Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.1.8
The Standard
Identify the claim and the reasons an author gives to support the claim in a text.
Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find what an author wants readers to believe in a short nonfiction text. They point to the reasons the author gives, not reasons they think of themselves.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name the author's claim and point to two details that support it. The student can tell how each detail helps make the author's point.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name the topic, such as trees, instead of the claim, such as trees help our town. They may choose a fact that does not support the claim or give a reason of their own.
How to Assess It
- Give students this exit ticket: 'Trees help our town. They give shade on hot days. Their roots soak up rain.' Have them circle the claim and underline both reasons.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs three sentence strips: 'Dogs need walks,' 'Walks give exercise,' and 'Walks let dogs sniff'; have them sort the claim from the reasons.
Read 'Plants need sunlight. Sunlight helps them make food. Without it, plants grow weak.' Ask, 'What is the claim? What reasons support it?'
Play a card match: pair 'Libraries help readers' with 'You can borrow books' and 'Librarians help you find books,' not 'Libraries have doors.'
Write a lunchroom sign: 'Try apples. They are crunchy and easy to carry.' Ask which words give reasons to try apples.
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Printable RI.1.8 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- RI.K.8
With prompting and support, identify the claim and the reasons an author gives to support claims in a text.
- RI.3.8
Describe how reasons and evidence support specific claims the author makes in a text.
- RI.2.8
Describe how reasons support specific claims the author makes in a text.
- RI.5.8
Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular claims in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which claim(s).
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