“By using the product, they were so excited and they learned so much...”–K-5 Librarian and Instructinal Technology Teacher
In this activity, students will be provided a question or prompt to answer using evidence from the text. The prompt here is: “How is the article both entertaining and informative?”
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard to plan your answer to the prompt using at least three examples.
Grade Level 4-5
Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)
Type of Assignment Individual or Partner
Type of Activity: Chart Layout
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient | Emerging | Beginning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support from Text | Examples chosen fully support the answer to the question. | Some of the examples answer the question correctly, but not all. | Most of the examples do not support the answer to the question. |
| Quote / Text | Evidence provided from the text is properly quoted or paraphrased. | There are some minor mistakes in the quote / description from text. | Quote or paraphrase is incomplete or confusing. |
| Illustration of Examples | Ideas are well organized. Images clearly illustrate the examples from the text. | Ideas are organized. Most images help to show the examples from the text. | Ideas are not well organized. Images are difficult to understand. |
In this activity, students will be provided a question or prompt to answer using evidence from the text. The prompt here is: “How is the article both entertaining and informative?”
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard to plan your answer to the prompt using at least three examples.
Grade Level 4-5
Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)
Type of Assignment Individual or Partner
Type of Activity: Chart Layout
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient | Emerging | Beginning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support from Text | Examples chosen fully support the answer to the question. | Some of the examples answer the question correctly, but not all. | Most of the examples do not support the answer to the question. |
| Quote / Text | Evidence provided from the text is properly quoted or paraphrased. | There are some minor mistakes in the quote / description from text. | Quote or paraphrase is incomplete or confusing. |
| Illustration of Examples | Ideas are well organized. Images clearly illustrate the examples from the text. | Ideas are organized. Most images help to show the examples from the text. | Ideas are not well organized. Images are difficult to understand. |
Group similar examples together to help students see patterns in how the text entertains and informs. Use colored sticky notes or digital sorting tools to make this activity interactive and visual, so students can compare and contrast ideas easily.
Show students how to begin their answers with phrases like, "According to the text..." or "The author states..." Demonstrating these starters helps students anchor their responses in the text and builds academic language skills.
Pair up students so they can check each other's storyboards for clear evidence and accurate paraphrasing. Peer review allows students to learn from one another and strengthens their ability to use text evidence effectively.
Invite students to draw simple pictures that represent each piece of evidence they select. Visuals help make abstract ideas concrete and support comprehension for all learners, especially visual thinkers.
Create a class anchor chart listing ways to find and use text evidence. Refer to this chart during lessons so students have ongoing support as they answer questions using proof from the text.
A text evidence activity for 4th and 5th graders is an exercise where students answer a question or prompt using specific examples or quotes from a reading passage to support their ideas, helping them build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
Students can use text evidence by selecting passages that are funny or imaginative (entertaining) and passages that explain facts or concepts (informative), then explaining how each supports the prompt about the article's dual purpose.
Entertaining examples include lines like “Is your cornea super strong? No!” and “Playing Today at a Theater in Your Eye: Explorer magazine!”. Informative examples are “As light passes through the cornea, it slows down. That makes the light change direction, or bend.” and “The image is upside down. Luckily, your brain flips the image right side up.”
A storyboard in a text evidence lesson is a planning tool where students organize their ideas and supporting examples visually, using boxes or frames to map out quotes, paraphrases, and matching illustrations for each piece of evidence.
Encourage students to paraphrase by putting the author’s ideas in their own words, or quote by copying exact phrases with quotation marks, making sure each example clearly supports their answer to the prompt.
“By using the product, they were so excited and they learned so much...”–K-5 Librarian and Instructinal Technology Teacher
“I'm doing a Napoleon timeline and I'm having [students] determine whether or not Napoleon was a good guy or a bad guy or somewhere in between.”–History and Special Ed Teacher
“Students get to be creative with Storyboard That and there's so many visuals for them to pick from... It makes it really accessible for all students in the class.”–Third Grade Teacher