Identify an author's claim in a persuasive text and the reasons and evidence used to support it.
Read this passage: "Every classroom should have its own recycling bin. First, most classroom trash is paper -- worksheets, drawings, and scrap -- and paper is one of the easiest materials to recycle. Second, a bin right in the room reminds students to recycle without having to think about it, instead of walking all the way to a bin in the hallway. Finally, a classroom that recycles together can track how many pounds of paper it saves in a year, which turns a chore into a team goal. For all these reasons, a recycling bin belongs in every classroom, not just the school office."
A claim is the author's main point or opinion. Reasons are the "because" statements that support the claim. Evidence is the specific facts, examples, or details that back up each reason. Strong persuasive writing almost always uses more than one reason.
Mastery looks like: They can identify an author's claim and list the separate reasons given to support it.
Common stumbles: Confusing a reason with the claim itself; missing reasons that are not clearly signaled by a "first/second" word.
See it visually
Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.