CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1c
The Standard
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
What This Standard Means
Students need to connect parts of an argument so the reader can follow the thinking. They should use transition words, repeated key terms, and dependent clauses to show cause, contrast, addition, and example. They also need to link evidence back to reasons and claims, not drop quotes and move on.
Mastery looks like a paper where every sentence has a clear job. The claim, reasons, evidence, and counterclaim fit together smoothly. Students often get stuck using basic transitions like “also” too often, choosing transitions that do not match the logic, or forgetting to explain how evidence proves the point.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a cut-up argument paragraph and have them reorder it, adding transition slips between each sentence.
- Ask students to revise one body paragraph using three relationship words: because, however, and for example.
- Have students underline each transition in a paragraph and label its job: contrast, cause, example, or addition.
- Show a movie review and have students highlight how the writer connects opinions, reasons, and examples.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1c
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 rea...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1c
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1c
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 rea...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.1c
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.
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