Activities

1. State an author’s purpose for writing an informational text.
   
   
2. Identify conflicting evidence or viewpoints in an informational text.

3. Identify the author’s point of view in an informational text.
   
   
4. Identify information that acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints in an informational text.

5. Evaluate an author’s effectiveness at communicating a particular point of view or purpose in an informational text.  
   
   
6. Analyze how an author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints in an informational text.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Student states an author’s purpose for writing an informational text. The student correctly identifies an author’s purpose as the primary reason he or she created a piece of writing. Four acceptable examples of an author’s purpose for writing an informational text include: inform, persuade, entertain, or reflect. A reader can infer an author’s purpose by considering the tone, language, and content of an informational text.
   
   
2. Student correctly identifies conflicting evidence or viewpoints in an informational text. Evidence is conflicting when it counters the original claims stated by an author. Authors of informational texts use conflicting evidence or viewpoints to develop and clarify their own position.
   
   
3. Student identifies the point of view of an author in an informational text by citing relevant text evidence. An author’s point of view reveals the author’s thoughts, feelings, and beliefs on a particular subject. The student correctly recognizes descriptive statements and specific word choices that clearly convey an author’s point of view.
   
   
4. Student identifies information in an informational text that acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. The student identifies specific places in a text when an author responds directly to information that conflicts to his or her position. The student acknowledges that authors include and respond to conflicting information in order to develop and clarify their position.
   
   
5. Student evaluates an author’s effectiveness at communicating a particular point of view or purpose in an informational text. The evaluation correctly identifies an author’s purpose for writing an informational text. The student’s evaluation also makes direct references to descriptive statements and specific word choices an author uses to convey a point of view. The student uses evidence from an informational text to develop a position regarding whether an author effectively communicates both their purpose for writing and point of view.
   
   
6. Student analyzes how an author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints in an informational text. Analysis correctly identifies specific examples within an informational text where an author responses directly to information that conflicts to his or her position. The student then analyzes the extent to which an author’s rebuttal or response to conflicting information develops and clarifies his/her original position.