you ensure that your students are able to provide strong supporting evidence?