Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-8, Writing: History, Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What WHST.6-8.6 Means in Plain English
Students use computers and the internet to draft and publish work for their subject classes, and they use those tools to show how ideas connect: a graph embedded beside the paragraph it proves, a link to the source behind a number, a table that lines up results side by side.
Fifth graders (W.5.6) publish and collaborate with some adult help and type two pages in a sitting. Grades 6 to 8 add a reason to publish digitally: showing clearly how information and ideas relate. Grades 9 to 10 (WHST.9-10.6) add updating shared writing and displaying information dynamically.
WHST.6-8.6 I Can Statements
I can publish my subject writing online for a real audience.
I can embed a graph or table beside the idea it supports.
I can link to my sources so readers can check them.
WHST.6-8.6 Worked Example
Both groups had the same rain garden data and the same class web page; only one used the page to show what the numbers meant.
Prompt
Publish our rain garden results on the school science web page for families. Data: we poured the same 2 gallons of water on test spots three times each; puddles in the rain garden soaked in after an average of 4 minutes, and puddles on the lawn beside the gym took an average of 31 minutes. Include a graph, a link to a source that explains how rain gardens work, a photo of the garden and our data table.
Not YetRain Garden Data. Our class tested the rain garden and the lawn. Attached is our spreadsheet with all the numbers. Click here for more information. Photo below.The post makes the reader do the work: the numbers sit in an attachment, the link says “click here” without saying where it goes, and nothing on the page states the result or connects the photo to it. The technology is used, but nothing it shows is related to anything else.
Meets the StandardRain Garden Soaks Up Water Almost Eight Times Faster Than the Lawn. On three afternoons in October, our class poured 2 gallons of water onto test spots in the rain garden and on the lawn beside the gym, then timed how long each puddle took to disappear. The bar graph below shows the averages side by side: 4 minutes in the rain garden and 31 minutes on the lawn. The photo beside the graph shows why, with the garden’s loose, mulched soil and deep-rooted plants next to the packed soil of the lawn. To learn how rain gardens keep runoff out of storm drains, read the county stormwater office’s rain garden guide, linked here. Our full data table is linked at the bottom for anyone who wants to check our math.The headline states the finding, and the post sets the graph, the photo and the explanation side by side so each one explains the others. The link text names where it goes, the full table is one click away instead of being the only way in, and a family reader understands the result without opening a spreadsheet.
Moves to Use
Put the finding in the headline, not just the topic.Place each graph or photo beside the sentence it supports.Write link text that names the source instead of “click here.”Choose the graph that shows the comparison at a glance.Keep the full data a link away for readers who want to check it.
Common Mistakes with WHST.6-8.6
The attachment dump
“Attached is our spreadsheet with all the numbers.”
Try this: Require one sentence that states the result in words before any file, table or graph appears on the page.
Click here
“Click here for more information.”
Try this: Have students rewrite every link so its words name the source and what the reader will find there.
Graphics as decoration
A photo of the garden at the bottom of the post, with no caption and no mention in the text
Try this: Ask students to point each image or graph at a sentence in the text, and delete any visual that no sentence mentions.
Rubric GeneratorFree ToolBuild a rubric for a published post with rows for the headline, graph placement and link text, so students check the page as a reader would.HeadlineGraphsLinks
How does the strong post show the relationship between the data and the explanation?
It places the bar graph and the photo beside the sentences they support: the graph shows 4 minutes against 31, and the photo shows the loose soil and roots that explain the difference.
What is wrong with the link “Click here for more information”?
The reader cannot tell where it goes or why it matters. The strong post names the source, the county stormwater office’s rain garden guide, in the link itself.
Where does the strong post put the full data table, and why?
A link away at the bottom. Families get the result first, and anyone who wants to check the math can still open the table.