Common Core Standards

Grade 8

Reading RI.8.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

This Common Core Standard is very similar to that of its seventh grade counterpart, but instead of asking students to explain how an author simply differentiates him- or herself from others, this standard asks students to explain how the author uses others' thoughts in his or her own writing. For example, the debate over the dropping of the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has created many articles in response, both for and against. When students answer something similar to the question "How does the author acknowledge and respond to conflicting evidence or viewpoints?", them students to be writing a lot of "refute"s, "reject"s, or "disagree"s, among other verbs.

Example 1

Here's an example lesson to use when students are learning about the American Revolution.

Have students use http://www.paul-revere-heritage.com/index.html to research commonly-held beliefs and the truth about Paul Revere's role in the Revolution. In groups, have students develop the following information: a brief biography, common myths, truths, pictures of Revere or his ride, an analysis explaining why he is typically seen in a more heroic light, and an annotated bibliography explaining why the site is valid.

Note: This lesson also fulfills CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.2, and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.5.