South Dakota ELA 9-10.RST.8
The Standard
Delineate (break down) 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 find what a science or technical writer wants readers to believe and point to the results used to support it. They check whether those results justify the conclusion or leave questions unanswered.
What Mastery Looks Like
- In a short lab report, a student can label the conclusion and the measurements offered to support it. They can explain why results from two plants cannot support a claim about all plants.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat any number as proof, even if it measures something unrelated to the claim. They may assume one successful trial is enough, or mistake two things happening together for proof that one caused the other.
How to Assess It
- Write on the board: “One bean plant under blue light grew 4 cm taller than one under white light, so blue light makes all plants grow faster.” Ask students to underline the claim, circle the evidence, and write whether the evidence is enough, with one reason.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed bean-light claim and cards showing plant heights, bulb prices, and water amounts; have them sort relevant from irrelevant evidence.
Ask pairs to explain why one bean growing faster under blue light cannot prove that blue light helps every plant.
Play evidence referee with four lab claims; pairs earn points by spotting irrelevant data or conclusions that go beyond the results.
Write “Our fertilizer doubles growth” on the board as an ad; students list the comparison and sample size needed to test it.
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Printable 9-10.RST.8 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 8.RI.8
Delineate (break down) and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text
- 9-10.RI.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text.
- 9-10.RH.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid, and the evidence is relevant and sufficient.
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