Strategy Spotlight: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning:

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning is the ability to identify an author’s purpose for writing, prove that purpose is accurate based on evidentiary details, and explain how the evidence proves the identified author’s claim or purpose.

Reasoning is a term that can sometimes sound more intimidating than its intended purpose, which is to “prove” that your proof is correct, also known as explaining how the details you chose support the claim.

Sentence starters are short, pre-written phrases that students can use at the beginning of sentences and build on their own writing. Students often need support with how to begin writing a reasoning sentence, which is why sentence starters can be helpful. They allow students to articulate their accurate thinking with confidence.

• According to the data/text...

• The graph/table shows that...

• For example, in the experiment...

• One piece of evidence is...

• During the investigation, it was observed that...

Next time your child gets “stuck” reasoning, give them one of these sentence starters to “foster” their writing confidence.