Senior High School

Reading and Writing

Quarter 4: Module 4 - Lesson 1
The Skeptical Reader

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Reading and Writing – Senior High School
Module 4 – Lesson 1: The Skeptical Reader
First Edition, 2020

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Printed by the Department of Education – Regional Office 5

Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad
Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Cherry G. Gomez and Julie Anne A. Desder
Editors: Liny B. Grefal
Evangeline B. Meteoro
Ivy Jill H. Valmores
Princess Anne G. Grajo

Reviewers: Maricel M. Dineros and Albay Division (headed by Mai Anne D. Rondola)

Layout Artist: Lemuel F. de Ramon

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 MODULE 4 – LESSON 1

The Skeptical Reader

A cautious reader is a skeptical reader. Being a skeptical reader means that
you should know the veracity of the author, his assertions, as well as how definite and
valid are the evidences that he is presenting. Furthermore, you aren’t easily “swayed”
on one side; rather you evaluate the text closely before forming a sound judgment.
Do you possess those qualities? If so, let’s have a jump start of this module!
On the other hand, if you still doubt your reading capability, worry not because we’re
going to work it out.

So, shall
we start? Let’s
give it a nice
try.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

✓ Identify evidences presented in assertions and counterclaims made
✓ Evaluate textual evidence/s to validate assertions and counterclaims
made about a text read.

1. Assertion – a sentence that is either true or false

2. Claim – the central argument or thesis statement of the text
3. Counterclaim – provides a contrasting perspective to the main argument

4. Evidence – details given by the author to support his/her claim

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 Identify the evidence/s in the following paragraphs. Use your answer
sheet for this.

1. Volcanic activity occurs around the Pacific Ring of Fire because many
destructive plate boundaries are located here. One example is the destructive
boundary between the continental South American plate and the oceanic Pacific plate
which has formed the Andes Mountains. The denser oceanic plate is subducted
underneath the continental plate and melts as it falls into the hot mantle. Magma rises
up through the continental plate and is erupted through volcanoes at the surface. The
destructive boundaries all around the Pacific Ring of Fire are the reason for high
volcanic activity.

2. First of all, removing wild animals from their natural habitats is incredibly cruel.
When kept captive, these beautiful creatures become bored and lonely, often leading
to a condition called ‘zoochosis’. Animals suffering from zoochosis begin performing
anxious, repetitive acts such as rocking back and forth, swaying, grooming,
themselves excessively vomiting. Conditions such as this clearly demonstrate that wild
animals belong in the wilderness; not in restrictive, prison-like enclosures. Animals
must be freed from zoos now, so that this terrible suffering and mental torture ends for
good.
3. Thinking and learning are the things that happen inside people’s brains.
Because teachers can’t look inside students’ brains to see what they learned, it is
important for students to make their thinking visible to the outside world. A great way
to do this is to create a digital portfolio. A digital portfolio is a website that students
build in order to document their learning. To those new to documenting learning, it
might be easy to confuse documentation with merely recording what the class has
done. Some people think a digital portfolio is just an archive of activities. However, to
be useful to both teachers and students, a digital portfolio must extend beyond this.
The process of learning should be the forms of documenting learning with digital
portfolios. Documenting learning with digital portfolios works best when students
document the events, questions, conversations, and actions that provoke and advance
learning over time.
4. Although some teachers resist the idea of using Facebook in the classroom,
incorporating such social media can benefit student learning. For example, education
researchers Rodrigues Sabino and Zhou claim that using social networking media in
online classrooms allows students to play a more active role in their learning rather
than a passive role as absorbers of information (1152). It seems possible that if
research continues to support its use, more teachers will soon be encouraging their
students to Tweet and Facebook in the classroom.

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5. One factor within the team that seems to be important is the notion of team
cohesiveness. Team cohesiveness enables a diverse group of individuals to work
towards common goals. Addison (1996,p. 107) argues that highly cohesive teams ‘are
more effective at achieving goals that they set for themselves, and have higher
member satisfaction’. For example, cohesive teams are more likely to have high
morale (Smith 1996) and the ability to cooperate, and to work effectively together
(McAffe & Champagne 1987). Therefore, team cohesiveness enhances team
effectiveness.

Got confused? Don’t

worry you’re doing
just fine. Now, let’s
know more about
textual evidence.

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The Four Types of Evidence
1. Statistical Evidence – The strongest type of evidence in formal writing is statistical
evidence. This ranges from true, hard data presented as a percentage or number, to
survey-type data.

In 2015 alone, an estimated 350,000 migrants have crossed the borders of

the European Union.

Statistical evidence can be proven as fact. You can actually go out and find
hard information to prove your particular claim.

2. Testimonial Evidence - Testimonial evidence can also be collected from experts

and authorities in a given field. Doctors, dentists, lawyers often provide expert
testimonials. Their authority is not often questions. They are expected to "know their
stuff."

An EU leader, Federica Mogherini, has gone as far as to say, “We are rich.
We are in peace. We have the duty to save and protect people that are fleeing from
war” (qtd. In Pearson 42)

3. Anecdotal Evidence - Storytelling, although based on fact, can include quite a bit
of opinion, thus making it less objective. Usually, eyewitnesses are used as
providers of anecdotal evidence. They saw or experienced the phenomenon at hand
are telling their version or side of the story.

“I know John loved Judy because he told me so just before he died.”

“I know black swans exist because I saw one flying away today.”

4. Analogical Evidence – Analogies are mainly useful when dealing with a topic that
is under-researched. If you are on the cutting edge of an issue, you’re the person
breaking new ground. When you don’t have statistics to refer to or other authorities
on the matter to quote, you have to get your evidence from somewhere. Analogical
evidence steps in to save the day.
While no one can predict the future impacts of the mass migration into the
EU, studies of the past can shed light on the matter at hand. A study conducted in
Denmark during the 1990’s showed that an influx of refugees actually pushed
native workers into more skilled jobs and increased their standards of living (NY
Times 3).

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Determining Textual Evidence

To better evaluate the author’s argument, one should be able to determine the
evidence from the text. This will allow him/her to validate the assertions of the author
and his/her own counterclaims as a response to reading. Evidence is defined as the
details given by the text author to support his/her claim. The evidence provided by the
writer substantiates the text. It reveals and builds on the position of the writer and
makes the reading more interesting. Evidence is crucial in swaying the reader to the
author’s side. A jury or judge, for example, relies on evidence presented by a lawyer
before it makes a decision regarding a case.
Evidence can include the following;

• Facts and statistics (objectively validated information on your subject);

• Opinion from experts (leading authorities on a topic, such as
researchers or academics); and
• Personal anecdotes (generalizable, relevant, and objectively
considered).
The following are some questions to help you determine evidence from
the text:

• What questions can you ask about the claims?

• Which details in the text answer your questions?
• What are the most important details in the paragraph?
• What is each one’s relationship to the claim?
• How does the given detail reinforce the claim?
• What details do you find interesting? Why?
• What are some claims that do not seem to have support? What kinds
of support could they be provided with?
• What are some details that you find questionable? Why do you think
so?
• Are some details outdated, inaccurate, exaggerated, or taken out of
context?
• Are the sources reliable?

The following are the characteristics of good evidence:

• Unified;
• Relevant to the central point
• Specific and concrete;
• Accurate; and
• Representative or typical

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 Read the given news article below. Then, perform the tasks after. Use
your sheet for this.

Nutrition and the Philippines: ‘Nation at risk’

Fritzie Rodriguez
MANILA, Philippines – “Undernutrition is the single greatest threat to a child’s life.”

Dr. Martin Parreῆo, National Program Officer of the World Food Programme-
Philippines, called on Filipinos to pay more attention to child malnutrition at all times –
with or without disasters.

Latest statistics from the National Nutrition Council (NNC) showed that 67% of
Filipino families are not eating enough even when there are no calamities.

In the Philippines, malnutrition is seen across all age groups – from infancy to
adulthood, the 2013 National Nutrition Survey revealed.

‘At the center of malnutrition’s underlying causes is inadequate childcare and

feeding practices,” Parreῆo added. “And we don’t have a structure curriculum
addressing this,” he said during the 2014 Dr. Juan Salcedo Memorial Lecture
organized by the Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines (NFP) on Thursday, October
9.
Children who grew up in homes where parents did not care or invest in proper
food and hygiene will most likely to grow up to become the same kind of parents, hence
perpetuating the cycle.
The department of Education has been working on integrating health and
nutrition lessons in school curricula. More recent strategies also try to involve parents
in classes and school-based supplementary feeding programs.
Such efforts, however, will remain fruitless unless more parents realize the
value of nutrition and their roles as primary caregivers.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/VanessaRamones/formulating-assertions

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Practice Task 1
Identify and write down the assertion made in the test. Do this on as separate
sheet of paper.
______________________________________________________________

Practice Task 2
List down two evidences or statements from the text which support the claim
and identify each. Write these down on a sheet of paper.
1.____________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________

Practice Task 3
Give an example for each type of evidence. Use your answer sheet for this.
1. Statistical Evidence
___________________________________________________________

2. Analogical Evidence
___________________________________________________________

3. Anecdotal Evidence
___________________________________________________________

4. Testimonial Evidence
___________________________________________________________

Yes! You did it! Let’s try

some more.

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 Identify what type of evidence is used in the following statement. Write your
answers on a separate sheet of paper.
__________1. In 2015 alone, an estimated 350,000 migrants have crossed the
borders of the European Union.

__________2. Famous and accomplished writer Stephen King advices young writer
that, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot
and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

__________3. Mr. Bonica’s class is an example of how 8:05 am start time has
impacted late arriving students to Tualatin High School, as he has seen a sharp decline
in tardy students. This year alone, his rate of tardy students has dropped from 12 %
to 8%.
__________4. More kids than ever are becoming educated, especially girls. In the
1980’sonly half of girls in developing countries completed elementary school; now, 80
percent do (Kristof 2).
__________5. Actually, cars exemplify the public health approach we need to apply
to guns. We don’t ban cars, but we do driver’s licenses, seatbelts, airbags, padded
dashboards, safety glass and collapsible steering columns. And we’ve reduced the
auto fatality rate by 95 percent (NY Times, 8).

Did you get all the

answers? You are
doing well.

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 Read the article. Then, identify the author’s assertion as well as the evidences
that support his claim.

During the 21st century, the word Facebook (FB) came into awareness. In
fact, it is one of the most popular social networking sites with over one million
users. Almost ¾ of these users are between 13-25 years old, and these people
use FB every time they have an opportunity to do so at school, at home, in the
mall, and anywhere else. So, FB seems to just be a waste of time. It is a complete
distraction to students. Many students fail to complete their assignments and
projects because they are addicted to FB. Some use words and acronyms that
only they can understand, and it crosses over even during face-to-face
conversations. FB also becomes a tool for bashing and venue for gossiping.
These are just some of my expressions of FB.

Write a reflection paragraph about your learning and realization in the

discussion of the topic.

Skeptical reading means determining the veracity of the author’s

assertions and the validity of the evidences presented.
The four types of evidences are:
1. Statistical
2. Analogical
3. Anecdotal
4. Testimonial

Now that you’re done with the

activities in this module, reflect
on this: “what does it take to
be a skeptical reader?”

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Answer Key

Learning Challenges

Pre-Test Post Test

Practice Practice Practice
Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

1. One 1.Statistical 1. 1. Latest 1. Statistical

example is the Evidence Undernutrition statistics from Evidence
destructive 2. is the single the National 2.
boundary Testimonial greatest threat Nutrition Testimonial
between the Evidence to a child’s life. Council Evidence
continental 3. (NNC)
South Anecdotal showed that
American Evidence 67% of
plate and the 4. Filipino
oceanic Statistical families are
Pacific plate Evidence not eating
which has 5. enough even
formed the Analogical when there
Andes Evidence are no
Mountains. calamities.
2. When kept 2. ‘At the
captive, these center of
beautiful malnutrition’s
creatures underlying
become bored
causes is
and lonely, often
leading to a inadequate
condition called childcare and
‘zoochosis’. feeding
practices,”
Parreῆo
added.

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3. A digital portfolio is
a website that students
build in order to
document learning. To
those documenting
learning, it might be
easy to confuse
documentation with
merely recording what
the class has done.
4. For example,
education researchers
Rodrigues Sabino and
Zhou claim that using
social networking
media in online
classrooms allows
students to play a
more active role in
their learning rather
than a passive role as
absorbers of
information (1152).
5. Addison (1996,p.
107) argues that highly
cohesive teams ‘are
more effective at
achieving goals that
they set for
themselves, and have
higher member
satisfaction’.

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References
Books
Barrot, Jessie. Academic Reading & Writing For Senior High School,
(C&E Publishing Inc., 2016), 98
Tiongson, Marella Therese & Rodriguez, Maxine Rafella. Reading and
Writing Skills (Rex Book Store, Inc., 2016), 25-26

Websites
https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Four-Types-of-Evidence
http://tualatinworldhistory.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/2/8/5728202/types_of
_evidence_handout_v.2.pdf
https://www2.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Anecdotal%20Evidence.ht
ml
https://www.google.com/search?q=example+of+paragraph+with+eviden
ce&tbm=isch&hl=en&chips=q:example+of+paragraph+with+evidence,onl
ine_chips:textual+evidence&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHt6iYouXqAh
UMeZQKHSntAx8Q4lYoDXoECAEQIw&biw=1349&bih=657#imgrc=Wb
STPLtJFbJlcM

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For inquiries or feedback, write or call:
Department of Education – Region 5
Regional Center Site, Rawis, Legazpi City 4500
Contact: 0917 178 1288
Email: region5@deped.gov.ph