Virginia SOL 9.RI.1.C
The Standard
Distinguish among, facts, reasoned judgments, and/or speculation in texts to determine where a position/argument is to be confirmed, disproved, or modified.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Key Ideas and Confirming Details
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students separate verifiable facts from conclusions based on evidence and from unsupported predictions or guesses. They then decide whether those statements support, weaken, or require changes to an author’s argument.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately label statements as facts, reasoned judgments, or speculation. They use those labels and details from the text to explain whether a position is supported, disproved, or needs revision.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat any confident statement as a fact or label every opinion as speculation. They may also classify statements correctly but fail to explain how each one affects the author’s position.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short argument with one fact, one reasoned judgment, and one speculation. Ask them to label each statement and decide whether the argument should stand, change, or be rejected.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups printed claim cards to sort into fact, reasoned judgment, or speculation, then require one evidence note for each choice.
Ask students to write whether an author’s position should stand, change, or be rejected, citing two labeled statements from the text.
Play Evidence Detective: teams classify projected statements and earn a point only when they explain how each affects the argument.
Compare a product review with its advertisement, then mark verified facts, supported opinions, and guesses before deciding which claims to trust.
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Printable 9.RI.1.C Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 6.RI.1.C
Trace the argument and specific claims in texts, distinguishing claims that are supported by evidence and reasons, from claims that are not.
- 11.W.1.B.ii
Interpret and investigate evidence from various sources and texts to draw reasonable conclusions that support the writer’s position or assertion.
- 2.RI.1.C
Differentiate facts from opinions within a text.
- 10.RI.1.C
Evaluate the argument and specific claims in texts, examining whether the reasoning is valid, the evidence is relevant, and whether there are any false or unsup...
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