CCRA.SL.4: Presenting Findings and Evidence So Listeners Can Follow

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 classmate announces: 'The school library is busiest on Tuesdays.' Write down two things you would need to hear before you believed it. Then number them in the order you would want to hear them."

   Collect a few lists. Students tend to ask for how the classmate knows (a count, a sign-in sheet), the numbers themselves, and a comparison with other days. Some want the numbers first; others want to know first why it matters. Point out that they have just described the parts of a findings presentation (a claim, a method, evidence and a reason to care) and that the order matters to a listener, who cannot reread a sentence the way a reader can. That is the core of CCRA.SL.4.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Terms for the lesson.

   • Findings: what an investigation, a count, a survey or a reading of sources turned up.
   • Supporting evidence: the specific facts, numbers, examples or quotations that back a claim.
   • Line of reasoning: the chain that connects the evidence to the claim, step by step, so a listener can see why the conclusion follows.
   • Signpost: a spoken phrase that tells listeners where the talk is going, such as "First," "Now the results" or "One caution."
   • Organization: the order of the parts. Development: how much detail and evidence each part gets. Style: word choice, sentence length, formality and tone.
   • Task, purpose and audience: the kind of talk (a report to a committee, a class presentation), what it must do (inform, recommend) and who is listening.

   Why listening is different from reading. A listener hears each sentence once, at the speaker's pace. So a presenter does work that a page does with headings and paragraphs: say the point early, announce each step, keep numbers few and in a sensible order, and restate the point at the end. Diagram 1 shows the six steps.

   How the anchor grows. In grades 6-8 the standards name delivery skills (eye contact, volume, pronunciation) and ask for claims supported by well-chosen facts and details. In grades 9-12 they ask for a line of reasoning a listener can follow and, by grades 11-12, a clear perspective that answers other perspectives. The table lists every grade-level standard that carries CCRA.SL.4.

   Progression of CCRA.SL.4 in grades 6-12

   Grade-level standard	Band	What this band adds
   SL.6.4	Grade 6	Present claims and findings in a logical sequence, using pertinent descriptions, facts and details to bring out main ideas; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume and clear pronunciation
   SL.7.4	Grade 7	Emphasize the most important (salient) points in a focused, coherent way, adding pertinent examples to the descriptions, facts and details; the same delivery skills
   SL.8.4	Grade 8	Support the salient points with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning and well-chosen details; the same delivery skills
   SL.9-10.4	Grades 9-10	Present clearly, concisely and logically so listeners can follow the line of reasoning, with organization, development, substance and style suited to purpose, audience and task
   SL.11-12.4	Grades 11-12	Convey a clear and distinct perspective, address alternative or opposing perspectives, and fit a range of formal and informal tasks

   A model from 1921. Marie Curie (1867-1934), born in Poland and working in France, shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie, and won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. On May 14, 1921, she gave an address in the chapel of Vassar College, then a women's college in New York State, and the college printed it that year as The Discovery of Radium. In this part she reports how she reached her finding. A few terms: uranium rays are the invisible radiation given off by uranium; an electroscope is an instrument with a thin metal leaf that shows electric charge; minerals here are natural ores dug from the ground; thorium is another element that gives off rays; activity means the strength of the rays. The paragraphs are numbered; nothing is cut inside this excerpt.

   1We must go back to the year 1897. Professor Curie and I worked at that time in the laboratory of the school of Physics and Chemistry where Professor Curie held his lectures. I was engaged in some work on uranium rays which had been discovered two years before by Professor Becquerel. I shall tell you how these uranium rays may be detected. If you take a photographic plate and wrap it in black paper and then on this plate, protected from ordinary light, put some uranium salt and leave it a day, and the next day the plate is developed, you notice on the plate a black spot at the place where the uranium salt was. This spot has been made by special rays which are given out by the uranium and are able to make an impression on the plate in the same way as ordinary light. You can also test those rays in another way, by placing them on an electroscope. You know what an electroscope is. If you charge it, you can keep it charged several hours and more, unless uranium salts are placed near to it. But if this is the case the electroscope loses its charge and the gold or aluminum leaf falls gradually in a progressive way. The speed with which the leaf moves may be used as a measure of the intensity of the rays; the greater the speed, the greater the intensity.

   2I spent some time in studying the way of making good measurements of the uranium rays, and then I wanted to know if there were other elements, giving out rays of the same kind. So I took up a work about all known elements, and their compounds and found that uranium compounds are active and also all thorium compounds, but other elements were not found active, nor were their compounds. As for the uranium and thorium compounds, I found that they were active in proportion to their uranium or thorium content. The more uranium or thorium, the greater the activity, the activity being an atomic property of the elements, uranium and thorium.

   3Then I took up measurements of minerals and I found that several of those which contain uranium or thorium or both were active. But then the activity was not what I could expect, it was greater than for uranium or thorium compounds like the oxides which are almost entirely composed of these elements. Then I thought that there should be in the minerals some unknown element having a much greater radioactivity than uranium or thorium. And I wanted to find and to separate that element, and I settled to that work with Professor Curie. We thought it would be done in several weeks or months, but it was not so. It took many years of hard work to finish that task. There was not one new element, there were several of them. But the most important is radium which could be separated in a pure state.

   4All the tests for the separation were done by the method of electrical measurements with some kind of electroscope. We just had to make chemical separations and to examine all products obtained with respect to their activity. The product which retained the radioactivity was considered as that one which had kept the new element; and, as the radioactivity was more strong in some products, we knew that we had succeeded in concentrating the new element. The radioactivity was used in the same way as a spectroscopical test.

   • Tell listeners how the evidence was gathered

     In paragraph 1, before giving any result, Curie says, "I shall tell you how these uranium rays may be detected." Why does a presenter of findings explain the method first?

     Result: Her later claims are measurements: "active," "greater," "in proportion." Listeners can only judge a measurement if they know what was measured, so she explains that the speed of the electroscope leaf is "a measure of the intensity of the rays; the greater the speed, the greater the intensity." With that one rule in mind, every later finding makes sense to a general audience.

   • Build the chain one step at a time

     Trace the line of reasoning across paragraphs 2 and 3. What does each step add?

     Result: Step 1: she tested "all known elements" and found only uranium and thorium compounds active. Step 2: their activity was "in proportion to their uranium or thorium content." Step 3: some minerals were more active than that rule predicts ("it was greater than for uranium or thorium compounds like the oxides"). Step 4: so "there should be in the minerals some unknown element." Each step uses the one before it, which is what lets a listener follow the reasoning.

   • Separate the evidence from the inference

     In paragraph 3, which sentence reports a finding, and which sentence draws a conclusion from it?

     Result: Finding: "the activity was not what I could expect, it was greater than for uranium or thorium compounds." Inference: "Then I thought that there should be in the minerals some unknown element having a much greater radioactivity." The word "Then" works as a signpost: it tells listeners that the next sentence is reasoning built on the evidence, not more evidence.

   • Fit the organization to the audience

     Model A (Guided Practice) is a talk to park volunteers who asked a practical question. It puts the answer in its first paragraph. Why is that the right choice for this audience?

     Result: The volunteers asked where to dig, so they listen for an answer they can use: "Look within 10 meters of the big silver maple by the pond." Hearing it first, they can check each later number against it. A talk for a science fair judge might instead start with the question and method, because that listener's task is to judge the investigation.

   Ask students to point to Diagram 1 and name which of its six steps Curie uses in paragraphs 1-4. She gives the method, the findings, the reasoning and the next step (the separation); she never stops to state limits, because her finding was confirmed when radium was separated. Student presenters with a small sample usually do need step 5.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Two findings talks for two audiences. Both scripts were written for this lesson; the park, the lighthouse, the people and the numbers are invented. In Model A, a seventh grader reports a class seedling count to a park volunteer group. In Model B, an eleventh grader reports what a lighthouse keeper's logbook shows to a local historical society. Read each one aloud, or have a student read it, so the class hears it as listeners do.

   1Good afternoon. Last month you asked our science class a question: if volunteers want to dig up young maple trees and move them to the new playground edge, where should they look? Our answer is short. Look within 10 meters of the big silver maple by the pond.

   2Here is how we found that out. We measured four distances from the trunk, going north: 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters. At each distance we marked three squares, each one meter on a side, and counted every maple seedling inside them.

   3Now the results. At 5 meters we counted 114 seedlings in our three squares. At 10 meters, 51. At 15 meters, only 18, and at 20 meters, just 6. Put the first two together and that is 165 of our 189 seedlings, or about 87 percent, within 10 meters of the tree.

   4Why does that matter for you? Each maple seed has a wing that spins as it falls, but many seeds still come down close to the tree. So the closer you dig, the more seedlings you will find for each minute of work.

   5One caution. We counted seedlings, not seeds. Some seeds may fly farther and never sprout, or get eaten by squirrels. Our numbers tell you where the young trees are, and that is what you need to know.

   6So, to sum up: start digging close to the trunk, inside 10 meters, and you will find the most seedlings. Thank you. We are happy to take questions.

   1Thank you for inviting me. The society asked a simple question when it lent me the 1894 logbook from Gull Point Light: in what season did the keeper work hardest? My answer is summer, and the evidence is the fog signal.

   2First, what the log records. Every day the keeper wrote down the hours the steam fog signal ran. I added those hours month by month. The year's total was 1,138 hours.

   3Second, the pattern. The signal ran 141 hours in June, 188 in July and 176 in August. Those three months alone account for 505 hours, about 44 percent of the year, in one quarter of the calendar. December, January and February together came to only 180 hours.

   4Third, the explanation. On this part of the northern California coast, summer fog forms when warm, moist air moves over cold ocean water. That is why the busiest weeks for the signal came in the warmest months, not in the stormy winter.

   5Now, a fair objection. One member suggested to me that the keeper might simply have kept better records in summer, when visitors came to the station. I checked. The log has an entry for every day of the year, including the days with no fog at all. Gaps in the record cannot explain the summer peak.

   6So my conclusion is this: the keeper's hardest season was summer, because that is when the fog signal ran the most hours and needed the most tending. If the society builds its exhibit around one month, I recommend July. I would welcome your questions.

   Listener map for the two models (students fill in the empty cells with a short quotation and its paragraph number)

   Step	Model A	Model B
   Main point, first time	Students fill in	Students fill in
   How the evidence was gathered	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Key numbers	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Reasoning (why the evidence supports the point)	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Limit or objection answered	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Main point, restated	Students fill in	Students fill in

   1. Map the talk. Grades 6-8 complete the Model A column; grades 9-12 complete both columns. Pairs compare and settle any cell they disagree on.
   2. Count the numbers. Ask: "How many numbers does each speaker give, and how does each help listeners keep them straight?" Teacher note: Model A gives the four counts in order of distance; Model B gives one yearly total before any monthly figure. Ask students what each speaker does with the numbers after giving them.
   3. Audience check. Ask: "What does each audience need to do after the talk?" Teacher note: the volunteers need to know where to dig; the society needs to decide what to build its exhibit around. Each conclusion ends with that next step.
   4. Grades 9-12 discussion. Ask: "Why does the Model B speaker raise an objection she could have left out?" Accept answers that connect it to the listeners' trust, and point out that SL.11-12.4 asks speakers to address alternative or opposing perspectives.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Revise a weak talk. The rehearsal transcript below was written for this lesson as a deliberately weak example. It reports the same invented counts as Model A, but listeners cannot follow it. Students revise it into a talk of about 90 seconds, then deliver it to a partner, who listens with a blank listener map. Presentations stay in the classroom; nothing is recorded or posted.

   1Okay, so, um, we did maple seeds. There's a tree by the pond, the big one, and it has a lot of seeds, like a lot.

   2At 15 meters we got 18. Oh wait, I should say we did squares first. We did squares. At 20 it was 6, and at 5 it was a lot, 114. And 10 was 51 I think.

   3The seeds have wings and they spin, which is really cool if you've ever seen it, they kind of look like helicopters. My little brother calls them helicopters.

   4We also went south one day but it rained so we didn't finish that.

   5So yeah, that's basically it. I guess you could dig there. Any questions?

   • Grades 6-8: Rewrite the talk so the volunteers could follow it after one hearing, using the six steps of Diagram 1 and a spoken signpost for each step. Mark two places where you will look up at the audience and one word to say slowly and clearly.
   • Grades 9-12: Rewrite the talk for a more formal audience, the city parks board, which must approve digging in the park. Keep the counts, add one sentence about the limits of the evidence, and answer one objection the board might raise, such as the unfinished count on the south side. Then write two sentences explaining one change in organization and one in style.

   Teacher note: Model A is one strong revision for the volunteers, so have students revise before they compare. A partner's listener map is the test: if the partner cannot fill in the main point and the key numbers after one hearing, the talk needs another revision.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: Write the one signpost from your revised talk that did the most work for your listener, and explain in one sentence what it told the listener to expect.

   Teacher note on the 1921 text: The address is printed as Curie gave it, and a few phrases read as the English of a speaker whose first languages were Polish and French, such as "I settled to that work." Keep the wording; it is a useful point that a clear line of reasoning carries a talk even when the sentences are simple. Radium is dangerous to handle, and the long-term harm from radiation was not understood in her early work; this lesson uses the address only as a model of presenting findings, with no materials or demonstrations.

   For homework: students use the research notes below. They were written for this lesson; the Harbor History Museum, its board and the counts are invented.

   1Question from the museum board: The Harbor History Museum has one welcome desk. Which of its three entrances should the desk face?

   2Method: Two student volunteers counted every visitor who came in, by door, during opening hours for two weeks in October. The doors are the Main Street door, the Harbor Walk door and the parking lot door.

   3Week 1 counts: Main Street door, 412 visitors. Harbor Walk door, 655. Parking lot door, 238.

   4Week 2 counts: Main Street door, 301 visitors. Harbor Walk door, 690. Parking lot door, 262.

   5Note from the volunteers: During Week 2, the city repaired the Main Street sidewalk for three days, and a sign asked visitors to use another door.

   6Short survey of 40 visitors at the Harbor Walk door: 26 said they were walking along the harbor before they decided to come in, 9 came on purpose to see the museum, and 5 did not answer.

   7Board members who will hear the presentation: the museum director, the treasurer, a retired ship captain who has volunteered for 20 years and believes most visitors use the Main Street door, and two parent members.

   8Time allowed for the presentation: four minutes, plus questions.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student has survey results to present to the student council. Which plan best helps listeners follow the line of reasoning?

   ARead every number from the survey table in the order it was collected. BState the finding, give the key numbers, and say why they support it. CDescribe how the survey was designed and save the finding for questions. DShow enthusiasm for the topic and let the numbers speak for themselves.

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of Curie's address, what does the black spot on the photographic plate show?

   AThat ordinary light leaked through the black paper during the day BThat the plate was developed a day later than it should have been CThat uranium gives off rays able to mark the plate as light would DThat the uranium salt was spilled onto the surface of the plate

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1, Curie says, "You know what an electroscope is." What does this sentence show about how she adjusted the talk to her audience?

   AShe expects these listeners to know the instrument, so she explains only how she uses it. BShe expects these listeners to be experts, so she skips the method and goes to the results. CShe expects these listeners to be confused, so she defines every scientific term she uses. DShe expects these listeners to be bored, so she hurries past the instrument to save time.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2, Curie calls the activity "an atomic property of the elements, uranium and thorium." Which finding in that paragraph leads her to that statement?

   AOnly a few minerals from the ground gave off any rays at all. BThe rays could be measured with both a plate and an instrument. CUranium rays had been discovered two years earlier by Becquerel. DThe more uranium or thorium a compound held, the more active it was.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 3, Curie says, "There was not one new element, there were several of them." How does this sentence relate to the reasoning before it?

   AIt shows the reasoning was a mistake, since no new element was found. BIt reports that the result went further than the hypothesis she stated. CIt repeats the hypothesis in different words so listeners remember it. DIt admits that the separation work was never actually finished at all.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 4, Curie says, "The radioactivity was used in the same way as a spectroscopical test." Why would a presenter include a comparison like this?

   ATo show that she had a spectroscope that other scientists lacked BTo replace the electrical measurements with a newer kind of test CTo link the new method to a test her listeners may already know DTo prove that radium had been fully separated by the year 1897

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Model A opens, "Last month you asked our science class a question." Why is this a strong opening for this audience?

   AIt reminds the volunteers that the talk answers their own question. BIt shows that the science class finished its project very quickly. CIt gives the listeners the numbers they need before any other point. DIt tells the volunteers that the talk will not take many minutes.

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 5 of Model A, the speaker says, "We counted seedlings, not seeds." What does the rest of the paragraph do with that limit?

   AIt drops the recommendation because the count may be wrong. BIt asks the volunteers to repeat the count with seeds instead. CIt blames squirrels for spoiling part of the class experiment. DIt explains why the limit does not weaken the recommendation.

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How are paragraphs 2-4 of Model B organized?

   AAs a story of the keeper's life, told from his first year to his last BAs three numbered steps: the record, the pattern and the explanation CAs a comparison between two lighthouses on the same stretch of coast DAs a list of questions from the society, each followed by an answer

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 3 of Model B, why does the speaker compare the summer total with December, January and February?

    ATo show that the keeper took his vacation every winter BTo prove that the log is missing entries in the winter CTo give listeners a contrast that makes the peak clear DTo suggest that winter storms caused most of the fog

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 5 of Model B, how does the speaker answer the suggestion that the keeper kept better records in summer?

    AShe points out that the log has an entry for every day of the year. BShe says the member who raised it does not know the lighthouse well. CShe agrees with it and changes her conclusion to a different season. DShe says that visitors in summer would have reported any missing days.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which feature of Model B's style best fits a talk to a local historical society?

    AShort jokes about the keeper's life to keep the members entertained BTechnical terms from weather science that the members must look up CSlang that makes the speaker sound like a friend of the audience DCourteous, complete sentences that open with thanks and invite questions

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What is the main problem with the organization of the weak draft (T4)?

    AIt states the answer too many times, so the volunteers stop listening. BIt never gives a clear answer, and its counts come in a jumbled order. CIt spends most of its time explaining the method of counting seedlings. DIt gives the results before explaining why the volunteers asked for them.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 3 of the weak draft describes the spinning seeds and the speaker's brother. Which revision would best serve the volunteers?

    AKeep the whole paragraph, because it makes the talk more personal. BMove the whole paragraph to the start, so the talk opens with a story. CKeep one fact about the spinning wing and connect it to the finding. DCut the counts instead, so the talk has time for this paragraph.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student will present the same findings about a school recycling count twice: to the school board and to classmates at a club meeting. Which change between the two talks is appropriate?

    AUse a more formal style and state the request clearly for the board. BChange the counts for the club so the results sound more exciting. CLeave out the finding for the board so the talk stays very short. DUse more slang for the board so the members feel more relaxed.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Curie uses signposts to guide listeners through her account. Find two signposts in paragraphs 1-3 other than "Then I thought," quote them, and explain what each tells listeners to expect.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Model B ends by recommending July for the exhibit. Explain the chain of evidence and reasoning that supports that recommendation, using numbers from the talk, and name one more piece of evidence from the log that would make it stronger.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    A classmate's talk on the feeder count (Activity 2, data card 1) ends: "So yeah, birds like sunflower seeds." Write a stronger conclusion of two or three sentences for the garden club, which will buy seed for next year, and explain what your version adds.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Name one difference in development and one difference in style between Model A and Model B. For each, explain how it fits that talk's audience and purpose.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Two speakers present the same survey results to the student council. Speaker 1 reads all 12 numbers from the results table. Speaker 2 gives three of the numbers and says what they mean. Explain which speaker listeners can follow more easily and why, and name one risk of Speaker 2's approach.

    Show model answer

These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.SL.4 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.