South Dakota ELA 11-12.W.8.b

ELAGrades 11–12Writing

The Standard

Assess the strengths and limitations of each source (e.g., relevance, accuracy, and credibility) in terms of the task, purpose, and audience.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students check each source’s author, date, evidence, and fit for their writing task. They explain what each source helps prove, what it cannot prove, and whether its claims are accurate.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain that a survey of 30 classmates captures local views but may not represent the whole school. They can use a national study for broader findings while noting that it may not describe their school.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat a recent source as accurate without checking its evidence. They may reject an advertisement outright, rather than using it to show what a seller claims. They may assume a large national study answers a question about their own school.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: For a school board letter about later start times, assess a 2025 survey of 30 classmates about sleep and a 2022 nationwide study of 10,000 teens about sleep. Name one strength and one limit of each, then choose which you would cite for a claim about your school.

Lesson moves

Give pairs printed screenshots of a university study, a sleep product ad, and a school survey; have them mark authors, dates, and evidence.
Ask: Would you cite a national teen sleep study or your school’s 30-student survey in a letter to the principal, and why?
Play source draft: pick from cards describing a local survey, health report, and mattress ad; name a use and a limit for each.
Compare district start times with a state health page on teen sleep; note what each can and cannot support in a principal email.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 11-12.W.8.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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