CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1c
The Standard
Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
What This Standard Means
Students need to make an argument feel connected from start to finish. They should use transitions, repeated key terms, clear pronoun references, and sentence variety to show how each part relates to the next. Readers should never have to guess how evidence supports a reason, or how a counterclaim connects to the main claim.
Mastery looks like smooth movement between claims, reasons, evidence, and counterclaims. Students explain links, not just drop in quotes or facts. Common trouble spots are vague transitions like “this shows,” paragraphs that feel stacked instead of connected, and counterclaims that appear suddenly without being tied back to the argument.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students a cut-up argumentative paragraph and have them reorder it, then add transition phrases and clauses that make the logic clear.
- Ask students to revise one body paragraph using the prompt: Where does my reader need a clearer link between idea and evidence?
- Collect one claim, reason, evidence set from each student and have them underline the words that show the relationship among all three.
- Show an editorial paragraph from a newspaper and have students label how the writer moves from claim to reason to evidence.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
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