Claim

1. Claim • verb: State or assert (be sure) that something is true. • noun: An assertion of (to say with confidence) the truth of something, typically one that you need to convince people of.

2. Claim • Claims are statements that people could argue about. • To be persuasive, claims need evidence to back them up.

3. Claim:use the sentence frameIn the story “Thank You M’am,” the character with the most power is _____ because ____________.

4. Using Evidence • Show how or why your claim is correct • Convince your reader that you are right! • Evidence means different things to different people • Clearly explain what you see, so your reader understands your logic • In order to do this: • Introduce • Explain • Pertain

5. Evidence • What evidence do you have? Proof? • Direct quotes from text, experts, or other people • Statistics • Quotes from novel • Summary/Paraphrase of evidence • Real life experiences • Historical anecdotes or facts

6. Introduce • Introduce evidence or quotes with background information. What does your reader need to know to understand your evidence? • Where does this evidence come from? • Who is speaking? To whom? • What is the setting (time and place)? • Give the reader context for your evidence When _(character)_ is talking to _(character)_ about ____ he/she says, “_____” (last name p#). When _______ happened, the story describes ”___”(last name p#).

7. Explain • Explain, in your own words what you see as important in evidence. • Put quote in your own words • What in evidence is most important? • The reader has to understand the evidence before they can see the relevance of it In other words, __________. This quote is saying that, _________.

8. Pertain • Pertain evidence back to your claim (point of paragraph/essay) • Why are using this as support? • How is it supporting your claim? • What is the connection between the quote/evidence and your claim? • It has to be important to your claim, or the quote/evidence won’t work. This supports my claim because _____. This proves my point because _______.

9. Conclusion • After presenting three pieces of evidence, write a transition sentence or conclusion. • Instead of a simple re-stating of your claim, think about it in a new way. • For example, “Thank you M’am” shows the power struggle between _________ and _____________ well because,

10. Using Evidence • Introduce • ...evidence or quotes with background information • Explain • ...in your own words what you see as important in evidence. • Pertain • ...evidence back to your claim

11. CSR: • Read “Why Chicken Means so Much to Me” by Sherman Alexie in your groups. REMEMBER: Make your notes neat! • Each group member must have a role! • Each group member must read their cards! • Each group member must participate in their group’s discussion! • Each group member must fill out their own learning log!

12. On A New Sheet of Paper YOU WILL CHOOSE ONE OF THESE CLAIMS AND COMPLETE THE SENTENCE… BUT NOT YET! CLAIM: In the story “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me,” Junior felt that he did not have social power because_________. In the story “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me,” Junior felt that he did have social power because ___________.

13. Before you decide: • You need to see what the evidence supports. • We will be looking for quotes from the story that have to do with Junior’s power, so that we can tell whether he has power or not. THEN WE CAN CHOOSE A CLAIM

14. LOOK BACK AT YOUR NOTES AND THE STORY… • Individually: Look for 5 pieces of evidence that shows how Junior feels about his power. In other words: • You want to see whether you have more quotes that show him having power, or more quotes that show him not having power. MAKE SURE YOU WRITE THE QUOTE AND PAGE NUMBER!

15. ON YOUR STICKY NOTES • Write your quotes on your sticky notes. ONE QUOTE PER NOTE! Once all your notes have quotes on them, put your sticky note under the claim that it proves.

16. Which side has more evidence? • With the ALL the quotes from the group, which side has more evidence? • THAT should be your claim, because it has the most evidence to prove that you are right!

17. NOW MAKE YOUR CLAIM! CHOOSE ONE OF THESE CLAIMS AND COMPLETE THE SENTENCE… CLAIM: In the story “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me,” Junior felt that he did not have social power because__________. In the story “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me,” Junior felt that he did have social power because ___________.

18. In your groups: • Introduce/Explain/Pertain ONE of your quotes to prove your claim. Introduce What does the reader need to know to understand your quote? 1. When ____ is talking to _____ about ______ he/she says, “_____” (last name p#). 2. When _______ happened, the story describes “_______________”(last name p#).

19. EXPLAIN Re-state the quote in your own words… In other words, __________. This quote is saying that, _________. PERTAIN Ask yourself: how does your quote show that you are right? This supports my claim because _____. This proves my point because _______.

20. Power Paragraph Outline • Power Paragraph is like a mini essay • (We’ll talk more about the qualities of the Power Paragraph later)

21. Power Paragraph Outline • Introduce: give the reader context • Explain: draw your reader’s attention to the most important part of your evidence • Pertain: show the reader how and why this proves your claim (that this is your most valuable object)

22. Power Paragraph Outline • Due next class