Understanding TDA Essays

Jen·

Text Analysis

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At a Glance

Grade Level6th Grade

SubjectText Analysis

Original Prompt

Create a comprehensive guide for middle school students on writing a Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) essay, focusing on developing critical reading comprehension and analytical writing skills. Include step-by-step instructions for identifying key textual evidence, formulating a strong thesis statement, and organizing a coherent argument that directly addresses the prompt. Incorporate scaffolded examples that demonstrate effective analysis rather than simple summarization, showing students how to c...

This resource provides a comprehensive guide on writing a Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) essay. It defines what a TDA is, emphasizing the importance of using evidence directly from the text to support one's answers. The guide outlines specific goals for students, including finding evidence and explaining its significance. It details how to understand essay prompts by differentiating between question words, task words, and topic words. Additionally, the guide includes clear dos and don'ts, encouraging analysis over summary, and provides examples to illustrate these points. Students are guided through finding evidence, building a thesis, and constructing their analysis using sentence frames to connect evidence to claims effectively. Furthermore, a structured TDA response template is provided to help students organize their thoughts and analysis in a coherent manner.