Explaining Events & Ideas
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in an informational text, including what happened and why, by citing specific textual evidence about causes, effects, and steps in a process
What a learner can do afterwards
- Explain a historical event described in an informational text by identifying both what happened and the causes leading to it, using specific details from the text
- Describe the steps in a procedure or process presented in an informational text, explaining why each step is necessary based on information in the text
- Identify cause-and-effect relationships between ideas or events in an informational passage and explain them using evidence from the text
1 · Read
When a text explains an event, it tells you two things: what happened, and why it happened. Your job is to find both parts and point to the exact words that prove it.
Sometimes a text explains a process instead of one event. A process has steps, and each step happens for a reason. Look for the reason next to each step, not just the step itself. The exact words you point to are called textual evidence.
Read this: 'Boiling is necessary because it removes the water and leaves behind the thick, sweet syrup.' The word because signals the reason. The reason is the part sitting right after the signal word, so that part is your evidence for why boiling matters.
A cause comes first and makes something happen. What follows is the effect. When a text gives you two events, check which one the text puts first, then ask which one made the other one happen.
Sometimes you already know something true about the topic. If the text does not say it, it is not evidence from this text. Stick to the words on the page, and if a question is not covered there, it is fine to say the text does not answer it.
Watch for signal words like because, so, as a result, and this caused. They often sit right next to the answer you need.
Find what happened and why, then point to the exact words in the text that prove it.
More to read
Explaining a text's reasons and evidence
Lots of authors want you to believe their ideas. The idea an author is trying to prove is called a point. How do authors try to convince you? They use reasons and evidence.
Reasons are statements that tell why an author believes something. Evidence is the facts, numbers, and true stories the author uses to back up those reasons.
People say and write all kinds of wild things that are not true. When you read, your job is to be a detective. Ask yourself two questions. First, what point is the author trying to make? Second, what reasons and evidence does the author give to prove it?
Here is an example. Imagine an author writes, "Our school should start a garden." That is the point. Then the author writes, "A garden would give us fresh vegetables, and kids at other schools learned more about science by growing plants." Those are the reasons. If the author adds, "At Lake School, students who gardened scored higher on science tests," that is evidence, because it is a fact that supports the reason.
When you can find the point, the reasons, and the evidence in a text, you can explain what the author is saying and decide if you agree.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.