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LouisianaEnglish Language

Reading Informational Texts

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you identify an author's claim, the reasons and evidence that support it, and judge whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence sufficient?

Analyzing argument and claims in informational texts: identifying the author's central claim and supporting claims, distinguishing reasons from evidence, and evaluating whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence relevant and sufficient, including spotting unsupported assertions and fallacious reasoning, on a LEAP English I or II argumentative passage.
How to analyze argument on a LEAP English I or II passage: identifying the author's claim, telling reasons apart from evidence, and evaluating whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence sufficient, including spotting fallacies. Louisiana standard RI.9-10.8 makes evaluating an argument, not just summarizing it, the task.
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How do you identify an author's purpose and point of view, and explain how word choice, rhetoric, and other craft choices advance that purpose?

Author's purpose and craft in informational texts: identifying the author's purpose (to inform, persuade, or explain) and point of view, and analyzing how craft choices (word choice, tone, rhetorical appeals to logic, emotion, and credibility, and rhetorical devices) advance that purpose on a LEAP English I or II informational passage.
How to analyze author's purpose and craft on a LEAP English I or II informational passage: identifying the purpose and point of view, and explaining how word choice, tone, and rhetorical appeals (logic, emotion, credibility) advance it. The marks come from connecting a craft choice to the purpose it serves.
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How do you state the central idea of an informational text as a full sentence, and how do you trace the way the author develops it across the passage?

Central ideas in informational texts: determining the central idea of a passage (stated as a full sentence, not a topic word), distinguishing the central idea from supporting details, writing an objective summary, and tracing how the author develops the central idea across paragraphs on a LEAP English I or II informational passage.
How to analyze the central idea of a LEAP English I or II informational passage: stating it as a full sentence, telling it apart from supporting details, writing an objective summary, and tracing its development across paragraphs. Central idea is the nonfiction cousin of theme and anchors the Research Simulation Task.
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How do you read two or more texts on the same topic together, comparing how they treat it, and synthesize them into one understanding for a question or essay?

Comparing and synthesizing paired texts: analyzing how two or more texts treat the same topic, theme, or question (agreeing, disagreeing, or emphasizing different aspects), comparing their central ideas, evidence, and craft, and synthesizing them into a single response, the reading move at the heart of the LEAP English I or II Research Simulation Task.
How to compare and synthesize paired texts on LEAP English I and II: analyzing how two or more sources treat the same topic, comparing their central ideas and evidence, and combining them into one response. This is the reading move at the heart of the Research Simulation Task, which draws on more than one source.
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How do you support an answer with the strongest, most relevant textual evidence, and how do you draw an inference that stays anchored to the text?

Text evidence and inference: citing strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly, and drawing logical inferences that go just beyond the text while staying anchored to it, including answering the two-part evidence-based selected-response items that LEAP English I and II use across literary and informational passages.
How to use text evidence and inference on LEAP English I and II passages: citing the strongest, most relevant evidence and drawing inferences that stay anchored to the text. This is the skill the evidence-based selected-response items test directly, where Part A is the reading and Part B is the proof.
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How do you recognize the structure an author uses to organize an informational text, and explain why that structure suits the ideas being presented?

Text structure and organization in informational texts: recognizing common organizational patterns (cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, chronological or sequence, and description), analyzing how sentences and paragraphs develop ideas, and explaining why an author's structural choice suits the content on a LEAP English I or II informational passage.
How to analyze text structure on a LEAP English I or II informational passage: recognizing patterns like cause and effect, compare and contrast, and problem and solution, and explaining why an author's structure suits the ideas. Louisiana standard RI.9-10.5 rewards analyzing how parts develop ideas, not just labeling the pattern.
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