Textual Evidence Written Analysis and Spinosaurus Textual Evidence Practice

Textual Evidence Written Analysis and Spinosaurus Textual Evidence Practice

Teaching Tidbit: To prepare your students for this written analysis you can use the Textual Evidence Practice page featuring the terrifying Spinosaurus that graces the cover of the Edge of Extinction[HC1] #1: The Ark Plan. (There is a link listed in MATERIALS for a post on my author’s website that discusses why this particular dinosaur made the cover and shows the different drafts the cover went through to reach its current state.)

I’ve provided a variety of articles on the Spinosaurus, and you can choose your favorite or give the kids options and let them choose. My students always loved a good video clip, and I’ve provided a few of those as well as a way to introduce the articles and get the kids excited about the assignment. If you don’t want to use class time to show one or two of these, you could have them playing on silent as your students walk into your classroom. Another fun option, if you have the technology available, would be to allow students to use one of these clips to gather additional evidence. This would work well for some of your lower level students or special needs students. You could take this a step further and model for students how you would write an organized paragraph utilizing textual evidence to prove the claim.

The written analysis is based loosely off the one that Sky and Shawn are required to write at the beginning of the book. This can be found on pages 19-24. I chose not to utilize Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park for this in case students don’t have access to the novel and for simplicity of implementation. However, it could easily be adapted to include Jurassic Park.

This assessment hits quite a few writing standards and helps students get comfortable using textual evidence to support a claim. You could easily piggyback this assessment with the non-fiction research paper, Dangerous Dino, that I created. I always encouraged my students to use the A.C.E. method of paragraph writing for written analysis. Answer, Cite, Explain, and it works well for this.

Standard:

7.RL.3.1 / Analyze how a work of literature's structural elements such as subplots, parallel episodes, climax, and conflicts contribute to its meaning and plot.
7.RL.2.1 / Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
7.RN.2.1 / Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Materials:

Activity/Assessment:

Textual Evidence Practice with the Spinosaurus

Extras page-Clip link, article link, author’s website link

Written Analysis

Adapted Analysis

Author’s Website Post about Cover

Suggestions for Scaffolding Assessment:

Experts:Ask them to find their own articles for the textual evidence, or ask them to read multiple articles and use a video clip. Another option would be to choose a harder claim to prove. You could also have them find articles on a completely different dinosaur supporting a different claim.

For the written analysis, have them write an extra paragraph.

Got it:Give assessment as designed.

Not There Yet:Give them an easier article. Have them highlight the pieces of the article they believe are good textual evidence so you can see at a glance if they are understanding the concept.

For the written analysis, give them the adapted version.

Special Needs Students: Walk them through how to annotate a text, and give them the easiest article. (I suggest the Kids National Geographic one.) You could also allow them to use a video clip and work with a teaching aid or a high level student to pull evidence from the clip.

For the written analysis, give them the adapted version, but only ask them to write one paragraph.

Textual Evidence Practice

- The Spinosaurus

Directions: Read the article on the fearsome Spinosaurus that appears on the cover of Edge of Extinction.Pull out textual evidence that supports the claim stated below.

EXTRAS PAGE

Spinosaurus Clips

Spinosaurus Articles:

Easy Article-

Fun Facts-

Edge of Extinction

Written Analysis Graphic Organizer.

Directions: Sky Mundy was a whiz at her written analysis in Edge of Extinction…Shawn was not. Use this graphic organizer to help organize your thoughts so your written analysis looks more like Sky’s than Shawn’s! Choose one of the two available claims and then find evidence that supports it. Remember, you MUSTsupport the claim you choose using textual evidence directly from the novel.

Helpful hint: Some useful text can be found on pages 9-10 and 19-24, but textual evidence can be found from other parts of the novel as well!

Written Analysis

Directions: Use the A.C.E method to write two paragraphs analyzing how the author showed the reader that she believed the dinosaur situation in Edge of Extinction was worse than in the book Jurassic Park. Make sure you explain your textual evidence.

(Adapted) Written Analysis

Paragraph One

Answer (Explain which claim you chose and why):______

______

Cite (Provide at least one piece of textual evidence. This should be a direct quote from the text.)______
______

Explain (Explain how this piece of evidence supports your claim):______

Paragraph Two

Answer (State your claim in a new fresh way and explain that your textual evidence proves it.):______

______

Cite (Provide at least one piece of textual evidence. This should be a direct quote from the text.)______
______

Explain (Explain how this piece of evidence supports your claim):______

[HC1]See comment on other documents. Should this be “Edge of Extinction: The Ark Plan” or even just “The Ark Plan” instead?