Claim, Data, Warrant Next Exit The Road to Answering Open Response Questions

What is claim, data, warrant? »Claim, data, warrant (CDW) is a formal and analytical writing style. »CDW helps you prove your thoughts using evidence. »It can be used for answering open response questions, discussion questions, or writing essays. »You can use it in any class.

Claim »What you are claiming is true »Your opinion about the subject »Your answer to the question »Often the topic sentence of a paragraph »Very much like a hypothesis

Data »The evidence or the facts you use to support your claim »Examples to support your claim »Quotes from the text to support the claim »References to the text supporting your claim »Statistics supporting the claim »Content specific vocabulary that supports the claim

Warrant »The explanation of how the data supports your claim »Explains how the example, statistic, quote or reference supports the claim »Explains the significance of the data »Usually three to five sentences long

Easy Example »Claim: BCMS has an excellent after- school program. »Data: We offer archery, art, and cooking classes along with tutoring in all core subject areas. »Warrant: Archery helps students develop strength, focus, and confidence. Art allows students to tap into their creativity, and cooking teaches students to be self-sufficient. Tutoring classes reinforce students’ academic skills.

Color-coding your answers »Claim is highlighted in pink. »Data is highlighted in green. »Warrant is highlighted in yellow.

Example BCMS has an excellent after-school program. We offer archery, art, and cooking classes along with tutoring in all core subject areas. Archery helps students develop strength, focus, and confidence. Art allows students to tap into their creativity, and cooking teaches students to be self-sufficient. Tutoring classes reinforce students’ academic skills.

Things to remember: »The order of claim, data, warrant may not be the same for every open response. »Sometimes you may give the data first and then write the claim and warrant. »Occasionally open responses may only require you to include data and warrant in your response.

Math Example Samantha made the following scores on unit tests for the term: 92, 98, 15, 92, 87, 92. Samantha’s teacher said her grade would be based on the mean of her grades. Samantha argued that her grade should be based on the median score of her grades. A. Find the mean and median of Samantha’s grades. B. Which do you think best reflects Samantha’s work for the term? Explain your answer.

Part A of this response includes both claim and data. Your answer is your claim because it is what you are asserting to be true. The work is the data or evidence you are using to support your claim. A. The mean of Samantha’s grades is about 79.3 The median of Samantha’s grades is about Mean Median

B. I think the median best reflects Samantha’s work. This is because except for two low grades none of her grades was below 92. The 87, which is really fairly high, and the 15 bring the total score down considerably, and although these grades are important, they don’t fairly represent Samantha’s work considering the damage they do to her scores. Part B contains claim and warrant. This first sentence is your opinion about what is best. Remember your opinion is a claim, and the remainder of the paragraph is your explanation of why you think this is the best way to represent Samantha’s work. Explanation is always warrant.

Median A. The mean of Samantha’s grades is about 79.3 The median of Samantha’s grades is about Mean B. I think the median best reflects Samantha’s work. This is because except for two low grades none of her grades was below 92. The 87, which is really fairly high, and the 15 bring the total score down considerably, and although these grades are important, they don’t fairly represent Samantha’s work considering the damage they do to her scores.