Thinking Routines / Claim, Support, Question
Claim, Support, Question
Make a claim worth arguing about, back it with evidence, then argue against yourself — the part nobody does unless the routine makes them.
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What is the Claim, Support, Question thinking routine?
Claim, Support, Question is a thinking routine in which a child states something they believe to be true, gives the evidence for it, and then raises the question that would test it. The order matters: committing first is what makes the challenge feel worth doing.
How do you run Claim, Support, Question with a class?
Take a claim and write it up before anyone supports it, so it cannot quietly soften. Gather the support. Then ask what somebody who disagreed would say. Keep all three on screen together, because the point is the relationship between them.
What counts as a good claim?
One that a sensible person could disagree with. 'The Romans built roads' is a fact and goes nowhere. 'The Romans built roads mainly for the army, not for trade' is a claim: it can be supported, and it can be challenged, which is the whole exercise.
The bit that goes wrong is children writing a claim nobody could argue with, because a safe claim cannot be marked wrong. I now bank three deliberately arguable claims of my own before the lesson and put one up if the room is playing it safe — something like 'the Great Fire was good for London'. The groan you get is the sound of it working. From Year 5 they start writing better claims than mine, and that is the point to hand it over.
Which subjects does Claim, Support, Question suit?
Best where the evidence genuinely allows more than one reading.
- History — causes, motives, whether a source can be trusted.
- Science — conclusions from an experiment that did not go to plan.
- Literature — what a character wants, and whether the text supports it.
- Geography and PSHE — decisions with real trade-offs in them.
What usually goes wrong with Claim, Support, Question?
Claims that nobody could argue with. A child writes something safely true, supports it in one line, and has nothing left to question. Insist the claim is arguable before any support is gathered, and keep two deliberately provocative ones in reserve.
Which year groups is Claim, Support, Question for?
Claim, Support, Question suits Year 4 upwards, grade 3 in the US. Younger classes can manage claim and support, but the question step needs enough confidence to attack your own idea in public. Below Year 4, use What Makes You Say That? instead.
What do you do with it afterwards?
The Question column is the best starting point for a piece of writing the class will actually argue in. Take the strongest challenge on the board and set it as the counter-argument paragraph, so the essay has something to push against rather than a list of agreeable points.
How often should you use Claim, Support, Question?
Every few weeks. It needs enough material for a class to disagree about, so it suits the middle of a topic rather than the start, and it takes twenty minutes to do properly. Running it more often than that tends to produce thinner claims.
| Year group | US grade | What to change | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years 4–5 | Grades 3–4 | Give them the claim; they do support and question. | 15 min |
| Year 6 | Grade 5 | They write the claim. Insist it is arguable. | 20 min |
| Year 7 and up | Grade 6+ | Swap claims between pairs and challenge each other's. | 25–30 min |
Claim, Support, Question compared with Fact or Fiction?
Claim, Support, Question starts from an idea the class generates. Fact or Fiction? starts from statements you wrote in advance, so it is the better choice when you want to steer what gets examined — a set of misconceptions about a topic, for instance.
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Where this routine comes from: the Claim, Support, Question thinking routine was developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Sage Teachers is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Harvard University or Project Zero. The prompts and the wording on this page are our own.