South Dakota ELA 7.RI.8.b

ELA7th GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

Assess whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify an author's claim and check whether each piece of evidence supports it. They decide whether the amount and range of evidence match how broad the claim is.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain why a fact supports a claim or why an off-topic fact does not. They can spot when one person's experience is not enough to support a claim about most people and name what more evidence would help.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat any fact on the same topic as proof. They may think one vivid story proves a claim about a whole group, or that adding more weak examples makes the evidence stronger.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Claim, 'Most seventh graders want a later school start'; evidence, 'Three seventh graders said they want school to start later.' Ask students whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient, and why.

Lesson moves

Give pairs cards for 'Later starts raise grades': one student's before-and-after grades, a 200-student grade comparison, and bus schedules; sort and spot gaps.
Write on the board, 'One student earned higher grades after eating school lunch'; ask whether it proves school lunches raise grades.
Play Evidence Referee: teams test 'Most students here like uniforms' against a dress-code rule, one student's vote, and a 200-student survey showing 60% agree.
Show an online product review claiming a backpack lasts for years; students check whether one month of use supports that claim.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 7.RI.8.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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