Reading Activities / Point Evidence Explain
Point, Evidence, Explain
PEE examples, starters and a board to model it live
Children rarely lose marks for the wrong idea. They lose them for stopping halfway through the right one.
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The sheet it prints
What is the PEE model (Point, Evidence, Explain)?
The PEE model is Point, Evidence, Explain: a three-step way to answer a question about a text. Make a point, back it with a short quote, then say what the quote tells us that the words alone don't.
English schools teach it from about Year 3 (US grade 2). Canada often says Point, Proof, Explain; the US uses CER or RACE.
What does a PEE paragraph look like?
A PEE paragraph is three or four sentences: a Point, a short quote as Evidence, and an Explain that adds something the quote doesn't say. Three examples by age, each with a weak and a strong Explain.
Question: Why does the Fox say the grapes are sour?
Point: The Fox pretends she never wanted the grapes.
Evidence: She turns away, "hiding her disappointment and saying: 'The Grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought.'"
Weak Explain: This shows that the grapes are sour.
Strong Explain: The grapes were "ripe" at the start, so they aren't sour. She says it so she doesn't feel silly.
Question: How does Alice feel after she keeps changing size?
Point: Alice is starting to worry that she isn't herself any more.
Evidence: She asks, "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!"
Weak Explain: This shows Alice is confused about who she is.
Strong Explain: "Puzzle" makes it sound like a game, but she then checks herself against children she knows. She's acting calm while frightened.
Question: How does Dickens present Scrooge at the start of the novel?
Point: Dickens presents Scrooge as a man who has shut himself off from everyone.
Evidence: Scrooge is "secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster."
Weak Explain: This shows that Scrooge is lonely and likes being on his own.
Strong Explain: An oyster is shut tight but can hold a pearl. Dickens hints that something good is hidden in Scrooge, and the story will prise him open.
Each weak Explain just repeats the Evidence.
What are good PEE sentence starters?
Good PEE sentence starters get a child into each box without doing the thinking for them. The Explain ones must force a reason.
| Box | Starters |
|---|---|
| Point | I think … is … · At this point in the story … · The author wants us to feel … |
| Evidence | The text says … · For example, when … · We can see this in the line … |
| Explain | The word "…" suggests … because … · We already knew …, so this tells us … · This matters later, because … · The author chose this so that we … |
Keep "this shows that" off the wall. A child can finish it by copying out the quote.
What is the difference between PEE and PEEL?
PEEL is Point, Evidence, Explain, Link: PEE with a fourth step that ties the paragraph back to the question, or on to the next point.
For primary, PEE is enough. Added too early, the Link becomes a tacked-on sentence repeating the Point. The board and the sheet have a Link box for PEEL; leave it empty for PEE.
PEE, PEEL, PEA, PETAL, PEED, Point Proof Explain, RACE and CER compared
PEE, PEEL, PEA, PETAL, PEED, Point Proof Explain, RACE and CER all ask for a claim, proof from the text and a reason. Only the letters, the country and the age change.
| Name | The letters | Mostly used |
|---|---|---|
| PEE | Point, Evidence, Explain | UK primary, from about age 7 |
| PEEL | Point, Evidence, Explain, Link | UK upper primary and secondary, ages 10-16 |
| PEA | Point, Evidence, Analysis | UK secondary English, ages 11-16 |
| PETAL | Point, Evidence, Technique, Analysis, Link | UK secondary English (GCSE), ages 13-16 |
| PEED | Point, Evidence, Explain, Develop | UK upper primary and lower secondary, ages 10-14 |
| Point, Proof, Explain | The same three steps as PEE | Canada, roughly grades 4-9 |
| RACE | Restate, Answer, Cite, Explain | US elementary and middle school, grades 3-8 |
| CER | Claim, Evidence, Reasoning | US English and science, grades 3-8 |
Why is the Explain box always the empty one?
The Explain box is the empty one in PEE because Point and Evidence are finding things, and Explain is thinking about them. Many children believe answering from the text means never going beyond it.
The most useful thing you can tell them is that Explain is where you are allowed an opinion, as long as the Evidence pays for it.
How do you teach Point, Evidence, Explain?
Teach Point, Evidence, Explain by modelling it live with the class, then taking the supports away one box at a time.
- Model one live. Pick a question tab and write the class's three boxes on the board as they suggest them. Then print the same questions for them.
- Give them the Point at first, so their effort goes on the last two boxes.
- Model a bad Explain on purpose and ask what's missing. Children spot it at once in someone else's work.
- Ban "this shows that" for one lesson. It lets a child restate the evidence and feel finished.
- Keep the evidence short. A quote longer than a line usually means they haven't found the right bit yet.
How do you make it harder or easier?
To make PEE easier, give children the Point and the Evidence and teach only the Explain, then hand the boxes back one at a time. To make it harder, ask for two quotes that pull different ways and an Explain that weighs them up.
When does PEE get in the way?
PEE gets in the way when it turns into a formula. Children fill three boxes and stop, so every answer comes out the same shape, whatever the question. A one-mark question needs one sentence, not a paragraph. Treat PEE as scaffolding: once a child's answers always carry a reason, let them drop the boxes.
Try it now
Take a question the class answered thinly last week and rebuild it in the three boxes on the board. Seeing where their answer stopped teaches the structure.
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Written by a practising primary school teacher, and part of the free-to-try Reading Activities set on Sage Teachers. Last checked September 2026. Opening it needs a sign-in.