7.8.E
The Standard
analyze characteristics and structures of argumentative text by: identifying the claim, explaining how the author uses various types of evidence and consideration of alternatives to support the argument, and identifying the intended audience or reader
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify an author’s main claim in an argumentative text. They explain how different evidence and consideration of alternatives support that claim, then determine the intended audience.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can state the author’s claim accurately and identify facts, examples, expert views, or statistics used as evidence. They can explain how the evidence and alternatives support the argument and infer the intended audience from specific clues.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may confuse the claim with the topic or treat every opinion as the main claim. They may list evidence without explaining its purpose, miss alternatives or counterclaims, and name “everyone” as the audience.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short editorial and ask them to underline the claim, label two evidence types, box an alternative, and name the intended audience.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups claim, evidence, alternative, and audience cards to sort and match using a short editorial printed in sections.
Ask students to write: Which evidence best supports the claim, and how would the argument change for a different audience?
Play Evidence Detective, where teams label quoted passages as fact, statistic, example, expert opinion, or consideration of an alternative.
Compare two advertisements for the same product and identify each claim, supporting evidence, acknowledged alternatives, and intended audience. Stick to words
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 8.8.E.i
identifying the claim and analyzing the argument;
- 4.12.C
compose argumentative texts, including opinion essays, using genre characteristics and craft; and
- 6.8.E.ii
explaining how the author uses various types of evidence to support the argument;
- 7.8.D
analyze characteristics and structural elements of informational text, including: the controlling idea or thesis with supporting evidence, features such as refe...
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.