How Fifth Graders Are Turning Text Evidence Into Art

In Gabby Lopez’s Fifth Grade English class, students are diving deep into Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’ Brien—and then demonstrating their knowledge through a creative text evidence assignment. Each student randomly selected a scene from the book from a hat, and were challenged to identify three specific details from the text that work together to create a cohesive scene.

After closely reading and gathering their text evidence, students began illustrating their chosen scene. To connect their artwork back to the text, students labeled their drawings with the three details they selected as evidence. This activity helped students strengthen close-reading skills while showing how authors use detail to build vivid, meaningful scenes.

“I’m drawing a scene where the mice are putting sleepy powder into the cat Dragon’s food so they can move Mrs. Frisby’s house on moving day,” said Wren C. ‘29. “I chose details like Nicodemus stretching his leg, taking his reading glasses from the statue, and being in the library to make sure my drawing really matches the text.”