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Common Core ELA7th GradeReading: Informational

RI.7.7: Compare a Text with Its Audio or Video Version

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.7 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 41 7th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium's portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 7, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.7.7 Means in Plain English

Seventh graders read a speech or article, then watch or hear it, and compare what each version does with the subject. A printed speech about removing a dam reads like plain facts, but on video a pause and a jar of river water change how the words land.

Sixth graders (RI.6.7) combined words, charts and pictures into one understanding of a topic. Seventh grade compares two whole versions of the same text and asks what each medium adds or loses. Eighth grade (RI.8.7) weighs the pros and cons of print, video and multimedia for presenting a topic.

RI.7.7 I Can Statements

  • I can compare the written text of a speech with a recording of it.
  • I can explain how delivery changes the impact of the words.
  • I can say what each version shows that the other leaves out.

RI.7.7 Worked Example

Version A is a short speech at a town meeting as printed, Version B is notes on the video of it, and the weak answer lists differences without asking what the delivery did.

Read the Story
Version A, the printed speech: When the two dams on the Elwha River in Washington came down, salmon swam above them for the first time in about a century. Our river could be next.Version A: The dam on Mill Creek produces no power. It blocks fish, and it traps mud behind it. I am asking you to vote to take it down.Version B, notes on the video: The speaker holds up a glass jar of brown water before saying a word. She reads the Elwha sentence slowly and stops for a long pause after “a century.”Version B: She speeds up through “produces no power” and “blocks fish,” ticking them off on her fingers. On “take it down,” she sets the jar on the table, and the audience applauds.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: How does the video version change the impact of the speech compared with the printed text?
Not Yet“In the video she holds a jar and the audience claps. In the text there is no jar. The words are the same in both.”It lists differences but never says what they do. The question is how the jar, the pause and the pace change the force of the same words, and the answer stops before it gets there.
Meets the Standard“In print, the Elwha sentence is just a fact, and ‘produces no power’ and ‘blocks fish’ read as equal reasons in a list. On video, the jar of brown water shows the trapped mud before she mentions it, the long pause after ‘a century’ makes listeners feel how long the fish were shut out, and ticking the reasons off on her fingers makes them sound obvious. The printed version is easier to check, but the video makes ‘take it down’ land as a call to act.”Each difference in delivery is tied to a specific line and to what it does to the listener, and the answer gives the printed version its due too.
Question Stems to Use
What does the speaker do with her voice or hands on this line?Which line hits harder on video? Why?What can a reader do with the printed version that a listener cannot?What does the video show before any words are spoken?If you had only one version, what would you miss?

Common Mistakes with RI.7.7

Listing differences without effects

“In the video she has a jar. In the text she doesn’t.”

Try this: Require a “which makes” clause after every difference, such as the pause after “a century,” which makes listeners feel the wait.

Deciding the video always wins

“The video is better because it is more interesting.”

Try this: Ask what the printed version does better, such as letting readers reread and check facts, before anyone ranks the two versions.

Watching before reading

Students who saw the video first and cannot say what the words do on their own

Try this: Have students read and mark the printed text first, predicting where the speaker will slow down, then watch and check the predictions.

Where RI.7.7 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.6.7Combine information from words, charts, pictures and other formats into one understanding of a topic.
AlongsideRL.7.7Compare a story, drama or poem with its audio, filmed or staged version.SL.7.2Analyze the main ideas and details presented in different media and how they clarify a topic.
Comes NextRI.8.7Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of print, video and multimedia for presenting a topic.

Practice RI.7.7

Quick Check

  1. What does the speaker do in the video before she says a word?
  2. How does the pause after “a century” change the impact of the Elwha sentence?
  3. Name one thing the printed version does better than the video.

RI.7.7: Other Names

RI.7.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.7

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.