How is citing evidence different from just retelling? (5th grade)

📚 Understanding Citing Evidence vs. Retelling

In fifth grade, you're learning to support your ideas with evidence, which is super important! Citing evidence is different from simply retelling because it involves carefully selecting specific details from a source (like a book or article) to prove or support a point you're making. Retelling is just summarizing or describing what happened without necessarily using it to back up an argument.

📜 History and Background

The idea of using evidence to support claims has been around for a long time! Think about detectives solving mysteries – they look for clues (evidence) to figure out who did it. In writing, we use evidence from texts to support our ideas and convince our readers.

🔑 Key Principles of Citing Evidence

• 🔍 Specificity: Choosing specific details, not just general ideas.
• 🔗 Relevance: Making sure the evidence actually supports your claim.
• ✍️ Proper Attribution: Giving credit to the source where you found the evidence.
• 💡 Explanation: Explaining *how* the evidence supports your claim.

📝 Key Principles of Retelling

• 📖 Summarization: Briefly describing the main events.
• 📢 General Overview: Giving a broad picture of what happened.
• 🚫 Focus on Plot: Primarily concerned with what happened in the story.

🌍 Real-World Examples

Let’s imagine you're writing about why a character in a book is brave.

Retelling Example: "Sarah was brave. She went into the dark forest."

This just tells us something Sarah did.

Citing Evidence Example: "Sarah showed bravery when 'she stepped into the shadowy woods, her heart pounding, but her resolve unwavering' (Smith, p. 22). This shows that even though Sarah was scared, she was determined to face her fears."

This uses a specific quote from the book to prove Sarah was brave and explains how the quote supports that idea. See the difference?

✍️ Practice Quiz

Read the following passage:

"The little house stood on a hill in the middle of a field. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the grass. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the old oak tree beside the house. Inside, a warm fire crackled in the fireplace."

Which of the following sentences cites evidence from the passage to support the claim that the scene is peaceful?

1. The house was on a hill.
2. The sun was setting.
3. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
4. There was a fire inside.

The correct answer is 3: "A gentle breeze rustled the leaves."

💡 Conclusion

Citing evidence is more than just saying what happened; it's about carefully selecting details to support your ideas and making your arguments stronger. Retelling is a good skill, but citing evidence takes your writing to the next level!