6.8.E.ii
The Standard
explaining how the author uses various types of evidence to support the argument
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify the kinds of evidence an author uses, such as facts, statistics, examples, expert opinions, and anecdotes. They explain how each piece supports a reason or the main claim.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can identify facts, statistics, examples, expert opinions, and anecdotes in an argument. They can explain the specific connection between each piece of evidence and the author’s claim.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may label every detail as evidence or confuse evidence with the author’s claim. They may name an evidence type without explaining how it supports a reason or claim. They may also assume a personal story proves an argument by itself.
How to Assess It
- Give students one argumentative paragraph. Ask them to underline the claim, circle two pieces of evidence, label each type, and explain how each supports the claim.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups claim, reason, and evidence cards from a short argument, then have them sort and connect each evidence card to a reason.
Ask students to write: Which evidence in the passage best supports the author’s claim, what type is it, and why?
Play Evidence Match: teams pair facts, statistics, expert quotes, and anecdotes with claims, earning points only after explaining each connection.
Compare a product advertisement with a consumer review, and mark the facts, statistics, testimonials, and personal stories used to persuade buyers.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 4.9.E.ii
explaining how the author has used facts for an argument; and
- 5.9.E.ii
explaining how the author has used facts for or against an argument; and
- 7.8.E
analyze characteristics and structures of argumentative text by: identifying the claim, explaining how the author uses various types of evidence and considerati...
- 8.6.J
defend or challenge the authors' claims using relevant text evidence.
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