College Debt Debate

This analytical reading worksheet is designed for students in Grades 9, 10, and 11 who are building strong skills in argumentative reading and critical evaluation. Using an editorial that advocates for free public college tuition, students examine how claims are supported through statistics, expert opinions, and counterarguments, focusing on evidence quality, reasoning strength, and persuasive effectiveness in opinion writing.

Academic Focus

• Evaluating Claims & Evidence (Grades 9-11)
  Students identify the author’s main argument and analyze how different types of evidence support it.
• Fact vs. Opinion vs. Reasoning
  Learners distinguish between factual information, opinion statements, and logical reasoning.
• Counterclaim Analysis
  Students examine how opposing viewpoints are acknowledged and addressed in the editorial.
• Persuasive Effectiveness
  The activity encourages judgment of relevance, credibility, and overall argument strength.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with secondary ELA standards for argument analysis.
• Media & Editorial Literacy
  Helps students become more discerning readers of opinion-based texts.
• Structured Critical Thinking
  Guided questions move students beyond summary into evaluation and reasoning.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for nonfiction units, debate prep, discussion starters, or analytical writing practice.

This printable worksheet gives students meaningful practice with evaluating argumentative writing, identifying strong versus weak evidence, and thinking critically about persuasive texts. By closely analyzing an editorial on college tuition, learners strengthen reasoning, evidence evaluation, and confidence in engaging with real-world arguments. Suitable for classroom instruction or homeschool use, this no-prep resource supports deeper understanding of how effective arguments are constructed and evaluated.

This worksheet is part of our Grade 10 Reading Comprehension collection.