- Hi. So for this lesson, our goal is going to be supporting your thinking using textual evidence when you read. In order to prepare for this lesson and future lessons, there are three vocabulary words that you are responsible for knowing. The first is explicit. Explicit means directly stated. If something is stated explicitly, it is clear. It is obvious. 

The opposite of that is implicit. Implicit means that something written down is not directly stated. However, when an author writes implicitly, clues are given so that the reader can figure out what the author is trying to say. When an author writes implicitly, the reader has to draw inferences. And an inference is the act or process of using clues or evidence to draw a conclusion. 

So let's take a look at these three terms and the idea of supporting your thinking using textual evidence. First, a good reader has two voices going on inside their mind as they read. So it's OK to have voices going on in there. 

First, the reader reads the words from the text. That's the first voice that you hear in your mind as you're reading. Here's an excerpt from a short story, says, "Renee walked beside Bobby, talking a mile a minute. Did you know that more than half the people in prison have attention deficit?" 

As I read that, the voice inside my head is actually hearing those words, but while I read, I also have a thinking voice. That's the second voice a successful reader has. As you read the words, you're going to interact with the text. I might think, really? Over half? Is that really true? I bet, a lot of people in prison got in trouble in school. Maybe their ADD wasn't addressed. Interesting idea. 

When I read, I want to make sure that this thinking voice is evident, that I can show my thinking voice. Let's apply that to our vocabulary words. Remember your goal, your job is to show your thinking voice, to support what you've read. 

Here's a piece of text. Maria was so mad at her mom for grounding her. That is an example of explicit writing. It's right there. Remember that explicit means no mystery. It's clear. It's obvious. It's literal. Maria was mad. 

However, an author might try and write that implicitly. Let's take a look at that example. Maria glared at her mother, quickly spun on her heels, and slammed the door so hard the neighbors probably heard. This is an example of implicit writing. 

I had to draw an inference. And from this writing I determined that Maria is angry. The clues that helped me determine this were words like glared, the fact that she slammed the door so hard. Usually don't do those things unless you're angry. So I have evidence in here to support my thinking that Maria is angry. 

Remember that successful readers go beyond explicit ideas. Successful readers dig deeper, using the author's clues to draw inferences on implicit information. Successful readers use the author's clues to support their thinking voice as evidence. 

What you're going to do for part one of this practice is you are going to be reading some short excerpts. Your job is to determine if the writing example is explicit or implicit to practice with the vocabulary words. If the writing is implicit, what you're going to do is you're going to draw an inference using the evidence. You're going to try and figure out what the author's really saying to you, and then, what are those clues that you can use to support your thinking? 

Thanks for listening. Good luck.