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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 16 of 16

Arguments, Stories and Evidence

Claims and counterclaims, narrative technique, creative responses and text evidence.

What your child practices

Your child chooses arguable claims, credible evidence, counterclaims and conclusions; narrative techniques such as time shifts, relevant details and reflective endings; creative responses that explain their changes from the original; and evidence for analysis and research.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 8W1; 8W3; 8W4; 8W5 · arguments with claims, counterclaims and evidence, narrative technique, creative responses and drawing evidence from texts

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An arguable claim is one people could disagree with. Support it with credible, relevant evidence and answer counterclaims.
  2. In stories, use relevant details, time shifts and reflective endings.
  3. Creative responses should stay true to the characters and conflicts of the original.

Example: Claim: “Students should start school later.” Which evidence is most credible: a friend’s opinion, or sleep researchers’ findings on teens? Credible evidence comes from experts. Researchers study sleep. Answer: Sleep researchers report that teens’ body clocks make early sleep difficult.

Arguments, Stories and Evidence in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 16 of 16 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Dialogue, Events and Judging Texts.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    After reading a novel with an open ending, which creative response stays true to the text?

    • an unrelated story about space pirates
    • a copy of the last page
    • a list of the book's prices
    • an epilogue that follows the characters' established traits and conflicts

  2. Question 2

    Which claim is arguable and specific?

    • School is a building.
    • Computers exist.
    • Some students have classes.
    • Our school should replace one study hall with a coding class.

  3. Question 3

    Claim: “Students should have a later start time.” Which evidence is most relevant and credible?

    • My friend is always tired.
    • Sleep researchers report that teens' body clocks make early sleep difficult.
    • Buses are yellow.
    • Mornings are dark in winter.

  4. Question 4

    Which narrative opening establishes context and point of view?

    • Languages are spoken around the world.
    • This story is about a kitchen.
    • My grandmother's kitchen was the only place I spoke Tagalog, until the day she asked me to translate for her at the hospital.
    • Hospitals help people.

  5. Question 5

    Which technique creates a smooth shift from one time frame to another?

    • no signal at all
    • a transition like “Two years earlier,” followed by a change in tense
    • a footnote
    • a bibliography

  6. Question 6

    Which conclusion would best strengthen an argument for a school garden?

    • Gardens have dirt.
    • A garden would teach science, provide fresh food and bring our community together, so it is worth the effort.
    • I like flowers.
    • The end.

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