Scanned with CamScanner

For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education - SDO of Tacloban City

Real St., Barangay 54, Tacloban City (Capital), Leyte, 6500

Telephone: 053-888-5239

Email Address:

..
II

Scanned with CamScanner

 Reading and Writing Skills-Grade 11
Learning Activity Sheet 6
Quarter 3 Week 7

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of
the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this activity sheet are owned by their respective copyright
holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials
from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim
ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education - Schools Division of Tacloban City

Schools Division Superintendent: Mariza S. Magan
Assistant Schools Division Superintendent: Edgar Y. Tenasas

Development Team of the Activity Sheet

Writers: Ivy Fleda M. Adel and Romeo L. Pestilos, Jr.

Evaluator: Deropbie Minda D. Aseo
Management Team:
CID Chief: Mark Chester Anthony G. Tamayo Division EPS of LRMS: Gretel Laura M. Cadiong Division Learning Area EPS: Annie D. Pagatpat

Department of Education - Region No. VIII - Schools Division Office of Tacloban City

Office Address: Real St., Tacloban City

...
111
 READING and WRITING
SKILLS LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
6 QUARTER 3, WEEK 7

Name: Grade & Section:

After going through this activity sheet, you are expected to:
1. Identify claims explicitly or implicitly in a written text:
a. Claim of Fact
b. Claim of Policy
c. Claim of Value

''Let's Kick It Off!''

Direct ions. Group the following sets of statements under the correct
column using the headings as your guides. The first one is done for you.

A. 1. Death penalty is immoral.

2. Death penalty does not deter crime.
3. Death penalty should be abolished.

B. 1. Teachers must be given salary increase and other benefits.

2. Teaching is one of the most pursued professions among Filipinos.
3. Teaching is the noblest of all profes sions.

C. 1. Community quarantines slow the spread of the virus.

2. Community quarantines must be implemented.
3. Community quarantines are bad for the people's mental and
psychological well-being.

D. 1. Bearing false witness against someone before a jury ought to be

made punishable by life imprisonment.
2. Bearing false witness against someone is a sin.
3. Not bearing false witness against one's neighbor is one of the ten
commandments in the bible.

1
 True/False Good/Bad Stop/Go
Death penalty does Death penalty is Death penalty should
not deter crime. immoral. be abolished.
A

''Are You Taking It?''

1. How did you feel doing the activity?

2. How many correct answers did you get?

3. What significant concepts have you discovered while answering the

previous activity? What are the implications of your discovered
concepts with respect to writing?

2
 ''Here's How It Is!''

Identifying and Analyzing Claims

Determining Explicit and Implicit Information

When reading, especially critical rea ding, you must be able to distinguish
the information that is clearly stated (explicit) in the text from ideas that are
suggested (implicit). This will help you make inferences about what you read.

How can you tell whether something is implicit or explicit? As you have
observed, explicit information is clearly written and explained in the text so the
reader will not be confused.

Meanwhile, which ideas are implied? Implicit information is something that

is implied but not stated outright in the text. Because the idea is not written in the
text, you need to use the clues in the text to make an inference on what you have
read. An inference is a conclusion that you make based on explicit inform ation
and your reasoning and background knowledge.

Defining Claims

Knowing how to identify explicit and implicit information will help you in one
of the most important skills needed in critical readin g; evaluating the claims
made by an author. This involves going back to the text to recognize the writer's
arguments and evidence so you can begin judging the writer's work.

Whenever you read something, you find yourse.l f looking for the
writer's point or position regarding the chosen topic. That point is also known as
the claim, or the central argument or thesis statement of the text. This claim is
what the writer tries to prove in the text by providing details, explanations,
and other

3
types of evidence. As such, it is usually found in the introd uction or in the first
few paragrap hs of the text.

The claim is the most important part of the text. The quality and
complexity of the reading depend on the claim, because the claim defines the
paper's direction and scope. The claim is a sentence that summarizes the most
important thing that the writer wants to say as a result of his/her thinking, read ing,
or writing.

The following are the characteristics of good claims:

1. A claim should be argumentative and debatable. When a writer

makes a claim, he/she is making a case for a particular perspective
on the topic. Readers expect to be able to raise objections to your
claim, and they can only raise object ions if the claim is something that
can be reasonably challenged. Claims that are only factual or based
on opinion are, therefo re, not debatable.
1. A claim should be specific and focused, If the claim is unfocused, the
paper will be too broad in scope and will lack direct ion and a clear
connection to the support prov ided. It may also lead to
overgenera liz ations and vague assertions.
2. A claim should be interesting and engaging. It should hook the reader,
who may or may not agree with you, to encourage them to consider
your perspective and learn something new from you.
3. A claim should be logical. It should result from reasonable weighing of
support provided.
Here are some questions to help you determine the writer's claim
while you are read ing a text:
• What is the author's main point?
• What is the author's position regarding it?

4
 Distinguishing Between the Types of Claim

Now that you know the characteristics of a good claim, you will be
introduced to diffe rent types of claim that a writer can make: fact, value, or policy.
You can usually determine this by examining the type of questions they answer about the text.

or measurable topic. They assert that something has existed, exists, or will exist based on data. They rely on re liable sources or sy

Claims offactusually answera "what" question.Whendetermining

whether something is a claim of fact, the following questions are useful:

Is this issue related

• to a possible cause or effect?
Is this statement
• true or false? How can its truthfulness be verified ? Is this claim controv ersial or debatable?
•

Study the following example.

Despite the seemingly marked diffe rence of today's songs from those of
the past decades, the current pop music scene does not offer something new
that can progress music. In fact, one of the findings from the research of a
group of scientists reports that the timber palette of songs from 1955 to 2010
has been more or less homogenous (Serra et al., 2012). Timbre is the property
of music which distinguishes one sound from another, even when the pitch and
the loudness are the same. This means that songs from 1955 until 2010 have
more or less the same sound. Since music evolves through the development
of new techniques and exploration of new sound elements, this trend of timbre
homogenization indicates that today's music scene does not offer a fresh
contribution that can advance the growth of the field.
Information source: Serra, J., Corral, A., Boguna, M., Haro, M. & Arcos, JL
(2012). Measuring the evolution of contemporary western popular music.
Scientific Reports (2).
Retrieved fram: http://www.nature.com/articles/sre00521

5
 The example in the previous page states the main argument and defines
vague and controversial terms. It is supported with factual information such as
statistics, testimony, and observation. One characteristic of a text with a good
claim of fact is the use of sufficient, accurate, and recent evidence which are
organized to emphasize the main argument.

Next, claims of value assert something that can be qualified. They consist
of arguments about moral, philosophical, or aesthetic topics. These types of
topics try to prove that some values are more or less desirable compared to
others. They make judgments, based on certain standards, on whether
something is right or wrong, good or bad, or something similar.

Claims of value attempt to explain how problems, situations, or issues

ought to be valued. To discover these explanations, you may ask the following
questions:

• Which claims endorse what is good or right?

• What qualities should be considered good? Why?
• Which of these values contend with others? Which ones are more
important, and why? Whose standards are used?
• What are some concrete examples of such values?

Study the following example.

Euthanasia, which is also known as mercy killing, is an act to end a

person's life to alleviate the suffering brought about by a terminal or grave
illness. While it may be supported by some, euthanasia is not only an
unethical medical practice, it is also a crime. After all, on the most basic level,
this practice takes a life. In fact, majority of the countries in the world consider
it as homicide. Aside from being a crime, euthanasia is unethical in the
medical context because it violates one of the tenets of the Physician's Oath,
namely that of "primum non nocore" which means "first, do no harm." In the
Declaration of Geneva, doctors have the responsibility of saving lives, not
destroying them. In essence, euthanasia is a violation of life, and it can never
be an acceptable procedure.

The text above, cites experts on the field who support the claim that make
the argument more effective. A well-defended claim of value may assert that the
value being defended will produce good results, as long as it is backed up by
reliable information. Moreover, a claim of value draws on real-world examples
and illustrations to make the abstract values clear.

6
 should be chosen
dentify a claim of policy because they begin with "should," "ought," or "must." Claims of policy because they defend actionable pla
:

Does
• the claim suggest a specific remedy to solve the problem? Is the policy clearly defined?
Is•the need for the policy established?
Is•the policy the best one available? For whom? According to whose standards?
How
• does the policy solve the problem?
•

Study the following example.

Alternative sources of energy and conservation efforts must be applied

to preempt potential energy problems. Today, most of the energy resources
we have are generated from limited resources like coal, oil, and natural gas.
If continuously consumed at an alarming rate, fossil fuels necessary for
generating power to operate vehicles and factories will run out before long.
Nonetheless, this problem can be addressed by using alternative sources of
energy and by emphasizing conservation. First, using alternative sources of
energy such as solar energy and fusion energy would lessen pollution. These
alternatives are actually more accessible and cost-efficient. Although there
are some potential risks in using fusion energy, these risks can be mitigated
by implementing strict safety measures. The second solution that
governments can adopt is the enhancement of conservation efforts. To do
this, governments need to make the public more aware of the benefits of
conservation as well as ways of conserving energy, such as recycling. Laws
can be passed to mandate the public and all stakeholders to recyc le energy.

The text above asserts the implementation of a certain policy. It presents

solutions and plans that are procedural and organized to a problem that has ari sen. •

7
 ''Now Do It!''

Direction s: Identify the main idea of each paragraph. Copy the topic sentence
if the main idea is explicitly stated. If it is implied, write on the space provided. Then,
classify the main idea as either Claim of Fact, Claim of Value, or Claim of Policy.

Example No. 1.

It is often said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but this isn't
true. Go ask the forest rangers. Rangers who spend their summers as fire-fi ghters will
tell you that every thundershower brings several bolts of lightning to their lookout
stations.

A. Main Idea: It is often said that lightning never strikes twice in the same
place, but this isn't true . (Explicit)
B. Type of Claim: Fact

Example No. 2.

People often refer to taxes in terms of their being much too high. In reality, they
are probably even higher than you think, because in addition to the fede ral income
tax we are now studying, there are many other Federal, State, and local taxes,
including sales taxes, inheritance taxes, state income taxes, personal property taxes, rea l
estate taxes, and others. These are just some of the most obvious ones.

A. Main Idea: We pay higher taxes than we real ize. (Implicit)

B. Type of Claim: Fact

Your turn!

1. Advertising affects our lives everyday. Brand names are common household
words . We start each day using the toothpaste, soap, and breakfast foods
promoted by advertisers. Ads have made the cars we drive signs of our
success. Our choices of food, dress, and entertainment are swayed by ads.

A. Main Idea:

B. Type of Claim: _

8
2. Costs were low that year and the output high. There was a good person for
each job and the market remained firm. There were no losses from fire. All in
all, it was the best years in the history of the company.

A. Main Idea:

B. Type of Claim: _

3. We're often told "He who hesitates is lost," but we're also warned to "look
before you leap." Most of us have heard the saying, "Out of sight, out of mind,"
but then we hear "Abs ence makes the heart grow fon der." Everyone talks about
"love at first sight." But then someone reminds us, "Marry in haste, repent at
leisure ." It's all very confusing.

A. Main Idea:

B. Type of Claim: _

4. School uniforms should definite.l y be used in school systems. Unifo rms are
both good for schools as well as for the students. Wearing uniforms will help
build a sense of unity within the school. Instead of everyone as a separate
team, everyone will be in the same team. Wearing uniforms will help free
students of the stress of what to wear in the morning.

A. Main Idea:

B. Type of Claim: _

9
 ''Ace It!''

Directions: Classify each of the following claims as to Fact, Value, or Policy.

Write your answers on the space provid ed.

1. Cellphones pull students away from learning.

2. Providing students with devices that they can use in the
classroom is better than allowing them to use their cellphones in
class.
3. Death penalty should be abolished throughout the world.

------4. IOS devices are more reliable than Android ones.

------5. The right thing to do is to support this year's school fund raiser.
6. Keeping animals locked away in zoos, no matter how nice
they are, is unethical and harmful.
7. Zoos help save endangered species with captive breeding
programs.
8.Going solar to power our lives and our communities with clean,
renewable, local energy is far better than depending on fo ssil fue
ls.
9. The speed limit on national highways should be lowered.
10. Rebuilding flooded homes in flood plains is a poor decision.

Additional Activity
Direction s: Write one (1) Claim of Fact, one (1) Claim of Value, and one (1)
Claim of Policy for each of the following topics:

A. Vaccination
B. Same Sex Marriage
C. Modular Learning

10