CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.6

ELA7th GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

What This Standard Means

Students need to identify what the author believes or wants readers to understand, then explain how they know. They should use word choice, evidence selection, tone, and counterclaims as clues, not just guess from the topic.

Mastery looks like naming the author’s position, naming another position in the text, and explaining how the author sets their view apart. Students often confuse topic with purpose. They may also miss subtle signals like loaded words, quoted experts, or how much space the author gives to opposing views.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs two color highlighters to mark the author’s claim in one color and opposing viewpoints in another.
Ask students to write: What does the author want me to think, and whose view are they pushing against?
Use an exit ticket with three boxes: author’s view, other view, one clue from the text.
Compare two short opinion articles on school start times and chart how each writer treats the opposing side.

Before This Standard

If students are struggling here, check these first.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.6
Students move from identifying viewpoint or purpose and its clues to comparing how an author separates that position from others.

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What This Unlocks

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.6
Students move from identifying how an author separates their position from others to analyzing how they address opposing evidence or views.