RI 7.8: EVALUATING ARGUMENT

Standard RI 7.8 is mostly about . . .

• Assessing claim, evidence, and reasoning.

• Finding support for a claim.

• Establishing best friends in a text.

• Finding the points on a plot diagram.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

A statement made by an author that asserts an author’s belief.

• Evidence

• Claim

• Reasoning

• Sufficient

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.6.8

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

The explanation the author gives to connect the evidence to the claim.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Sufficient

• Reasoning

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.8

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

Pieces of text used to back up (support) a claim

• Claim

• Reasoning

• Evidence

• Sufficient

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

Which of the following statements is an example of a Reason?

• Sports teach students how to work as a team and trust others to be supportive.

• The National Alliance for Youth Sports states, “Working as a team to reach a common goal helps children develop communication and problem solving skills that will benefit them on the field and off.”

• Every middle school student should be required to participate in a sport.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

Which of the following statements is an example of Evidence?

• Sports teach students how to work as a team and trust others to be supportive.

• The National Alliance for Youth Sports states, “Working as a team to reach a common goal helps children develop communication and problem solving skills that will benefit them on the field and off.”

• Every middle school student should be required to participate in a sport.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.8

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

Are you tired of trying to lug your books to school on your bike? Messenger bags and backpacks were not well-designed for bicycle travel, making it difficult to carry your books.
For example, messenger bags that sling across your shoulder and sit against your bike are always sliding off. Backpacks are better, but they are built to distribute the weight evenly when you walk. When bicycling, your body is in a whole different position. These backpacks can cause strain to the back.
The new Bicycle Book Bag completely solves these problems with a smart design. This backpack will hold all your books and let you carry them comfortably while you ride.
The comfort comes from the special straps that fasten across your chest and across your waist. This makes sure that weight is evenly carried across your whole back. Best of all, the bag and its contents are firmly held in place and will not slide around.
Just in time for school, the Bicycle Book Bag is available at an outdoor store near you.
What evidence could the author include to support the claim that wearing a regular backpack or bicycle is bad for the back?

• Data that show how many kids carry backpacks
• Testimony from a doctor who treats back problems
• A poll that asks what book bags kids use on their bike
• Examples of book bags that attach to the bike itself

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.8

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

“It’s important to limit your video game playing. First, playing video games isn’t good for your mind. It exposes young people to violence. Violent video games have been linked to aggression in kids. Also, it isn’t good for your health. The more video games you play, the less physical activity you are getting. Obesity and levels of video game playing are linked in research. Finally, playing video games limits the important social interactions you have in real life with friends and family. We miss talking with you around here because you’re always playing games!”

Which of the following is evidence for the claim below? "It exposes young people to violence. "

• "Violent video games have been linked to aggression in kids."

• "Obesity and levels of video game playing are linked in research."

• "We miss talking with you around here because you’re always playing games!”

• “It’s important to limit your video game playing."

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

“It’s important to limit your video game playing. First, playing video games isn’t good for your mind. It exposes young people to violence. Violent video games have been linked to aggression in kids. Also, it isn’t good for your health. The more video games you play, the less physical activity you are getting. Obesity and levels of video game playing are linked in research. Finally, playing video games limits the important social interactions you have in real life with friends and family. We miss talking with you around here because you’re always playing games!”
What could the author add to strengthen the idea that videos are not good for your mind?

• A study on childhood obesity
• Research that relates family relationships to video games
• A field study of a video game A study that shows the impact of video games on young children
• An interview with a video game creator

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.W.7.1B

CCSS.W.7.2B

Too Much Homework?

Kids have always complained about having too much homework, but are students in America really assigned more work than is healthy? And how much is too much?

The National Education Association (NEA) has actually come up with guidelines for how much homework teachers should assign. The NEA says that kids should get no more than 10 minutes per grade level each night. So that means a first grader should have 10 minutes of homework, a second grader should get 20 minutes, and so forth. Using this same guide, a seventh grader should not get more than 70 minutes of homework each day. Ask the average seventh grader in American public schools, and he or she will tell you that a lot more than that often gets assigned. Of course, kids are prone to exaggeration, so it's hard to take them seriously. But most will adamantly state that they get way too much work sent home each night.

But kids are supposed to work hard in school, right? What's wrong with that? Psychologists say that more and more school kids are getting tummy aches, headaches, and other health problems from putting in too many hours studying. Also, kids who have too many hours of homework will not get much time to play—and playtime is needed for brain development and for learning good social skills. Playtime also gives kids badly needed exercise, and without it, they can put on an unhealthy amount of weight. If you're not in school yourself, you might think students get plenty of time to play and blow off steam, but they don't really. In fact, the average student in the United States sits at a school desk for nearly 7 hours daily. When you add in 2 to 4 hours of homework each night, that's more than 45 hours of schoolwork per week! Compare that to a normal 35- or 40-hour work week that adults put in, and it starts to become apparent that school can be more than a full-time job!

So why are students assigned that much homework? Teachers generally give homework as a way of getting kids to repeat what they've learned in class, so it will sink in better. But according to the Department of Education, an agency of the U.S. government, students often do the homework incorrectly. Working on 50 math questions and doing them wrong, for example, only reinforces the incorrect way of doing the problems. Homework only "works" as a learning tool if a parent or someone else makes sure the student is doing the drills correctly. Otherwise, all of the hours of homework in the world won't make him or her better student.

Which idea from the article supports the author's claim that too much homework can be bad for students?

• A. the statement that adults typically work about 40 hours a week

• B. the idea that repetition helps kids learn concepts better

• C. the suggestion that kids don't always do their homework correctly

• D. the fact that psychologists say it can cause health problems

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8