South Dakota ELA 9-10.RH.8
The Standard
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid, and the evidence is relevant and sufficient.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025) · Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify the main claim and smaller claims in a history or civics text. They check whether the reasons make sense and whether the evidence fits each claim and is enough to support it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can mark a claim, its reasons, and the evidence offered for it. They can explain when a conclusion reaches beyond the evidence, even if they agree with the author.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat any fact in a text as evidence for its claim, even when the fact is unrelated. They may think one example proves a broad pattern or that disagreeing with the author is the same as finding a flaw in the argument.
How to Assess It
- Write: 'The town should cut all bus routes. Only three people rode my bus on Saturday.' Ask students to name the claim, explain why the evidence is not enough, and name one piece of evidence they would need.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
On four index cards, write a child labor claim, a reason, a factory inspection count, and an unrelated fact; pairs sort and connect them.
Ask, 'Does one factory inspection prove child labor was common across the state?' Students write two sentences explaining what else they need.
Play Evidence Match: teams pair claims about factory work with dated inspection records, then challenge a mismatched pairing.
Put a local council bus proposal beside its rider count table; students check whether the counts cover the routes the proposal would cut.
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