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Common Core ELA4th GradeReading: Informational

RI.4.8: Explain How Reasons and Evidence Support Points

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.8 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.4.8 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders find the points an author makes in a nonfiction text and explain how each is backed up, by a reason, a fact, a number or the result of a study. An article claiming crows are clever has to show it, and students say how.

Third grade (RI.3.8) described how sentences and paragraphs connect, by comparison, cause and effect or sequence. Fourth grade looks at how evidence holds up a point. Fifth grade (RI.5.8) adds the matching: which reasons and evidence support which point.

RI.4.8 I Can Statements

  • I can find the point an author is trying to make.
  • I can tell a reason from the evidence that backs it up.
  • I can explain how a piece of evidence makes a point convincing.

RI.4.8 Worked Example

The author makes one big point and gives two reasons, each with its own evidence, and the weak answer only repeats the point.

Read the Story
Crows may be some of the cleverest animals on Earth.For one thing, crows make and use tools. On the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean, crows snip and shape twigs and stiff leaves into hooks. Then they poke the hooks into holes in dead wood to pull out the grubs hiding inside.Crows also remember faces. Scientists in Seattle once caught a few wild crows while wearing a certain mask, then let them go. For years afterward, crows cawed angrily at anyone who wore that mask, even crows that had never been caught. People wearing other masks were left alone.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: The author says crows may be some of the cleverest animals on Earth. How does the author support that point?
Not Yet“The author supports it by saying crows are very clever and smart animals.”That is the point said again in different words, not support for it. The answer names no reason and no evidence.
Meets the Standard“The author gives two reasons. The first is that crows make and use tools, and the evidence is the crows on New Caledonia that shape twigs into hooks to pull grubs out of wood. The second is that crows remember faces, and the evidence is the Seattle study, where crows cawed at one mask for years but left other masks alone. That study is convincing because it shows the crows could tell the masks apart.”The student separates the point, the reasons and the evidence, and explains why one piece of evidence makes the point hard to doubt.
Question Stems to Use
What point is the author trying to make?What reasons does the author give?What evidence backs up this reason?How does this evidence make the point more convincing?Is this sentence a reason or a piece of evidence?

Common Mistakes with RI.4.8

Repeating the point as support

“The author proves crows are clever by saying they are smart.”

Try this: Ask “How do you know?” after the point, and accept only an answer that comes from a later sentence in the text.

Listing evidence without saying how it helps

“Crows make hooks. Crows remember masks.” and nothing more

Try this: Have students follow each piece of evidence with a “so” sentence that says what it proves about the point.

Mixing up reasons and evidence

“The evidence is that crows remember faces.”

Try this: Teach that a reason says why the point is true, and evidence is the fact or study that proves the reason.

Where RI.4.8 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.3.8Describe how sentences and paragraphs connect: by comparison, cause and effect or sequence.
AlongsideW.4.1Write an opinion piece with reasons backed by facts and details.SL.4.3Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker gives to support particular points.
Comes NextRI.5.8Explain which reasons and evidence support which points in a text.

Practice RI.4.8

Quick Check

  1. What is the author’s main point about crows?
  2. What evidence supports the reason that crows make and use tools?
  3. Why is the detail about people in other masks important evidence?

RI.4.8: Other Names

RI.4.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.8

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.