ALEX Learning Activity

This activity is designed to get students thinking about the ways we use informational media to support arguments and make claims. In this activity, students will analyze infographical information to determine what claim is being made with the evidence provided. Students will have previously built a definition of claims and evidence to transfer to this activity.

This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.

Students will be able to build a claim based on information from graphic texts.

1. Teacher will have the Gail Opposing Viewpoints: Four-Day School Weeks page displayed on the projector or interactive whiteboard. 
2. Teacher will provide students with a copy of the Claim and Evidence Practice Handout
3. Teacher will provide a brief overview of the activity: “Today you will be viewing and analyzing an infographic about four-day school weeks. You will then have to determine what claim is being made.” 
4. Teacher will read steps 1-3 of the directions: “Open a new tab on the internet browser of your choice. Copy and paste the following URL: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/ICALEX374094845/OVIC?u=avlr&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=4b97bf8b  Browse the graphs and facts presented for 5 minutes. Take notes on your initial thoughts below number 3” 
5. Students will take 5 minutes to browse the page. Teacher may give extended time if necessary.
6. Teacher will reconvene the class and ask for volunteers to share what they noticed. 
7. Students will share their notes and ideas. 
8. Teacher will read step  4 of the handout: “Consider what you see. Does anything seem to stand out to you? What argument do you see being made? Answer in the box provided”
9. Students will take 3-4 minutes to write about what stood out to them the most after the group discussion and review of the page. 
10. *Optional: Teacher can ask students to review their answers so far with a partner or a group. Then the teacher can invite students to share. 
11. Teacher will read step 5 of the handout: “What is different in how students feel about a four-day school week and how parents feel about it? What is similar?” 
12. Teacher will conduct a think-pair-share by giving students 30 seconds to think, 1 minute to discuss with a partner, and 30 seconds to write their answers. 
13. Students will participate in a think-pair-share. 
14. Teacher will ask students to group up. The pair from above will join with another pair and they will share their answers. 
15. Students will complete step 6 of their handout as they discuss in a small group. 
16. Teacher will read step 7 to students: “Using everything above, think of your answer to number 4: What argument is being made? Create a CLAIM (a statement that can be argued with evidence) about the infographic. You may also want to begin noting your evidence in step 8.” 
17. Students will take 5-7 minutes to draft a claim statement and begin pulling evidence into step 8. Teacher will circulate and assist as needed.
18. **OPTIONAL: Teacher can have students reconvene as a class to share their claim statements. 

Teacher will assess standard mastery by reading student claim statements and observing in-progress discussions.

This activity should take approximately 45-60 minutes. 

Teacher Materials: 

• interactive whiteboard
• projector
• digital device
• Gail Opposing Viewpoints: Four-Day School Weeks
• Claim and Evidence Practice Handout

Student Materials: 

• digital device
• Gail Opposing Viewpoints: Four-Day School Weeks
• Claim and Evidence Practice Handout

Teacher Preparation: 

• Prior to this lesson, teachers should have introduced what a claim is and what evidence is. This activity will follow by asking students to create a claim. 
• Teachers should prepare a few model statements to help students along. *NOTE: There are not intended to be “correct” answers. This should challenge students to find evidence to support a statement they choose. 

  • "When you look at the first graph on the page, what does it relay to you?" 
  • "When you view the student data and the parent data together, what do you learn?" 

Student Preparation: 

• Students should formerly have learned about claims and evidence.

Acceleration: Students who need to be challenged should be prompted to further their investigation and complete a paragraph that includes the claim they stake and two pieces of evidence to support it. They should also be challenged to connect the evidence back to their claim. 

Intervention: Students who need additional support should be asked to view only one set of graphs (for example: the first set only) rather than being asked to scour the entire page. They should be allowed to look over a curated small collection to create their claim. They could also be given the above sentence frames.

This activity is preceded by “Defining Claim and Evidence” and followed by “ Current Event Claims: Supporting an Argument With Infographics.”