Virginia SOL CE.9.f
The Standard
evaluating multiple sources describing the same event or idea and reflecting on the reasons for any discrepancies.
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science · The student will apply history and social science skills to explain the role of the media and social media and the influence on local, state, and national levels of government by
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare accounts of the same event or claim. They identify differences, judge source quality, and explain how audience, purpose, timing, or viewpoint may shape each account.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can point to specific words, facts, images, or omissions that differ across sources. They support a likely reason for each difference with evidence from the sources.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume the first account they read is accurate or that every discrepancy is a lie. They may name bias without explaining how purpose, audience, evidence, or timing affected the account.
How to Assess It
- Give students two short reports about the same city council vote. Ask them to identify two discrepancies and explain one likely reason for each.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups printed headlines and social posts about one event, then have them sort differences into facts, emphasis, images, and omissions.
Ask students to write: Which account seems most reliable, and what specific evidence supports your judgment?
Play Difference Detective by awarding points when teams find a discrepancy and connect it to audience, purpose, timing, or viewpoint.
Compare a school board announcement with local news and community social media posts about the same decision.
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Printable CE.9.f Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CE.9.f, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- S.WG.j
contextualizing, corroborating, and evaluating sources for credibility, propaganda, and bias to determine patterns and trends to understand the world.
- CE.9.e
identifying the source of information and considering possible motivations or biases of its creator; and
- S.WG.d
investigating and analyzing evidence from multiple sources to construct arguments;
- S.USII.e
comparing and contrasting people, places, events, and historical and political perspectives
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