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Common Core ELA5th GradeReading: Informational

RI.5.8: Match an Author’s Evidence to Each Point

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.5.8 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders track how an author builds a case in nonfiction: which point each reason supports, and which evidence backs it. A writer who says bats matter might make two points, that bats protect crops and help plants spread, and students sort every fact under the right one.

Fourth graders (RI.4.8) explained how an author uses reasons and evidence in general. Fifth grade adds the matching: this evidence, that point. Sixth grade (RI.6.8) starts evaluating, separating claims an author supports with reasons and evidence from claims that have no support.

RI.5.8 I Can Statements

  • I can find the points an author makes in a nonfiction text.
  • I can tell which reasons and evidence support each point.
  • I can notice a fact that does not support any point.

RI.5.8 Worked Example

The author makes two points and slips in a fact that supports neither, and the weak answer piles everything together.

Read the Story
Bats have a bad reputation, but farms and wild plants both depend on them.Bats protect crops. Mexican free-tailed bats in Texas feed on moths whose caterpillars damage corn and cotton. Scientists estimate that by eating crop pests, bats save farmers in the United States billions of dollars every year.Bats also help plants spread. In tropical forests, fruit bats swallow seeds and drop them as they fly, often over cleared land where new trees can sprout. In the deserts of Mexico, long-nosed bats carry pollen between the night-blooming flowers of agave plants.Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: The author makes two points about why bats matter. Which evidence supports which point?
Not Yet“The author says bats are good because they eat moths, spread seeds, carry pollen, save money and are the only mammals that can fly.”Every fact lands in one pile, so the answer never shows which point each fact supports. It also counts the flying fact as support, though it backs neither point.
Meets the Standard“Point 1 is that bats protect crops. The evidence is that free-tailed bats eat moths whose caterpillars damage corn and cotton, and that bats save U.S. farmers ‘billions of dollars every year.’ Point 2 is that bats help plants spread. The evidence is that fruit bats drop seeds over cleared land and long-nosed bats carry pollen between agave flowers. That bats can truly fly is interesting, but it supports neither point.”Each point is named, each piece of evidence sits under the point it proves, and the extra fact is set aside.
Question Stems to Use
What points does the author make?Which evidence supports this point?Is this sentence a point, a reason or a piece of evidence?Does every fact support a point? Which one doesn’t?Which point has the strongest support? Why?

Common Mistakes with RI.5.8

One pile of facts

“Bats eat moths, spread seeds and save money.” with no points named

Try this: Have students name the points first, then write each piece of evidence directly under the point it proves.

Counting every fact as support

“Bats are the only mammals that can fly” listed as evidence that bats protect crops

Try this: Ask “Does this make the point more convincing?” for every fact, and let students cross out the ones that do not.

Mixing up points and evidence

“The evidence is that bats protect crops.”

Try this: Teach that a point is what the author wants you to believe, and evidence is the fact that makes you believe it.

Where RI.5.8 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.4.8Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support points in a text.
AlongsideSL.5.3Summarize a speaker’s points and say which reasons and evidence support each claim.W.5.1Support an opinion with logically ordered reasons backed by facts and details.
Comes NextRI.6.8Trace an argument and tell the claims backed by reasons and evidence from the claims that are not.

Practice RI.5.8

Quick Check

  1. What are the author’s two points about bats?
  2. Which evidence supports the point that bats protect crops?
  3. Which sentence in the passage supports neither point?

RI.5.8: Other Names

RI.5.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8

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.