Finding Strong Evidence: CER Mini Lesson (Claim Evidence Reasoning)

Help students move beyond opinions and learn how to identify strong, relevant evidence to support scientific claims.

This ready-to-use mini lesson introduces the Evidence component of the Claim–Evidence–Reasoning (CER) framework through clear explanations, engaging examples, and interactive class discussion prompts. Students learn how to distinguish facts from opinions, strong evidence from weak evidence, and relevant data from unrelated information.

Using relatable scenarios and low-stakes examples, this lesson helps students practice identifying evidence before applying the skill to scientific investigations and CER writing.

Perfect for middle school science classrooms, this lesson works well as:

• an introduction to CER
• a science writing warm-up
• a review before lab reports
• argument from evidence practice aligned with NGSS science practices

What’s Included

✔ 30 ready-to-use slides
✔ Clear explanation of what counts as evidence and what does not
✔ Examples of strong vs weak evidence
✔ Turn-and-talk discussion prompts
✔ Multiple practice scenarios for identifying evidence
✔ Sentence starters students can use when writing evidence
✔ A quick learning target check to assess understanding

Skills Students Practice

Students will learn to:

• Identify
• Distinguish evidence vs opinion
• Use data, observations, and facts as evidence
• Recognize when evidence does not support a claim
• Begin writing evidence statements for CER responses

Why Teachers Love It

This lesson breaks down a concept that many students struggle with and provides clear scaffolding before students write full CER responses. The slides include relatable examples and discussion prompts that make the lesson engaging while keeping the focus on scientific thinking.

Grade Levels

Best suited for grades 5–9 science, but easily adaptable for other subjects that use evidence-based writing.