Day 48: Gathering Text Evidence While Reading
One of the biggest shifts students make in Grade 9 English is learning that opinions don’t stand on their own—they need proof. This lesson is designed to slow students down and help them notice what the author is doing and where that evidence lives in the text.
The focus today is simple and powerful: gathering text evidence. Students read independently, revisit the idea of prepositional phrases, and then practice collecting quotations that reveal important elements of the novel. This routine builds habits students will rely on later for paragraphs, essays, and discussions.
1. Silent Reading (20 minutes)
Students continue reading their novel independently.
Before they begin, remind them of the purpose of today’s reading:
they are not just moving through pages, but watching for evidence.
Encourage students to use sticky notes, reading logs, or margin notes to flag moments that stand out—descriptions, choices characters make, or lines that hint at larger ideas.
2. Mini-Introduction: Prepositional Phrases
Provide a brief reminder that prepositional phrases help writers show relationships between ideas, especially related to place, time, and movement.
You might say something like:
Authors often rely on prepositional phrases to anchor readers in the world of the story—where things happen, when they happen, and how characters move through space.
Let students know that you will share a full lesson link, and that today’s goal is simply to notice how these phrases appear naturally in their reading.
Here is the full Prepositional Phrases lesson.
3. Focus Activity: Gathering Evidence from the Text
After reading, students shift into evidence collection. This is individual work.
Student Task
Students gather quotations from their novel that show different aspects of the story. You can choose the categories, but the following work well at this stage of reading:
Setting – descriptions of place, time, or atmosphere
Character Traits – actions, thoughts, or dialogue that reveal personality
Conflict – moments where a problem is introduced or escalated
Mood or Tone – language that creates emotion or tension
Theme (Emerging) – ideas or messages the author may be hinting at
Worksheet Structure
The worksheet asks students to complete one entry per category, using the following prompts for each:
What you are looking for
(Example: Setting or Character Trait)Quotation from the text
(Copied accurately)Page number
Explanation
A short paragraph explaining why this quote matters and what it reveals about the story.
Students should be reminded that the explanation is the most important part—the quote is only useful if they can explain its significance.
4. Updating Reading Logs
Students update their reading logs with:
Pages read today
One brief reflection (something interesting, confusing, or surprising)
Optional note about a quotation they found during the evidence activity
This reinforces reading accountability while keeping the workload manageable.
Conclusion
This lesson reinforces an essential skill in English class: reading with intention. By combining silent reading, a grammar reminder, and structured evidence gathering, students practice slowing down and paying attention to how texts work.
Over time, this routine makes quoting the text feel natural rather than forced—and sets students up for stronger discussions, paragraphs, and essays later in the unit.
