Don't be Sus - Explain Your Evidence

Don't be Sus - Explain Your Evidence

Explain Your Evidence

• When explaining evidence, it is important for you to use the evidence to SUPPORT your claim - do not use the evidence as your claim.

• Explain what part of the evidence proves your point. You need to show the connection.

• Think of it this way: USE THE EVIDENCE; DON'T LET THE EVIDENCE USE YOU.

Criteria of Good Explanations

• Uses the evidence to support their ideas

• References specific pieces of the evidence

• Explains the way the evidence connects to the ideas

• Can stand alone, even without the evidence (but the evidence helps make it stronger)

IMPORTANT:

Don't say "this quote shows." YOU need to show the connection.

Think of When You're Playing Among Us....

There are 3 people left - you, Blue, and Lime. Pink's body is found. Blue is sussing Lime and Lime is sussing Blue. You need to determine who is "sus". If you vote wrong, you lose.

Multiple Choice

Who is least "sus"? (Which character explains themselves the BEST.)

Each player is CLAIMING that the other is the killer.

Each player has the same EVIDENCE: I came in and the other player was next to the body.

Who is more likely to be arguing effectively? (Forget gameplay; focus on the effectiveness of the argument.)

• Blue:

  Lime killed. The picture shows I'm innocent. Lime is next to the body. Lime is sus. Trust.

• Lime:

  I came in found Blue next to the body. If you see in the picture, I am closer to the door, so I just came in. Blue is further from the door. If he is not the killer, he would have had to walk over the body to report.

Lime is NOT SUS!

Lime use the evidence as support - they explained what about the picture PROVED they are innocent:

If you see in the picture, I am closer to the door, so I just came in. Blue is further from the door. If he is not the killer, he would have had to walk over the body to report.

Blue's Explanation is SUS

Blue tried to make the evidence show for itself, referring to their evidence, but not explaining how it proved Lime killed:

Lime killed. The picture shows I'm innocent. Lime is next to the body. Lime is sus. Trust.

Use the same logic to explain evidence

Multiple Choice

Which explanation is least 'sus"? (Which explanation is best?)

CLAIM: "Titanic" is one of the best movies ever.

Evidence (see chart): "Titanic" is tied with two other movies for the most Oscars won.

• Explanation A:

  The Oscars are the movie awards that are considered the top movie awards, so if Titanic is tied for the most Oscars, it must be one of the best movies.

• Explanation B:

  If you look at the chart, you can see that Titanic is one of the top movies. The evidence is clear.

How do you know which explanation is best?

Remember a good explanation will:

-use the evidence as backup

-reference part of the evidence

-still make sense if the evidence disappears

Multiple Choice

Which explanation is least "sus"? (Which explanation is best - even without evidence?)

CLAIM: The Beatles are one of the best bands of all time.

• Look at the chart. The chart shows the Beatles are the top band. A lot of people like them.

• According the chart, the Beatles are one of the top grossing (making the most money) bands. if they made a lot of money, then people must like them enough to buy their merch. They are very popular, then.

If you are presented with a good explanation, you should be able to guess what evidence the writer used without them telling you the evidence.

The explanation will hint at the evidence to give you context.

Multiple Choice

Which evidence was used for this explanation:

Look at the chart. The chart shows the Beatles are the top band. A lot of people like them.

• Any of them

Any of them

There was not enough information in the explanation to know what evidence is used.

Multiple Choice

Which evidence was used for this explanation:

According the chart, the Beatles are one of the top grossing (making the most money) bands. if they made a lot of money, then people must like them enough to buy their merch. They are very popular, then.

• Any of them

Chart 1!

The explanation references top grossing (money making) and chart 1 is about top grossing albums. It's the only chart that has that information.

Open Ended

You try!

Use the image here to make an argument for who killed Yellow: White or Red. Use the criteria for a good explanation:

Uses the evidence to support the idea.

References the evidence specificially.

Can be understood without the picture.