CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1c
The Standard
Use words, phrases, and clauses 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
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose words and phrases that show how parts of an argument relate. They connect claims, reasons, evidence, and counterclaims so readers can follow the logic.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students use precise transitions such as “because,” “for example,” “in contrast,” and “therefore.” Their paragraphs and sections connect logically, including clear shifts to counterclaims and responses.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often treat transitions as decorations and repeat words such as “first,” “next,” and “finally.” They may use “however” without presenting a real contrast, or confuse evidence with reasons.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short argument with three missing transitions. Ask them to fill each blank and label the relationship it shows: support, example, contrast, or response.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs sentence strips from an argument to arrange, then have them add transition cards that make each connection clear.
Ask students to explain how changing “for example” to “however” changes the relationship between two sentences.
Play Transition Match by having teams pair claim, reason, evidence, and counterclaim cards with suitable linking words.
Have students mark transitions in a newspaper editorial, then rewrite one weak connection with a more precise phrase.
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Printable W.9-10.1c Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1c, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
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Before This Standard
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1c
The Grades 9–10 version of this standard.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.1c
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)...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1c
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
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