CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8
The Standard
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6—12
What This Standard Means
Students need to sort statements in a history or social studies text into three buckets: facts that can be checked, opinions that show a personal belief, and reasoned judgments that make a claim using evidence. They also need to explain why each statement fits its bucket.
Mastery looks like students pointing to words, sources, dates, data, and evidence to defend their choice. They often get stuck when a statement sounds smart or formal, so they call it a fact. They also confuse strong evidence with certainty, and miss signal words like should, likely, best, or because.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a short textbook paragraph and three colored highlighters to mark facts, opinions, and reasoned judgments.
- Ask students to write: Which sentence was hardest to label, and what clue helped you decide?
- Use an exit ticket with four statements from today’s reading and have students label each one with one reason.
- Show a news article about a local issue and have students sort one paragraph into fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.8
Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.8
Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identif...