Evidence to Explanation | Reading & Writing Workshop
How can we go beyond the exact words of a text without simply guessing?
In this Grade 6 reading and writing workshop, pupils learn to make careful inferences, choose relevant evidence, and explain clearly how that evidence supports their ideas. The lesson builds directly from What Does the Text Actually Tell Us? and introduces the writing structure Idea → Evidence → Explanation.
Voices Between Worlds · Grade 6
From Evidence to Explanation
A reading and writing workshop about making careful inferences and explaining them with relevant evidence.
Quick bridge
What can the evidence really support?
First reading
Read the whole scene first. Then return to it for evidence.
Before Jonas Speaks
The Grade 6 English group had reached presentation day for their Words That Matter project.
Mira had just finished speaking about home. Jonas was third on the list.
While the class discussed Mira's examples, Jonas looked down at the note card on his desk. One corner had been folded backwards and forwards so many times that the paper had become soft.
He unfolded it.
Then folded it again.
Theo leaned across the table.
“You're going to tear that thing in half.”
Jonas stopped folding.
“Was Mira exactly three minutes?”
“Something like that.”
Jonas checked the clock.
At the front of the room, Sara connected her slides to the screen. Jonas picked up his water bottle, took one sip and put it down again.
His note card contained only six lines, but several words had been underlined. Small numbers were written beside three of the sentences.
Sara began.
Her word was choice.
Jonas listened for a while. Then he silently moved his lips over the first line on his card.
When Sara finished, the teacher looked at the clock.
“We can take our break now and continue afterwards.”
Jonas raised his hand immediately.
“Could I go before the break?”
The teacher nodded. “Of course.”
Jonas stood up with the card in his hand.
For the first few sentences, he spoke more quickly than usual. He stopped, looked at the card, and started the next sentence again.
Then he reached his example.
“My word is welcome,” he said. “People sometimes think it just means somebody lets you enter a place. But I think you can feel welcome before anyone actually says the word.”
He described arriving at a new football club the year before. Another player had moved their bag without being asked and made space for him on the bench.
“It was a tiny thing,” Jonas said, “but it told me I was expected to stay.”
He looked up from his card.
After that, he barely used it.
When he finished, there was a short silence before several pupils started asking questions.
Mira asked whether someone could make another person feel unwelcome without saying anything.
Jonas thought for a moment.
“Yes,” he said. “I think actions can do that too.”
The teacher thanked him, and Jonas returned to his seat.
He placed the note card flat on the table.
Theo looked at the folded corner.
“You can stop attacking it now.”
Jonas laughed.
“That was much faster than waiting for it.”
Read closely
Find several clues before you decide what they mean.
What does the text state directly?
- Jonas has prepared a note card.
- Jonas asks to present before the break.
- Jonas speaks quickly at the beginning.
- Jonas uses the note card less later in the presentation.
Interactive check
Classify each statement as stated, supported inference, or unsupported assumption.
The inference ladder
Good readers control how far their interpretation goes.
The text states it
Jonas asks to present before the break.
We can point directly to the sentence.
The evidence supports it
Jonas probably feels nervous before presenting.
The text does not state this, but several details support the conclusion.
The evidence does not support it enough
Jonas hates speaking in front of people.
Possible? Perhaps. Supported by this text? No.
From reading to writing
Turn an inference into a clear evidence-based explanation.
I infer that Jonas is nervous before his presentation.
He keeps folding the corner of his note card and asks to present before the break.
Explain what those details show and why they support the inference.
Model paragraph
I infer that Jonas is nervous before his presentation. He keeps folding the corner of his note card and asks to present before the break. These details suggest that he feels uncomfortable waiting for his turn: the repeated folding shows restlessness, and asking to go earlier suggests that he wants the waiting to end.
Guided writing
Select evidence. Do not simply collect every detail you can find.
Step 1 · Choose the strongest evidence
Possible evidence includes the six prepared lines, underlined words, numbered sentences, silent rehearsal, and a prepared example.
Step 2 · Write your explanation
Independent transfer
Apply the reading and writing reasoning to a new text.
Read the new text and complete both parts without discussing your answers with a partner. You may reread and use your normal reading support.
The Closed Laptop
When the English lesson began, Clara opened her laptop but did not start typing.
Everyone had been asked to write the first paragraph of a personal narrative.
Clara read the title she had written at the top of the page:
The Day the Train Didn't Come
She typed one sentence.
Then deleted it.
She typed another and deleted that one too.
Beside her, Sam was already halfway down the page.
Clara closed the laptop.
Ms Berg stopped beside her desk.
“Stuck?”
Clara nodded.
“I know what happened,” she said. “I just don't know where the story should begin.”
Ms Berg pulled over a chair.
“Tell me the moment you remember most clearly.”
Clara looked at the closed laptop.
“The announcement,” she said after a moment. “Everyone went quiet because we thought we had heard it wrong.”
“Start there,” Ms Berg said.
Clara opened the laptop again.
This time she typed without deleting anything.
A few minutes later, Sam leaned over.
“You found it?”
Clara nodded without looking away from the screen.
“I was trying to start at the beginning,” she said. “That wasn't actually the interesting part.”
Your paragraph must include a clear inference, at least two relevant details from the text, and an explanation of how each detail supports your inference.
My inference: Have I answered the question rather than simply retold the story?
My evidence: Have I selected two details that genuinely support my idea?
My explanation: Have I explained what those details show?
Final self-check
Bring the reading and writing together.
Did I make a reasonable inference?
Did I choose details that actually support it?
Did I explain how the evidence connects to my idea?
Member discussion