The Goal: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and interpretations drawn from the text.
Text Evidence (Nonfiction)
Textual Evidence is the details found in a passage that support the main idea or claim.
Explicit Evidence:
Implicit Evidence:
Explicit Evidence:
- Evidence found directly in the text
Implicit Evidence:
- Information found in a text that may require the reader to make an inference
- An inference is an educated guess
Activity 1: "Settlement"
Settlers came to this area to build farms. While they found the land difficult to plant in because of the thick root system, trees were not in the way—the area was mostly an open grassland. When settlers came, they traded goods with the Potawatomi to get food and animal skins. After a time, the Potawatomi were forced to move when homesteaders took over the land. The Potawatomi asked that they could stay “on the land given to us by the great spirit,” but they could not continue to live here. By 1831, they had to move.
Here is what one woman wrote about her trip to live in Illinois:
I have dragged one foot after the other so long and hope for the best. Friday Eve. We commence a fourteen mile prairie after we got to Paris, Illinois, hot though it was as the sun was setting it was very good some part of the way—Many bad slews. The Doctor got stuck, twice, the oxen drew him out. The prairies look fine. Many kinds of flowers grow on them— and prairie hens live on them, one of the company shot one. Eliza looks bad but says she feels like helping me get supper. Oh, dear, I think it’s hard time. Saturday 15th. Today have been traveling through prairie and timber, both, and got lost in the bargain—we took the wrong road and wallowed around the prairie grass, sometimes as high as the horses’ back. Night came we pitched our tent after mowing the grass down and made as comfortable as could be expected amongst the mosquitoes.
Here is what one woman’s life was like after settling:
The woman told me that they spun and wove all the cotton and woolen garments of the family, and knit all the stockings; her husband, though not a shoe-maker by trade, made all the shoes. She made all the soap and candles they used, and prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm. All she wanted with money, she said, was to buy coffee and tea, and she could “get enough any day by sending a batch of butter and chicken to market.” They used no wheat, nor sold any of their corn, which though it appeared a very large quantity, was not more than they required to make their bread and cakes of various kinds, and to feed all their live stock during the winter.”
Here are the problems these settlers faced each season:
Fall—the threat of fire—the prairie grass became very dry and a spark could start a fire that would burn the prairie and their cabin Winter—freezing cold, deep snow, people got lost in the drifts when the trails were covered Spring—the prairie became swampy when the snow melted Summer—some days were very hot and there was no shady forest to cool yourself; there were so many insects that sometimes horses died from being stung so much.
1. Why did the Potawatomi have to leave this area?
a. they sold their land
b. they wanted to move west
c. they fought with the settlers
d. the settlers wanted their land
2. Copy down the line from the text that led you to your answer for #1.
3. If you traveled to Illinois in 1840, which of these problems would you have faced?
a. Potawatomi wars
b. too many settlers
c. not enough money
d. poor roads
4. Copy down the line from the text that led you to your answer for #3.
a. they sold their land
b. they wanted to move west
c. they fought with the settlers
d. the settlers wanted their land
2. Copy down the line from the text that led you to your answer for #1.
3. If you traveled to Illinois in 1840, which of these problems would you have faced?
a. Potawatomi wars
b. too many settlers
c. not enough money
d. poor roads
4. Copy down the line from the text that led you to your answer for #3.
Activity 2: "Why is Community Service Important? "
The following passage is part of a report that the Obama-Biden campaign prepared about service and volunteering.
For Barack Obama, public service has not been just the slogan of a campaign; it has been the cause of his life. Obama began his career by moving to the South Side of Chicago to direct the Developing Communities Project. Together with a coalition of ministers, Obama set out to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued by crime and high unemployment. After graduating from law school, Obama passed up lucrative law firm jobs to head Project Vote, which helped register 150,000 new African American voters in Chicago, the highest number ever registered in a single local effort. Michelle Obama was founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago, a leadership development program that identifies and prepares talented young adults for careers serving the public good. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe public service is transformative, helping both the individuals that serve and the communities that benefit.
Barack Obama calls his years working as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side the best education he ever had. He believes that all students should serve their communities. Studies show that students who participate in service-learning programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate high school and go to college, and are more likely to become active, engaged citizens. Schools that require service as part of the educational experience create improved learning environments and serve as resources for their communities.
For Barack Obama, public service has not been just the slogan of a campaign; it has been the cause of his life. Obama began his career by moving to the South Side of Chicago to direct the Developing Communities Project. Together with a coalition of ministers, Obama set out to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued by crime and high unemployment. After graduating from law school, Obama passed up lucrative law firm jobs to head Project Vote, which helped register 150,000 new African American voters in Chicago, the highest number ever registered in a single local effort. Michelle Obama was founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago, a leadership development program that identifies and prepares talented young adults for careers serving the public good. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe public service is transformative, helping both the individuals that serve and the communities that benefit.
Barack Obama calls his years working as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side the best education he ever had. He believes that all students should serve their communities. Studies show that students who participate in service-learning programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate high school and go to college, and are more likely to become active, engaged citizens. Schools that require service as part of the educational experience create improved learning environments and serve as resources for their communities.
1. What is the main idea or point of this excerpt?
2. What piece of explicit textual evidence led you to your answer for #1?
3. Infer why President Obama is so interested in public service.
4. What implicit evidence from the text led you to your conclusion for #3?
2. What piece of explicit textual evidence led you to your answer for #1?
3. Infer why President Obama is so interested in public service.
4. What implicit evidence from the text led you to your conclusion for #3?