Virginia SOL 9.RI.3
SOL Standard (Knowledge and Skills Cluster)
Integration of Concepts
Virginia Standards of Learning for English
Cluster contents
Knowledge and Skills in This Standard
9.RI.3 is a Standards of Learning standard. These are the knowledge and skills expectations under it.
- 9.RI.3.A
Compare the perspectives and viewpoints of two or more authors regarding their treatment of the same or similar topics, including the details they include and e...
- 9.RI.3.B
Evaluate the clarity and accuracy of information found in informational texts, corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
Teacher's field guide
What This Cluster Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read multiple accounts of one issue and track what each writer includes, leaves out, or stresses. They judge how the writer’s background affects credibility, then verify claims against other reliable sources.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can cite precise details that reveal each writer’s angle and explain how those choices shape the account. The student checks claims across sources and gives a supported judgment about clarity, accuracy, and credibility.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat perspective as simple agreement or disagreement, or assume any difference means one author is lying. They may equate credentials with automatic accuracy, overlook omissions, or call a claim confirmed after finding it repeated on an unreliable site.
How to Assess It
- Give students two short accounts of the same event plus a third fact-checking source. Ask: “Which account is more credible, and what detail, emphasis, author credential, and outside evidence support your judgment?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed articles and highlighters; color-code shared facts, unique details, emphasized claims, and evidence of each author’s expertise.
Write one paragraph answering: How do the authors’ choices and backgrounds lead readers toward different conclusions about the topic?
Run a source-verification relay where teams match claim cards to corroborating, challenging, or irrelevant evidence cards and defend each match.
Compare two reports about a local policy, then check one disputed claim using a government record or direct data source.
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Printable 9.RI.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 9.RI.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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