Making a Point in Writing, step by step
Every body paragraph makes one point and proves it. Three moves, in this order.
- CLAIMState your point in one sentence. No evidence yet.
- EVIDENCEA quotation or fact that supports it. Keep it short.
- EXPLANATIONTwo sentences on why that evidence proves the claim.
- LINKTie it back to the question before moving on.
sentence starters
- "This shows that…" · "This suggests…"
- "The writer chose this word because…"
The explanation should be longer than the evidence. Most students get that backwards.
Questions about the Making a Point in Writing poster
- What’s on the Making a Point in Writing poster?
- 4 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Every body paragraph makes one point and proves it. Three moves, in this order. CLAIM — State your point in one sentence. No evidence yet.; EVIDENCE — A quotation or fact that supports it. Keep it short.; EXPLANATION — Two sentences on why that evidence proves the claim.; LINK — Tie it back to the question before moving on.. The explanation should be longer than the evidence. Most students get that backwards.
- Who is the Making a Point in Writing poster for?
- Making a Point in Writing is filed under 5th Grade (ages 10–11), so it matches what that year asks a child to remember. It is equally useful to an older student revisiting literacy, and to the parent or teacher answering the question at the kitchen table.
- When should you use the Making a Point in Writing poster?
- Never let a quotation be the last thing in a paragraph. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Making a Point in Writing belongs on the wall where that literacy work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Making a Point in Writing?
- Author's Purpose, Greek & Latin Roots and Making Inferences sit alongside Making a Point in Writing in the 5th Grade set. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Author's PurposeGreek & Latin RootsMaking Inferences
- Is the Making a Point in Writing poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Making a Point in Writing downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the 5th Grade set. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Making a Point in Writing poster print at?
- Making a Point in Writing is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Making a Point in Writing loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Making a Point in Writing on the same wall.
Browse every 5th Grade poster, or start from the full catalogue.