Megan Saputo

TE 804 Inquiry Conference

20 March 2015

ACEC MODEL
To what extent does the ACEC paragraph model increase students ability to use
textual evidence to support their writing?

Context
English 9- Henry Ford II High School

Hypothesis
By providing students with the ACEC
graphic organizer, students will be
able to learn how to use textual
evidence to support their writing, in
order to do so on their own in the
future.

Common Core
Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.A
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.E
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9

References
Cleaver, Samantha. ""Where's Your
Proof?" Teaching Students to Use
Evidence." 13 Strategies to Improve
Student Classroom Discussions. We Are
Teachers, 2013. Web.
Houghton, Peggy M., Timothy J.
Houghton, Michele M. Pratt, and Sandra
W. Valensky. MLA: The Easy Way! ;. Flint,
MI: Baker College, 2009. Print.
Linder, Roslyn, Dr. "Teaching Students to
Use Anchor Standard #1: Textual
Evidence in the Common Core
Classroom." In the Classroom with Roz
Linder. N.p., 11 Jan. 2013. Web.

A- ANSWER
the question in a complete sentence

C- CITE
using textual evidence with a signal phrase, quote, and citation

E- EXPLAIN
how your quote supports your answer

C- CONCLUDE
by restating your answer

Using Textual Evidence as Support

At Henry Ford II High School, the English department uses the
ACE model to teach paragraph structure in the tenth through
twelfth grades. The ninth grade teachers add the C (conclusion
sentence) at the end of the model in order to show how to wrap
up a paragraph (by restating the topic sentence). Like a math
formula, the ACEC model provides students with a step by step
process to writing a well rounded paragraph.
We stress this structure in the ninth grade to prepare students for
ACT style writing, essay writing, and higher level English courses.
By studying this model, I was able to see how students writing
improved when given a structure to follow.

Textual evidence demands that readers engage with

the text and share what specific aspects of the text
influences their thinking. -Dr. Roslyn Linder

Megan Saputo

Data Analysis
ACEC paragraphs were graded according to
the following scale:
A= 2 points (~1 sentence)
C= 3 points (~1 sentence)
E= 3 points (~3 sentences)
C= 2 points (~1 sentence)

TE 804 Inquiry Conference

20 March 2015

Collecting Data
Students wrote Quick Writes throughout reading Romeo and
Juliet. Their responses followed the ACEC format. I posed
comprehensive questions on the ELMO for students to respond
to based o their reading. Students were evaluated on their
ability to follow the model provided. These paragraphs were
graded on a 10 point scale. I also tracked the length of their
paragraphs by counting the sentences in each one.

Totals: 10 points (~6 sentences)

Trial 1: Students were asked to respond to a
question by simply writing a paragraph.
4 out of 25 (16%) included a quote of some
sort in their paragraph. For this particular
assignment, the quote was one of their own.
average of 4 sentences per paragraph

While reading their paragraphs I looked at their ability to:

Answering the question by restating the question- 2 points
Citing textual evidence to support their answer including a
signal phrase, quote, and a correctly formatted parenthetical
citation- 3 points

Trial 2-3: The ACEC model was retaught on the

ELMO. Students saw the model worksheet.

Explaining their answer and how the quote supports their

answer-3 points

Trial 2:

Concluding their paragraph by restating their answer- 2 points

21 out of 24 (91%) included textual evidence.

average of 5.69 sentences per paragraph
Trial 3:
23 out of 24 (96%) used textual evidence
average of 5 sentences per paragraph
Trial 4: Students were told to ACEC this
question. We verbally went over expectations,
but students were able to write without
reviewing the model.
23 out of 23 (100%) used textual evidence
60% wrote 6 sentence paragraphs