Virginia SOL 7.R.1.C
The Standard
Evaluate and analyze the relevance, validity, and credibility of each source (primary, secondary, digital, and print), determining what information to include and exclude.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students judge whether a source fits their research question and whether its information can be trusted. They compare print and digital sources, then choose useful evidence and leave out weak or unrelated material.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students select sources that directly address the research question and support claims with reliable evidence. They explain decisions using the author, publication date, evidence, purpose, and agreement with other sources.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may trust the first search result, a polished website, or any source ending in .org. They may confuse relevance with accuracy or reject a useful source simply because it shows bias. They also may include interesting details that do not answer the research question.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Show a current government report, an outdated personal blog, and an unrelated news article about school lunches. Students choose one to include and explain why the other two should be excluded.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs six printed source cards about school start times, then have them sort each into use, verify, or exclude piles.
Ask students to write: Which source would you trust most for a report, and what two details support your choice?
Play Source Detective by awarding points when teams identify missing authors, outdated dates, weak evidence, or unrelated information on source cards.
Compare a local news report and a city website about a community issue, then choose which facts belong in a class summary.
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