Evidence-Based Writing

PROCEDURAL

English›Writing Composition|Ages 9—11|ID: mt_ZxdfRbwkKM

Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in writing, applying grade-level reading standards to non-fiction

Mastery Evidence

Write a research-based paragraph or short report that cites specific facts, details, and evidence from informational texts to support key points
Synthesise information from two informational sources into a written summary that accurately represents both, noting areas of agreement and difference
Paraphrase information from informational texts accurately and cite sources appropriately, avoiding plagiarism

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] writes a non-fiction piece — like a report on climate change — do they draw on specific facts and evidence from things they've read, weaving that information into their own writing?”

Curriculum Standards2 alignments

W.4.9bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

W.4.9b

Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text”).

English Language Arts

W.5.9bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

W.5.9b

Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point[s]”).

English Language Arts

Prerequisites2

Short Research Projects
softAges 8—11
Main Topic & Key Details
hardAges 6—10

Show full prerequisite tree

Short Research Projects soft
Research and note-taking skills support the ability to gather and organise evidence from informational sources
- Shared Research Projects hard
  Independent research extends shared research and writing projects
  - Listening to Texts Read Aloud soft
    Listening comprehension supports shared research
  - Writing Process Vocabulary soft
    Shared research and writing uses 'genre', 'purpose', 'audience', 'plan', and 'draft' vocabulary
- Writing Craft Vocabulary soft
  Research projects require 'evidence', 'argument', 'perspective', and 'purpose' vocabulary
- Representing numbers with objects (age 8+) soft
  Cross-subject: independent research projects may involve collecting and presenting data using charts and graphs
  - Pictograms and tally charts hard
    Constructing simple pictograms/tables is prerequisite to scaled versions
    - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
      Constructing pictograms, tally charts, and bar charts requires these display vocabulary terms
    - Sorting into categories hard
      Constructing pictograms and tally charts requires classifying and counting objects first
      - Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
        Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
        
        Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
      - Counting objects to 20 hard
        Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
    - Sorting Data into Categories soft
      Data representation formats (pictograms, tally charts) support organising data
      - How Many in Total? soft
        Counting data in categories requires understanding cardinality
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
      - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
        Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
      - Sorting into categories hard
        Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
        
        Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
        Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
        
        Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
        
        Counting objects to 20 hard
        Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
  - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
    Drawing scaled bar charts and pictograms requires axis, scale, label, and frequency vocabulary
  - Picture & Bar Graphs hard
    Single-unit bar graphs are prerequisite to scaled bar graphs
    - Sorting Data into Categories hard
      Drawing picture/bar graphs extends organising and representing data
      - How Many in Total? soft
        Counting data in categories requires understanding cardinality
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
      - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
        Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
      - Sorting into categories hard
        Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
        
        Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
        Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
        
        Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
        
        Counting objects to 20 hard
        Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
- Main Ideas & Note-Taking soft
  Note-taking for research benefits from summarising and recording skills
  - Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
    Summarising builds on identifying main topic in informational texts
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
      Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
  - Reading between the lines soft
    Key details and inference support identifying main ideas
    - Characters, settings, and events hard
      Need story elements to extract key details
      - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
  - Self-Correcting While Reading soft
    Retrieving and summarising main ideas from multi-paragraph texts requires active self-monitoring comprehension — noticing when something doesn't make sense and re-reading to fix it
    - Monitoring Comprehension soft
      Self-correcting while reading requires the awareness that decoding correctly is not the same as understanding
      - Feeling of not understanding soft
        Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
      - Reading for Meaning hard
        Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
        
        Feeling of not understanding soft
        Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
    - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
      Need basic reading ability to self-monitor
      - Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
    - Feeling of not understanding soft
      Checking that a text makes sense while reading and self-correcting is the reading-domain form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
      - Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
    - Building sentences soft
      Sense-checking uses sentence knowledge
    - Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
      Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
      - Building sentences soft
        Understanding sentence structure supports expressive phrasing
      - Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
        Wider GPC knowledge supports fluent reading
        
        Consonant Digraphs hard
        Must know consonant digraphs before learning alternative consonant GPCs
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letters before digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Vowel Digraphs hard
        Must know common vowel digraphs before learning alternative representations
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before vowel digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before learning alternatives
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Alternative GPCs build on basic blending ability
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
      - Reading fluently hard
        Expressive reading builds on basic reading fluency
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Must be able to decode before fluency
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
        
        Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight hard
        Need sight word bank for fluency
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Need to recognise letters to read sight words
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
        Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
  - Story Sequence and Central Message hard
    Identifying main ideas from multiple paragraphs and summarising builds on the prior skill of discussing sequence of events and how information items are related in shorter texts
    - Main Topic of Informational Texts soft
      Understanding main topic and key details of informational texts supports discussing how items of information are related
      - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
    - Reading between the lines hard
      Retelling key details builds on Y1 key details and inference
      - Characters, settings, and events hard
        Need story elements to extract key details
        
        Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud soft
      Listening comprehension supports understanding text structure
    - Characters, settings, and events hard
      Sequence and central message build on Y1 story elements
      - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
    - Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
      Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
      - Building sentences soft
        Understanding sentence structure supports expressive phrasing
      - Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
        Wider GPC knowledge supports fluent reading
        
        Consonant Digraphs hard
        Must know consonant digraphs before learning alternative consonant GPCs
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letters before digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Vowel Digraphs hard
        Must know common vowel digraphs before learning alternative representations
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before vowel digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before learning alternatives
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Alternative GPCs build on basic blending ability
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
      - Reading fluently hard
        Expressive reading builds on basic reading fluency
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Must be able to decode before fluency
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
        
        Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight hard
        Need sight word bank for fluency
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Need to recognise letters to read sight words
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
        Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
  - Non-Fiction Text Features hard
    Summarising requires understanding non-fiction text structures
    - Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
      Non-fiction structures build on Y1 informational text main topic
      - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
    - Book Features and Author's Reasons hard
      Understanding text features builds on Y1 book features
      - Understanding print hard
        Print concepts needed to understand book features
Main Topic & Key Details hard
Drawing evidence from informational texts requires the ability to identify main ideas across paragraphs
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
  Multi-paragraph main idea analysis builds on identifying main topic and key details in simpler texts
  - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
    Listening comprehension foundational for informational text

Unlocks3

Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+)
softAges 12—13
Evidence Versus Interpretation
softAges 10—11
Checking Sources Against Each Other
softAges 8—10