Supported or Unsupported Claims

Use Supported or Unsupported Claims for discussion, since every claim is short. Then assign the two article sheets, where students trace whole arguments.

Judge 6 claims, from a later school start to Riverside Pool lifeguards, as supported or not. A claim is supported when facts, numbers or examples back it up, and unsupported when it rests only on feelings or what someone wants you to believe. The directions on the page read: Read each claim and its support. Circle Supported or Unsupported. Then explain: for a supported claim, tell what evidence backs it up; for an unsupported claim, tell what evidence is missing. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade comprehension exercises, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with claims and evidence. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A claim is the idea the author wants you to believe, and evidence is the facts that prove it. In Supported or Unsupported Claims, a bike lane claim is backed by crashes falling from 14 to 5.

It may be true but has nothing to do with the claim. Relevant or Irrelevant Evidence has students cross out details like bottle colors in an argument for water bottles at desks.

Check that each reason has real evidence. Trace an Author's Argument shows that one cousin's feeling about Fridays is not strong enough evidence that students would be happier.