Writing Explanation Pt. 2: Crafting a Well-Written Explanation

Use what you learned about the components of a well-written explanation to write an explanation based on the claim, evidence and reasoning you identified in the “Pro” section of the Newsela article Should Congress consider comprehensive climate change laws? Opens a new window from Writing Explanation Part 1opens in new window.

Reread the first section of the article “Now is the time to lead other countries,” and recall the claim, evidence and reasoning from this section below:

Claim Now is the time for the United States to lead other countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Evidence "In a report released this fall, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that warming of the Earth's climate system is both unequivocal and unprecedented."  "The authoritative IPCC study also found that it was "extremely likely" that human influence has been the major cause of climate change." "At the same time, international meetings — such as the Climate Change Conference just concluded in Warsaw, Poland — struggle to devise broadly acceptable agreements among countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Reasoning There is a sense of urgency with which climate change needs to be addressed because greenhouse gas emissions threaten the world’s economy, environment and public health. Because international meetings have not been successful with developing an agreeable plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the United States must act now in leading other countries.

Use information from the “Now is the time to lead other countries” section of the article and the claim, evidence and reasoning above to write an explanation about why the United States should act now in leading other countries to address climate change. Be sure to refer back to the text in the first section of the article for additional information that may be used to support the claim and strengthen your explanation. You must paraphrase and/or reword statements from the text as you organize ideas for an explanation written in your words.

Refer to the Writing Explanation Checklist below before and after you write your explanation. You may also wish to use the Writing Explanation Graphic Organizer to help guide your writing.

Writing Explanation Checklist