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Common Core ELA8th GradeSpeaking & Listening

SL.8.2: Judge the Motive Behind Media

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2 · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration.

Build a Motive GameAll 41 8th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 8, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.8.2 Means in Plain English

Eighth graders ask why a source shows them something and who gains if they believe it. A sports-drink chart paid for by its maker, a mayor’s speech before a tax vote, a shelter’s photo of one stray dog: students name the purpose, then the commercial, political or social motive.

Seventh graders (SL.7.2) pull main ideas and details from a chart or video and explain what they clarify. Eighth grade asks why the information was presented and whose interest it serves. Grades 9 and 10 (SL.9-10.2) combine several sources and judge each one’s credibility.

SL.8.2 I Can Statements

  • I can explain why a chart, video or speech presents its information.
  • I can name the motive behind a source: social, commercial or political.
  • I can point to the detail that gives the motive away.

SL.8.2 Worked Example

One short video and two answers. The weak one reports what the video says; the strong one asks why it says it that way.

Prompt

Watch a 60-second video from a sports-drink company. It shows a bar graph, “Hydration score after practice,” on a scale from 80 to 100, with the drink far ahead of water, and ends with a pro athlete saying, “Real athletes don’t settle for water.” What is the video’s purpose, and what motive shapes how it presents the numbers?

Not YetThe purpose is to teach you about hydration. The graph shows that the sports drink hydrates better than water, so athletes should drink it. It’s a good video because it has facts.It repeats the video’s message as if it were neutral information and trusts the graph because it has numbers. It never asks who made the video or why.
Meets the StandardThe purpose is to sell the drink, so the motive is commercial. The company made the graph itself, and the scale starts at 80, not zero, so a small gap looks huge. The video never says what a “hydration score” even measures. Then the athlete’s line makes drinking water sound like settling. Every choice pushes toward buying the drink, not toward understanding hydration.It names the purpose and the commercial motive, then backs the motive with three details: who made the graph, the cut-off scale and an undefined score. It ends by explaining how the presentation serves the motive.
Moves to Use
Ask who made it and who paid for it before judging what it says.Name the purpose: to inform, to persuade, to sell or to win support.Label the motive social, commercial or political, and point to the detail that shows it.Check numbers and images for choices: a cut-off scale, a cropped photo, a missing unit.

Common Mistakes with SL.8.2

Trusting it because it has numbers

“The graph proves it, so it’s true,” about a chart the seller made

Try this: Ask three questions of every chart: who made it, where the scale starts, and what is left off.

Summarizing instead of analyzing

A neat recap of the video’s main points, with no word about why it was made

Try this: Require the answer’s first sentence to name a purpose and a motive, then allow one sentence of summary at most.

Calling every motive bad

“Anyone with a motive is lying,” said about a fire department’s smoke-alarm video

Try this: Show a source with an open, honest motive beside a misleading one, so students judge how information is presented, not only why.

Where SL.8.2 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.7.2Analyze the main ideas and details in a chart, podcast or video and explain what they clarify.
AlongsideRI.8.6Find an author’s point of view or purpose and how the author handles conflicting evidence.RI.8.7Weigh what print, video and multimedia each do well when presenting a topic.
Comes NextSL.9-10.2Combine several sources in different media and judge how credible and accurate each one is.

Practice SL.8.2

Jeopardy Game MakerFree ToolA review board with Social, Commercial and Political categories: each square describes an ad, a chart or a speech, and teams name the motive behind it.Motive categoriesTeam playBig screen
Build a Game
Random Name PickerFree ToolPause the video and spin for who names the purpose, then spin again for who points to the detail that reveals the motive.Name the purposeFind the detail
Spin a Name

Quick Check

  1. What motive does the strong answer name, and what purpose goes with it?
  2. Which detail in the graph does the strong answer say exaggerates the difference?
  3. A city council video shows packed buses and asks residents to vote yes on a transit tax. What motive is behind it?

SL.8.2: Other Names

SL.8.2CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2

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.