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Common Core ELA6th GradeSpeaking & Listening

SL.6.3: Trace a Speaker’s Argument

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.3 · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration.

Get a Debate QuestionAll 41 6th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.6.3 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders listen to a speech, a podcast or a debate turn and lay out the argument: the position, then each claim under it. Beside every claim they note what holds it up. “Every kid wants this,” with no survey behind it, gets marked unsupported, however confident it sounds.

Fifth graders (SL.5.3) summarized a speaker’s points and matched each to its reasons and evidence. Sixth grade maps the whole argument and sorts the claims into two piles, supported and unsupported. Seventh grade (SL.7.3) goes further and judges whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence relevant and sufficient.

SL.6.3 I Can Statements

  • I can state a speaker’s overall argument in one sentence.
  • I can list each claim a speaker makes, in order.
  • I can tell which claims have reasons or evidence and which don’t.

SL.6.3 Worked Example

A one-minute assembly speech and two listeners’ breakdowns of it. One argues back. The other maps what was actually said.

Prompt

A town council member speaks at a school assembly: “Our town should turn the empty lot on Pine Street into a skate park. First, it would get skaters off downtown sidewalks. When Millbrook opened its park, complaints about sidewalk skating fell from forty to nine in a year. Second, it’s affordable, because the city already owns the lot. Every kid in town wants this. And skate parks build character.” Lay out her argument and say which claims are supported.

Not YetShe wants a skate park, and she made a lot of good points. I agree with her, because skateboarding is great exercise and that lot is just sitting there empty anyway.It names her side and then joins it, adding a reason she never gave. The claims are never separated, so no one can tell which ones she actually backed up.
Meets the StandardHer argument is that the town should build a skate park on the Pine Street lot, and she made four claims. One, it would get skaters off downtown sidewalks, and she gave evidence: Millbrook’s complaints fell from forty to nine the year after its park opened. Two, it’s affordable, and her reason was that the city already owns the lot. Three, every kid in town wants it, but she gave no survey or numbers. Four, skate parks build character, with nothing behind it at all. So two claims are supported and two are just stated.The position comes first, then each claim in her order, with its support named as a reason or as evidence. The listener keeps opinions out and flags the two claims that rest on nothing but her word.
Moves to Use
Name the overall argument in one sentence before listing claims.Number each claim as you hear it, in the speaker’s order.Mark the support beside each one: a reason, evidence or nothing.Watch for claims that sound strong but carry no support, like “everyone wants this.”Report what the speaker said, not whether you agree.

Common Mistakes with SL.6.3

Arguing back instead of mapping

“She’s wrong, skate parks are dangerous.”

Try this: Split the job into two turns: map the speaker’s claims first, and allow agreeing or disagreeing only once the map is finished.

Confidence mistaken for evidence

“She said every kid wants it, so that one’s supported.”

Try this: Ask “How do we know?” after each claim, and mark it unsupported unless the speaker answered with a reason or evidence.

Claims hidden in a story

The listener catches the opening position and the statistic but misses a claim tucked inside an anecdote

Try this: Play a recording twice, pausing the second time whenever students hear a claim, and number each one on a two-column chart.

Where SL.6.3 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.5.3Summarize a speaker’s points and explain which reasons and evidence support each claim.
AlongsideRI.6.8Trace an argument in a written text and sort supported claims from unsupported ones.W.6.1Write arguments with claims backed by clear reasons and relevant evidence.
Comes NextSL.7.3Judge whether a speaker’s reasoning is sound and the evidence relevant and sufficient.

Practice SL.6.3

Classroom TimerFree ToolTime the speaker’s case, then give listeners two minutes to sort every claim into supported and unsupported before anyone responds.Speaker’s turn2-minute sort
Start a Timer

Quick Check

  1. What is the speaker’s overall argument?
  2. Which two claims are supported, and with what?
  3. Why is “every kid in town wants this” unsupported?

SL.6.3: Other Names

SL.6.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.3

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.