Evaluating Support

This worksheet helps students in Grades 5 and 6 strengthen critical reading, analytical thinking, and persuasive writing skills by evaluating the strength of arguments in short paragraphs. Learners read each argument, decide whether the support is Strong, Moderate, or Weak, and explain their reasoning by analyzing the quality, relevance, and logic of the supporting details.

Learning Goals

• Evaluating Argument Strength (Grades 5-6)
  Students assess how well an argument is supported rather than accepting claims at face value.
• Distinguishing Strong vs. Weak Evidence
  Learners identify whether reasons are logical, factual, or based mainly on personal opinion.
• Analyzing Persuasive Writing
  Students examine how claims and support work together to persuade a reader.
• Justifying Evaluations with Reasoning
  The activity reinforces explaining why support is strong, moderate, or weak.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA standards for argument analysis.
• Clear Rating Framework
  The Strong-Moderate-Weak scale helps students think flexibly about degrees of support.
• Explanation-Focused Practice
  Students articulate their thinking, building metacognition and clarity.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for writing units, literacy centers, discussion practice, homework, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students become more discerning readers and writers by teaching them to evaluate the quality of support behind an argument. By rating argument strength and explaining their judgments, learners strengthen critical thinking, reading comprehension, and persuasive writing foundations. It’s a meaningful, no-prep resource that works well in both classroom instruction and homeschool learning.

This worksheet is part of our Arguments and Claims Worksheets collection.