Literary Evidence in Writing
PROCEDURALDraw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in writing, applying grade-level reading standards to literature
Mastery Evidence
- Write a response to a literary text that includes direct quotations and specific details from the text as evidence to support a claim or observation
- Explain how a character's actions or dialogue reveal their traits or motivations, citing specific passages from the story as evidence
- Compare how two literary texts treat a similar theme, using textual evidence from both to support the comparison
Assessment Prompt
“When [child] writes about a book they've read — like an essay about a character or a theme — do they support their ideas with specific quotes or details drawn directly from the text?”
Curriculum Standards4 alignments
W.4.9Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsDraw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.4.9aCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsApply grade 4 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions].”).
W.5.9Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsDraw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.5.9aCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsApply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).
Prerequisites3
- Short Research ProjectssoftAges 8—11
- Inferring Characters' Feelings and MotiveshardAges 7—10
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject AreassoftAges 9—11
Show full prerequisite tree
- Short Research Projects soft
Research and note-taking skills support the ability to gather and organise textual evidence for literary analysis writing
- 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
- 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'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- 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'
- Sorting Data into Categories soft
Data representation formats (pictograms, tally charts) support organising data
- 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
- 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'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- 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
Drawing scaled bar charts and pictograms requires axis, scale, label, and frequency vocabulary
- Sorting Data into Categories hard
Drawing picture/bar graphs extends organising and representing data
- 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
- 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'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- 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'
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- 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
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
Non-fiction structures build on Y1 informational text main topic
- Inferring Characters' Feelings and Motives hard
Drawing evidence from literary texts in writing requires the ability to draw inferences from texts with evidence
- Predicting what happens next soft
Drawing inferences about characters' feelings and justifying them with evidence is enriched by prior experience predicting what might happen next — both require reading ahead of the literal text
- Reading between the lines hard
Inferring characters' feelings/motives with evidence builds on identifying key details and making simple inferences
- Self-Correcting While Reading soft
Inferring and justifying inferences with text evidence requires the metacognitive habit of checking that the text makes sense as you read — a reader who doesn't self-monitor will miss the cues on which inference depends
- 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
- 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
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Story Sequence and Central Message soft
Drawing inferences about motivations is enriched by the prior ability to understand and discuss the sequence of events and connections between them — inference relies on understanding what happened and in what order
- Main Topic of Informational Texts soft
Understanding main topic and key details of informational texts supports discussing how items of information are related
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Drawing inferences from complex texts requires academic vocabulary for reasoning about evidence and argument
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- 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'
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Drawing evidence from literary and informational texts requires academic vocabulary for reasoning about evidence
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- 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'
Unlocks1
- Research & Source EvaluationhardAges 11—14