CCSS R8 Assessing Point of View and Purpose
By Jonathan LeMaster on April 14, 2014This week, LiteracyTA has analyzed College and Career Anchor standard R8. The purpose of analyzing the Common Core literacy standards is to distill them down to a workable list of skills that classroom teachers can teach. Our process can empower teachers with a practical way to break down additional state and local standards/learning outcomes.
Marking the Standard
To break down a standard, start with the Marking a Text analytical reading skill. Circle the directive verbs in the standard and underlined what those verbs say our students need to know and do.
Breaking the Standard into Skills
Once we have isolated the key literacy skills that make up the standard, we can organize them in a simple three column table.
Directive Verb | What students need to do | Literacy Skills in Skill Library |
delineate (identify and explain) | the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. | |
evaluate | the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. |
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Here is another way to visually represent the key literacy skills in the standard.
The College and Career Anchor Standard R8 asks students to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments. Students are expected to carefully read or listen to an argument and identify a speaker/writer's central claim and supporting evidence. After students develop this skill, they are expected to analyze and evaluate the claims and evidence. To prepare for this type of reading, students need multiple opportunities to read, speak, and write about arguments. Learn more about the Common Core argument standards and how to best prepare students for this type of reading and writing task. The reading skills outlined in the table above will help your students meet this standard. We hope that when we break the standard into manageable parts, it becomes easier to understand and teach.
Common Core Tools
To learn more about teaching standard R8, go to our Common Core Reading section. You can also use our Skill-Based Lesson Planner to plan a lesson that explicitly teaches this standard.
Let us know what you think about our Common Core standard break down. Join the conversation and share this page with others.
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The Conversation
You're welcome. Be sure to view our whole series on analyzing Common Core's reading standards. Click on "Common Core" in the top navigation bar and click "Reading" in the sub navigation. Then, under each standard you can click "Break it down."
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Literacy Standards In Action
We've mapped our literacy lessons and reading, speaking, and writing skills to state standards, Common Core, and NGSS. The standards are "the what" to teach. Our lessons are "the how" to meet the expectations defined by the standards. Click on the links below to view our quick reference table that maps standards to literacy lessons.