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Common Core ELA7th GradeSpeaking & Listening

SL.7.1: Discuss with Evidence and Rethink Your View

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1 · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration.

Time the DiscussionAll 41 7th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 7, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.7.1 Means in Plain English

Seventh graders arrive with the reading done and evidence they can point to, keep the group moving toward its goal before the deadline, ask questions that get a classmate to say more, steer a drifting talk back to the text, and admit when a new point changes their mind.

Sixth graders (SL.6.1) set goals and deadlines, ask detailed questions and paraphrase other perspectives. Seventh grade asks them to track progress toward those goals, draw out elaboration and change their own view when the evidence warrants. Eighth grade (SL.8.1) adds questions that tie several speakers’ ideas together.

SL.7.1 I Can Statements

  • I can point to evidence from the reading to probe an idea.
  • I can track my group’s progress toward its goal and deadline.
  • I can ask follow-up questions and change my view when warranted.

SL.7.1 Worked Example

With six minutes left and a classmate’s new fact on the table, one reply ignores both and the other puts them to work.

Prompt

Small-group discussion of the article “Four Days a Week,” about a district that switched to a four-day school week. The group’s goal: agree on a recommendation for our school in ten minutes. Four minutes in, the talk has drifted to what everyone would do on a free Friday. Then Theo says, “Wait, the article says reading scores dropped the first year.” Earlier, you argued for the four-day week. Respond.

Not YetHonestly, I’d sleep till noon every Friday. Anyway, I still think four days is better, because school days are boring and we’d get a break.It feeds the drift, ignores Theo’s new fact, and repeats the speaker’s first opinion with a reason that is nowhere in the article. The clock runs, and the group is no closer to a recommendation.
Meets the StandardOkay, we’ve got six minutes and still no recommendation, so let’s get back to the article. Theo, good catch. Is that the chart on page two? I said four days was better because attendance went up, but if reading scores dropped, I’m less sure now. Can you say more about how big the drop was? If it was small, maybe we recommend a one-year trial instead of switching for good.It names the deadline and pulls the group back to the text, credits Theo’s new information and adjusts the speaker’s own view, asks a question that gets Theo to elaborate, and moves the group toward a decision.
Moves to Use
Point to the reading: name the page, chart or paragraph behind your claim.Say where the group stands against its goal and how much time is left.Ask a follow-up that makes a classmate say more: “How big was the drop?”Pull a drifting talk back with a comment tied to the text, not a scolding.Name the new information and say whether it changes your view, and how.

Common Mistakes with SL.7.1

Defending a first opinion no matter what

“I still think four days is better,” right after a classmate shows that reading scores fell

Try this: Add two stems to the discussion card, “That changes my thinking because…” and “I still think… because…”, and require one per student.

Nobody tracking the goal

The timer beeps, and the group has a pile of opinions but no recommendation

Try this: Assign a timekeeper who calls the halfway and two-minute marks and asks the group, “What do we still need to decide?”

Questions that invite silence

“Does anyone else have anything?” followed by a long pause

Try this: Teach follow-ups that ask one person for more: “What makes you say that?” “Where in the article?” “What would change your mind?”

Where SL.7.1 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.6.1Come prepared, set group goals and deadlines, and paraphrase other perspectives to show understanding.
AlongsideRI.7.1Cite several pieces of evidence from a text, the preparation a speaker draws on in the circle.W.7.1Write arguments that acknowledge opposing claims, the written side of defending or changing a view.
Comes NextSL.8.1Ask questions that connect several speakers’ ideas, and qualify or justify a view in light of the evidence.

Practice SL.7.1

Classroom TimerFree ToolPut the discussion deadline on the board and stop at the halfway mark, so the timekeeper can say how far the group has come toward its goal.10-minute discussionHalfway checkOn the board
Start a Timer
Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin for who answers the last comment, or for who must ask a follow-up question before anyone offers a new idea.Answer the last commentAsk a follow-up
Spin a Name

Quick Check

  1. Which line in the strong reply tracks the group’s progress toward its goal?
  2. What new information changes the speaker’s view, and how does the view change?
  3. Which question in the strong reply asks Theo to elaborate?

SL.7.1: Other Names

SL.7.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1

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.