CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2
The Standard
Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Speaking and Listening Standards
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine how a message uses images, numbers, audio, video, or spoken words to shape meaning. They identify why it was created and what the creator hopes viewers will think, feel, or do.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain a source's purpose and support that explanation with details from its format and content. The student can distinguish social, commercial, and political motives and identify choices that influence an audience.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often confuse a message's topic with its purpose. They may treat charts and images as neutral, assume every motive is dishonest, or claim bias without citing evidence.
How to Assess It
- Project a public service poster that includes an image and a statistic. Ask: What does the creator want viewers to think or do, and which two details reveal that motive?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups a print ad, infographic, and video transcript; have them label audience, purpose, motive, and persuasive choices with sticky notes.
Write: How would the same school rule announcement change if created by the principal, a student group, or a company?
Play Motive Match: teams pair media samples with social, commercial, or political motives, then earn points by citing one specific clue.
Compare a product's packaging with an influencer post, and list how each tries to shape a buyer's decision.
Free download
Printable SL.8.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2, 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 Speaking & Listening 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.SL.6.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
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