CCRA.R.7: Integrating and Evaluating Words, Visuals and Data

Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A weather app says in words: 'A mostly dry week ahead.' Under the words, its chart shows the chance of rain for each day: Monday 10%, Tuesday 10%, Wednesday 20%, Thursday 70%, Friday 30%. If you had to pick a day for an outdoor class, what would you decide, and which part of the app, the words or the chart, did you trust more?"

   Take answers. Most students choose Monday or Tuesday and avoid Thursday. The words are not false (four of five days are likely dry), but they hide the one day that matters most. Only by putting the words and the numbers together does a reader get the whole picture, and only by questioning the words does a reader notice what they leave out. Those two moves, integrate and evaluate, are CCRA.R.7.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Terms for the whole period.

   • Format: the form content takes on the page or screen: paragraph, table, bar graph, diagram, map, timeline, photograph.
   • Medium (plural media or mediums): the channel that carries it: print, digital text, audio, video, a live performance, a multimedia web page.
   • Integrate: combine information from more than one format into one accurate understanding, noticing where they agree, where one adds to the other and where they conflict.
   • Evaluate: judge how accurately, fairly and clearly a format presents the content: its source, its scale, its labels and what it leaves out.

   Three questions for any visual or table. (1) What does it show that the words do not? (2) What do the words give that it cannot? (3) Does it match the words, and is it drawn fairly?

   How the anchor grows. The table lists every grade-level standard that carries CCRA.R.7 in grades 6-12, with a short paraphrase of what each band adds.

   Progression of CCRA.R.7 in grades 6-12

   Grade-level standard	Band and text type	What this band adds
   RL.6.7	Grade 6, literature	Comparing reading a story, drama or poem with listening to or watching an audio, video or live version, including what readers "see" and "hear" in each
   RL.7.7	Grade 7, literature	Comparing a written story, drama or poem with its audio, filmed, staged or multimedia version and the effects of techniques unique to each medium (lighting, sound, camera angles)
   RL.8.7	Grade 8, literature	How far a filmed or live production stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the director's or actors' choices
   RL.9-10.7	Grades 9-10, literature	How a subject or key scene is represented in two different artistic mediums, including what each emphasizes or leaves out
   RL.11-12.7	Grades 11-12, literature	Several interpretations of one story, drama or poem, such as recorded or live productions, evaluating how each interprets the source (including a play by Shakespeare and one by an American dramatist)
   RI.6.7	Grade 6, informational	Integrating information from different media or formats (visual, quantitative) with words to build a coherent understanding of a topic
   RI.7.7	Grade 7, informational	Comparing a text with an audio, video or multimedia version and how each medium portrays the subject
   RI.8.7	Grade 8, informational	Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of different mediums (print, digital text, video, multimedia) for presenting a topic
   RI.9-10.7	Grades 9-10, informational	Analyzing accounts of one subject told in different mediums and which details each emphasizes
   RI.11-12.7	Grades 11-12, informational	Integrating and evaluating multiple sources in different media or formats to address a question or solve a problem
   RH.6-8.7	Grades 6-8, history/social studies	Integrating visual information (charts, graphs, photographs, videos, maps) with other information in print and digital texts
   RH.9-10.7	Grades 9-10, history/social studies	Integrating quantitative or technical analysis (charts, research data) with qualitative analysis
   RH.11-12.7	Grades 11-12, history/social studies	Integrating and evaluating multiple sources in diverse formats and media to address a question or solve a problem
   RST.6-8.7	Grades 6-8, science and technical	Integrating technical information given in words with a visual version of it (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, table)
   RST.9-10.7	Grades 9-10, science and technical	Translating words into a visual form (a table or chart) and visual or mathematical information into words
   RST.11-12.7	Grades 11-12, science and technical	Integrating and evaluating multiple sources in diverse formats and media (data, video, multimedia) to address a question or solve a problem

   Model text. In January 1610, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei turned a telescope he had built toward the planet Jupiter and saw three small "stars" beside it. Night after night he recorded their positions in words and in small sketches, and two months later he published them in a short book, Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger). The excerpt is from Edward Stafford Carlos's English translation of 1880. Three notes: "the first hour of the following night" means the first hour after sunset; the ecliptic and the Zodiac are the band of sky in which the planets travel; and "(Fig. 1)" and the other figure numbers point to Galileo's sketches. Diagram 1 redraws four of those nights from his words.

   1On the 7th day of January in the present year, 1610, in the first hour of the following night, when I was viewing the constellations of the heavens through a telescope, the planet Jupiter presented itself to my view, and as I had prepared for myself a very excellent instrument, I noticed a circumstance which I had never been able to notice before, owing to want of power in my other telescope, namely, that three little stars, small but very bright, were near the planet; and although I believed them to belong to the number of the fixed stars, yet they made me somewhat wonder, because they seemed to be arranged exactly in a straight line, parallel to the ecliptic, and to be brighter than the rest of the stars, equal to them in magnitude. The position of them with reference to one another and to Jupiter was as follows (Fig. 1).

   2On the east side there were two stars, and a single one towards the west. The star which was furthest towards the east, and the western star, appeared rather larger than the third.

   3I scarcely troubled at all about the distance between them and Jupiter, for, as I have already said, at first I believed them to be fixed stars; but when on January 8th, led by some fatality, I turned again to look at the same part of the heavens, I found a very different state of things, for there were three little stars all west of Jupiter, and nearer together than on the previous night, and they were separated from one another by equal intervals, as the accompanying illustration (Fig. 2) shows.

   [...]

   4But on January 10th the stars appeared in the following position with regard to Jupiter; there were two only, and both on the east side of Jupiter, the third, as I thought, being hidden by the planet (Fig. 3). They were situated just as before, exactly in the same straight line with Jupiter, and along the Zodiac.

   5When I had seen these phenomena, as I knew that corresponding changes of position could not by any means belong to Jupiter, and as, moreover, I perceived that the stars which I saw had been always the same, for there were no others either in front or behind, within a great distance, along the Zodiac,—at length, changing from doubt into surprise, I discovered that the interchange of position which I saw belonged not to Jupiter, but to the stars to which my attention had been drawn, and I thought therefore that they ought to be observed henceforward with more attention and precision.

   6Accordingly, on January 11th I saw an arrangement of the following kind (Fig. 4), namely, only two stars to the east of Jupiter, the nearer of which was distant from Jupiter three times as far as from the star further to the east; and the star furthest to the east was nearly twice as large as the other one; whereas on the previous night they had appeared nearly of equal magnitude. I therefore concluded, and decided unhesitatingly, that there are three stars in the heavens moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mercury round the Sun; which at length was established as clear as daylight by numerous other subsequent observations. [...]

   • Words and sketch together: January 7

     Paragraph 2 says: "On the east side there were two stars, and a single one towards the west." Find the January 7 row of Diagram 1. What does the sketch show at once, and what do the words add?

     Result: The sketch shows the arrangement at a glance: two dots on the east side of Jupiter (the left, as in Galileo's own figures) and one on the west. The words add which dots looked bigger: "The star which was furthest towards the east, and the western star, appeared rather larger than the third." Galileo gives no distances for this night, so the spacing in the sketch is a guess; the sides and the sizes come from the words.

   • Words to numbers: January 11

     Paragraph 6 says the nearer of the two eastern stars "was distant from Jupiter three times as far as from the star further to the east." If the gap between the two stars is 1 unit, how far from Jupiter is each star?

     Result: The nearer star is 3 units east of Jupiter, and the outer star is 3 + 1 = 4 units east. So the outer star is 4/3 as far from Jupiter as the nearer one. Diagram 1 places them at 3 and 4 units. The sentence gives a ratio, not a measurement, so a drawing can get the proportions right but not the true distance in the sky.

   • Evaluate what each format can do (grades 8 and up)

     Paragraph 5 holds Galileo's turning point: the change of position "belonged not to Jupiter, but to the stars." Could any single sketch in Diagram 1 show that?

     Result: No. Each sketch freezes one night. Only the series, read in order, shows the small stars changing sides while Jupiter stays in the middle, and only the words explain why that matters: he "perceived that the stars which I saw had been always the same." The visuals show the pattern; the words give the reasoning, and the doubt that came before it.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Translate words into a sketch. The next entries in Galileo's log, below, give distances in minutes of arc (written 2´), a unit for small angles in the sky: one minute is one sixtieth of a degree. The translation now calls the small bodies satellites (the translator's word; Galileo kept calling them stars). Give each pair graph paper. They draw a horizontal line, mark Jupiter in the middle, write East on the left and West on the right, and let one square stand for one minute.

   1Jan. 12.—At the first hour of the next night I saw these heavenly bodies arranged in this manner (Fig. 5). The satellite furthest to the east was greater than the satellite furthest to the west; but both were very conspicuous and bright; the distance of each one from Jupiter was two minutes. A third satellite, certainly not in view before, began to appear at the third hour; it nearly touched Jupiter on the east side, and was exceedingly small. They were all arranged in the same straight line, along the ecliptic.

   2Jan. 13.—For the first time four satellites were in view in the following position with regard to Jupiter (Fig. 6).

   3There were three to the west, and one to the east; they made a straight line nearly, but the middle satellite of those to the west deviated a little from the straight line towards the north. The satellite furthest to the east was at a distance of 2´ from Jupiter; there were intervals of 1´ only between Jupiter and the nearest satellite, and between the satellites themselves, west of Jupiter. All the satellites appeared of the same size, and though small they were very brilliant, and far outshone the fixed stars of the same magnitude.

   4Jan. 14.—The weather was cloudy.

   1. January 12, first hour. Ask pairs to sketch paragraph 1's first arrangement. Teacher note: one satellite 2 squares east of Jupiter and one 2 squares west, drawn a little larger on the east because "The satellite furthest to the east was greater than the satellite furthest to the west."
   2. January 12, third hour. Ask: "A third satellite 'began to appear at the third hour.' Can one sketch show this night?" Teacher note: not honestly. The night needs two sketches, or one sketch with a time label on the new satellite, drawn very small and almost touching Jupiter on the east side. Formats that freeze a moment need labels when the content changes over time.
   3. What the words hold that a sketch loses. Ask: "List two details in paragraph 1 that your sketch cannot show by position alone." Teacher note: that the outer satellites were "very conspicuous and bright"; that the third was "certainly not in view before"; that all lay "along the ecliptic." A good sketch adds a key or a caption for these.
   4. Leave January 13 for later. Students work with paragraphs 2-3 on their own in the quiz, so collect the January 12 sketches before moving on.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Article, table and chart. Students read the original local news article below, then the table under it and the chart printed with the article (Diagram 2 in the Diagrams section). All the data are invented. They complete a three-column chart: What the article says, What the table shows, What the chart suggests, with at least one row where two sources disagree. They finish with two sentences: one integrating all three sources into a fair summary of what happened, and one naming the source they trust least and why.

   1For the first two weeks of December, an afternoon of public skating at the Fernwood ice rink cost $8. On the third Monday of the month, the town cut the price to $3 to see whether more families would come.

   2The rink's turnstile counts every skater who enters. The parks department compared the counts for the five weekdays before the price cut with the five weekdays after it. The second week was also the first week of winter break for Fernwood's schools.

   3"Cutting the price doubled attendance, and the chart makes the difference easy to see," said parks director Jordan Ellis. The daily counts are in the table and the chart that come with this article.

   4Friday was the busiest day of both weeks. Rink manager Rosa Vance said the $3 price will stay for the rest of the season. "Families tell us they love it," she said.

   Weekday public skating at the Fernwood ice rink (invented data)

   Day	Skaters at $8	Skaters at $3
   Monday	70	118
   Tuesday	78	120
   Wednesday	85	131
   Thursday	92	140
   Friday	95	146
   Average	84	131

   Grades 6-8 may complete the chart with a partner and use a calculator. Grades 9-12 add a third sentence: what other evidence the parks department should collect before deciding.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: Name one thing a table or chart from today showed that its words did not, and one thing the words gave that the visual could not. Then write one question you would ask before trusting a chart.

   Teacher note on the 1880 translation: Galileo first believed the small bodies were fixed stars, and the excerpt keeps his word "stars" until he reasons that they move around Jupiter; in the January 12-14 entries the translator switches to "satellites," the word Johannes Kepler introduced. Today the four are known as the Galilean moons. The translator's footnotes are left out of both excerpts; both cuts in the first excerpt, a whole paragraph and the end of the last paragraph, are marked [...].

   For homework: students read the original park article below and the table under it. The park, the people and the numbers are invented. The article's paragraphs are numbered 1-4.

   1On weekend mornings, the small parking lot at the foot of the Hemlock Climb in Birch Hollow State Park is full by eight o'clock. Ranger Theo Marsh says the Hemlock Climb is "now the park's most popular trail, with use up 145 percent in two years."

   2Electronic counters at each trailhead record every hiker who passes. The totals for the park's four trails over the last three years are in the table below this article.

   3Marsh credits a series of guided hikes that began in Year 2 and new trail signs on the main road. Not everyone is pleased. "The Lake Loop has been forgotten," one longtime hiker told the park's advisory board. "It's the trail families actually use."

   4In the spring, the board will decide whether to move part of the Lake Loop's maintenance budget to the Hemlock Climb. Marsh says the numbers speak for themselves.

   Hikers counted on each trail, Birch Hollow State Park (invented data)

   Trail	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
   Lake Loop	4,200	4,050	3,980
   Hemlock Climb	1,100	1,900	2,700
   Creek Path	2,300	2,250	2,400
   Overlook Spur	600	900	1,300

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does it mean to integrate information from a text and a chart?

   ATo combine both into one understanding, noticing where they agree and differ BTo copy every number from the chart into the paragraphs of the text CTo choose whichever source looks clearer and set the other one aside DTo check that the chart and the text both use the same title and font

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Diagram 1 shows only two stars beside Jupiter on January 10. Which explanation comes from Galileo's words in paragraph 4?

   AOne of the three stars had moved too far away to be seen that night. BClouds covered part of the sky and hid one of the three stars from view. CGalileo thought the third star was hidden behind the planet itself. DGalileo's telescope was too weak that night to show the third star.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 4 says the January 10 stars were "exactly in the same straight line with Jupiter, and along the Zodiac." Which feature of Diagram 1 matches this?

   AThe stars are drawn larger on some nights than on others. BEvery star on every night sits on one line through Jupiter. CEast is labeled on the left side and west on the right side. DThe rows are arranged from top to bottom in order of date.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the January 13 entry (paragraph 3 of the second Galileo excerpt), how far west of Jupiter was the satellite furthest to the west?

   A1 minute B2 minutes C3 minutes D4 minutes

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which arrangement matches Galileo's January 13 description? (Distances are in minutes of arc; east is on the left.)

   AEast: two satellites, at 1 and 2. West: two satellites, at 1 and 2. BEast: none. West: four satellites, at 1, 2, 3 and 4. CEast: three satellites, at 1, 2 and 3. West: one satellite, at 2. DEast: one satellite, at 2. West: three satellites, at 1, 2 and 3.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   On January 13, "the middle satellite of those to the west deviated a little from the straight line towards the north." If north is at the top of a sketch, how should that satellite be drawn?

   ASlightly above the line, at 2 minutes west of Jupiter BSlightly below the line, at 2 minutes east of Jupiter COn the line, but drawn larger than the other satellites DSlightly above the line, at 3 minutes west of Jupiter

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Use your answer to question 4. On January 13, how far apart were the satellite furthest to the east and the satellite furthest to the west?

   A3 minutes B5 minutes C2 minutes D6 minutes

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to the skating table, by how many skaters did the average weekday count rise after the price cut?

   A47 skaters B84 skaters C131 skaters D51 skaters

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Jordan Ellis says cutting the price "doubled attendance." Does the table support this claim?

   AYes: the average rose from 84 to 168 skaters a day. BNo: the average rose from 84 to 131, about 56 percent. CYes: Friday's count rose from 95 to 190 skaters. DNo: attendance fell on most days after the price cut.

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does the chart in Diagram 2 make the change look larger than the table shows?

    AIt uses two different colors for the two bars. BIt shows the averages instead of the daily counts. CIt leaves out the label for the vertical axis. DIts vertical axis starts at 60 skaters, not at 0.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The article says Friday "was the busiest day of both weeks." What does the table add to that sentence?

    AThat Friday was also the day the lower price first began BThat Friday's count went down after the price was cut CThat Friday rose from 95 to 146 skaters and stayed the highest DThat winter break made Friday the busiest day of both weeks

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 2 says the second week "was also the first week of winter break for Fernwood's schools." Why does this weaken the director's claim about the price?

    AThe turnstile cannot count skaters accurately during winter break. BWinter break always lowers the number of people who come skating at a town rink. CThe table leaves out the weekend counts for both of the weeks. DStudents out of school could explain part of the rise, not only the price.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Rosa Vance says, "Families tell us they love it." How does this claim differ from the evidence in the table?

    AIt reports opinions without numbers, so the table cannot check it. BIt repeats the table's averages in words instead of in numbers. CIt disagrees with the table, which shows that attendance fell. DIt is a count made by the turnstile on each day of the week.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A science museum wants to teach how a volcano erupts. Which is an advantage of a short video over a printed article for this topic?

    AViewers can reread any sentence slowly, at their own pace. BIt can show the sequence of the eruption as it happens. CIt can always include more exact numbers than a page can. DIt costs nothing to make, so any museum can produce one.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Paragraph 6 says that on January 11 the star furthest to the east "was nearly twice as large as the other one; whereas on the previous night they had appeared nearly of equal magnitude." Explain how Diagram 1 shows this change, and why size is harder to read in a sketch than position.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Turn the January 13 entry into a small table with one row per satellite and columns for side of Jupiter, distance in minutes and notes. Then name one detail in Galileo's words that your table cannot hold well.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Describe how you would redraw the skating chart in Diagram 2 so that it shows the change fairly. Name two changes and explain each.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Grades 9-12: The parks department must decide whether to keep the $3 price. Using the article, the table and the chart, write a three-sentence recommendation that uses at least one number and names one weakness in the evidence.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    A class reads Galileo's January 7-11 entries and then watches a planetarium video in which the four moons circle Jupiter in smooth, colored orbits. Name one thing the video can show that the written entries cannot, and one thing the entries give that the video might leave out.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Galileo's January 14 entry reads, in full, "The weather was cloudy." If you were making a table of his observations from January 12 to 14, how would you record January 14, and why does the choice matter for someone who reads only the table?

    Show model answer

These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.R.7 in grades 6-12, plus closely related anchors.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.