CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.1
The Standard
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify what a literary text states directly and what it suggests through clues. They select several relevant details and explain how those details support their analysis.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students make a clear claim and support it with several relevant details from the text. They explain how each detail supports either a direct reading or an inference.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often use one weak detail, retell the plot, or choose a quote that does not support their claim. They may make a reasonable inference but fail to explain how the evidence supports it.
How to Assess It
- Give students a one-page scene. Ask, "What problem is stated directly, and what can you infer about the character's response? Cite two details and explain each."
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed scene and three highlighters to mark direct facts, inference clues, and explanations connecting clues to claims.
Ask students to write: What does the character want, and which three details best prove your answer?
Play Evidence Match by having teams pair claim cards with supporting quotation cards, then defend each match aloud.
Analyze a short courtroom statement and identify which claims are directly stated and which conclusions require evidence-based inference.
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Printable RL.7.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Literature progression map.
Before This Standard
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What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1
The 7th Grade version of this standard.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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