Claim or Nah?
Which sentence is a claim?
A) “Teenagers need more sleep.”
B) “Teens sleep about 7 hours.”
C) “Sleep studies show that teens sleep 7 hours”
A) “Teenagers need more sleep.”
Which is stronger evidence?
A) “It’s bad.”
B) “82% of teens report feeling tired at school.”
B) “82% of teens report feeling tired at school.”
“The situation is improving slowly but surely” (Must be 9th grade level word. Use Resources in the Binder or Anchor Charts)
Hopeful / Optimistic
An anecdote is:
A short personal story used to support a point
“Young drivers should practice safer habits.” Audience?
Teens / Young drivers
True or False: A claim must be something others can agree or disagree with.
True
When evidence comes from a scientific study, it usually supports:
A) Pathos
B) Logos
*BONUS 1000 POINTS IF YOU CAN DEFINE PATHOS AND LOGOS ON YOUR WHITE BOARD*
B) Logos
Pathos = evidence that appeals to feelings
Logos = evidence that appeals to logic
Tone of “It is very important that we take action now to support readers.”
Urgent / Alarming
Name one structure used in arguments
Cause & effect, compare & contrast, problem & solution (any accepted)
Purpose of a public service announcement?
To persuade / inform for safety
What is missing? “Homework is important for students.”
A claim NEEDS...
Evidence and Reasoning
Why is expert opinion considered strong evidence?
Because experts have knowledge and credibility
How is tone is created?
Diction (word choice)
What’s the author’s purpose if they include a warning at the end?
To persuade / motivate action
Why does knowing the audience matter?
Helps decide tone + evidence choices
Write the sentence that shows the claim on your whiteboard
Fast food leads to serious health problems for teens. According to the CDC "1 in 5 adults who eat fast food regularly are overweight." This statistic is calling out the correlation between eating things like McDonalds and Wendy's can cause obesity. This is not the case in adults who do not eat there regularly. With this in mind, it might be wise to avoid fast food.
Claim = Fast food leads to serious health problems for teens.
Which is weak evidence?
A) A person's opinion
B) CDC data + research
A) A person's opinion
Identify tone: “The author mocks schools that ignore reading data."
Sarcastic / Critical
Identify the author move:
“According to the U.S. Department of Education…”
Expert evidence
Audience Identification:
“Parents need to demand better reading programs.”
Audience = Parents
Write a claim about phone use in school (no opinion words like “good/bad”).
Teacher checks for testable/arguable statement.
Look for a star or X on your board, or a verbal cue from Mrs. Fin.
Convert weak evidence → strong evidence:
“Everyone knows teens read less now.”
Better: Use a statistic or source (any acceptable, even made up examples of one)
Rewrite this sentence to sound more serious:
“Kids sorta don’t read anymore.”
Teacher checks for formal diction.
Something like: Kids are struggling with reading in schools and at home.
Why start with a shocking statistic?
To hook the audience and build urgency
If the audience is a principal, what type of evidence works best? Data & Research or Personal Stories (Anecdotes)
Data / Expert research