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TIPS FOR CHOOSING TEXTSUse your textbook and supporting materials. Whenever possible, set up students to use the sources they are already comfortable with and know how to access—regardless of individual reading level.

Multiple sources are what make debates rich. Make your units with debate, as resource and text-rich as possible. Print out short articles from the paper or from online sources. Encourage students to interview a parent or grandparent as a source. Encourage students to do research online for statistics:http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Data.shtml

Videos are texts, too! Short video clips can be use as openers as well as rich sources of information for debates.

Multiple view points need to be presented in your text choices, so that all groups have the ability to argue their point of view.

USING TEXT AND FINDING EVIDENCEChoo

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TIPS FOR LEVELING TEXTSWhat if I have a source and I don’t know if it’s an appropriate level for my students?

Scholastic has a “Teacher Book Wizard” tool you can use to check the level of published texts and search for texts within a particular level. Another useful website is: http://www.addedbytes.com/code/readability-score/ you can paste any text here and it will analyze it for you with detailed results. What is important about leveling texts appropriately is that if you plan to have students read independently to find evidence for text, then you need to match texts with their levels. If you are going to review the text together as a class, you can use higher-level texts.

How do I know what level my students are reading at?

Go to mybps.org, and you can see the most recent SRI score (usually administered through Grade 8). You can also use sites such as http://www.lexile.com/findabook/ that will take students step-by-step through the process of figuring out their approximate reading level.

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FINDING EVIDENCE WITH STUDENTSHelp students consider a variety of sources of evidence…

1.Quotes (from literature, historical figures, textbooks, primary sources, news sources, ordinary people)

2.Logic (arguments that logically a prove point)

3.Facts & Statistics (dates, key people, events, numbers, tables, data)

4.Appeal to Emotion (values, common experiences, stories)

To find QUOTES, FACTS, and STATISTICS, encourage students to look into sources like textbooks, handouts from teachers, libraries, and credible online sources. Also encourage students to find FACTS in their textbooks and/or lecture notes.

For LOGIC and APPEALS TO EMOTION, encourage students to simply use their brain or their friends, family, and teachers to think deeply about an argument they want to develop in order to persuade others.

USING TEXT AND FINDING EVIDENCEFind

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FINDING EVIDENCE WITH STUDENTSHelp students consider a variety of sources of evidence…

1.Quotes (from literature, historical figures, textbooks, primary sources, news sources, ordinary people)

2.Logic (arguments that logically a prove point)

3.Facts & Statistics (dates, key people, events, numbers, tables, data)

4.Appeal to Emotion (values, common experiences, stories)

To find QUOTES, FACTS, and STATISTICS, encourage students to look into sources like textbooks, handouts from teachers, libraries, and credible online sources. Also encourage students to find FACTS in their textbooks and/or lecture notes.

For LOGIC and APPEALS TO EMOTION, encourage students to simply use their brain or their friends, family, and teachers to think deeply about an argument they want to develop in order to persuade others.