CCRA.SL.2Common CoreELAAnchor StandardsSpeaking and ListeningGrades 6-12
CCRA.SL.2: Integrating and Evaluating Spoken, Visual and Numerical Information
In plain English: CCRA.SL.2 is the Common Core College and Career Readiness anchor standard for speaking and listening that asks students to integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively and orally: combining a speech, a table and a chart into one picture and judging each source's accuracy and credibility. In grades 6-12 it is carried by SL.6.2 through SL.11-12.2.
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration Also written as CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2 · Official standard
CCRA.SL.2 asks students to take in information the way it usually arrives: in several forms at once. A decision about a bus route, a school schedule or a science question may come with a speech, a table of numbers and a chart. The standard asks students to integrate these (combine them into one accurate understanding, noticing where they agree and where they conflict) and to evaluate them (judge each source's accuracy, credibility and motive). It names three kinds of information: presented visually, quantitatively (in numbers) and orally (spoken).
This page teaches the anchor as a progression for grades 6-12, from interpreting each format and explaining how it adds to a topic (grade 6) to integrating several sources to make an informed decision while noting discrepancies among the data (grades 11-12). The lesson uses one invented local question, whether a town bus route should run on Saturdays, with four sources: a planner's spoken report, a table of trial counts and a rider survey, a flyer chart printed by a group of shop owners, and a radio call-in segment. Spoken sources appear as transcripts; the teacher reads them aloud first so students practice listening before they reread. Homework repeats the skill with a school lunch-line question. Every activity has a grades 6-8 version and a grades 9-12 version, and all the data are invented.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Take accurate notes from information presented orally and check them against a written transcript
Interpret a table and a chart and explain what each adds to a spoken report
Integrate oral, numerical and visual sources into one accurate summary, noting where they agree and where they conflict
Evaluate each source's credibility, accuracy and motive, including exaggerated numbers and projections shown as data
Use integrated sources to make and justify a recommendation
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Combining a text with a chart or table CCRA.R.7
Telling a claim from the evidence that supports it CCRA.R.8
Reading a bar graph and a table with labeled columns
"A radio announcer says, 'Tonight's starting pitcher has been unhittable lately!' The newspaper's box scores show the hits he allowed in his last three games: 2, 9 and 1. What does each source tell you, and what do you conclude when you put them together?"
Take answers. The announcer gives a lively impression; the numbers show two strong games and one poor one, so "unhittable" is an exaggeration. Neither source alone gives the full picture: the numbers show what happened, and the announcer shows what the broadcast wants listeners to feel. Putting sources together is integrating; questioning the announcer's word is evaluating. Today's sources come in three forms: spoken, numerical and visual.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Terms for the whole period.
Format and medium: the form information takes (a table, a chart, a spoken report) and the channel that carries it (a meeting, the radio, a printed flyer).
Integrate: combine information from several sources into one accurate understanding.
Evaluate: judge each source's accuracy (are its facts and numbers right?), credibility (how does the source know, and can it be checked?) and motive (what does the source gain, socially, commercially or politically, if listeners believe it?).
Discrepancy: a place where sources disagree about a fact or a number.
Projection: an estimate of the future, not a measurement.
Listening notes. Spoken information goes by once. Note numbers, names and claims in a two-column chart (what was said, what I need to check) and check the notes afterward against a transcript or a table.
How the anchor grows. The table paraphrases what each grade-level standard adds.
Progression of CCRA.SL.2 in grades 6-12
Grade-level standard
Band
What this band adds
SL.6.2
Grade 6
Interpret information presented visually, quantitatively and orally, and explain how it contributes to the topic, text or issue under study
SL.7.2
Grade 7
Analyze the main ideas and supporting details in diverse media and formats, and explain how the ideas clarify the topic
SL.8.2
Grade 8
Analyze the purpose of the information and evaluate the motives (social, commercial, political) behind its presentation
SL.9-10.2
Grades 9-10
Integrate multiple sources in diverse media or formats, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source
SL.11-12.2
Grades 11-12
Integrate multiple sources to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating each source and noting any discrepancies among the data
The question. The invented Town of Fairhaven is deciding whether its Route 9 bus, which runs on weekdays only, should also run on Saturdays. The town ran the bus on two trial Saturdays in October. Listen first: the teacher reads Source 1, the transit planner's report to the council, aloud once while students take listening notes. Then students read the transcript (paragraphs 1-5) and Source 2, the trial counts and the rider survey.
1Good evening. I'm Dana Okafor, the transit planner for the Town of Fairhaven. You asked us to test Saturday service on Route 9, which runs between Downtown, Fairhaven Hospital and the Westgate Mall. Right now, Route 9 runs on weekdays only, and it carries an average of 410 riders a day.
2In October we ran six round trips on each of two Saturdays, leaving Downtown at 8 and 10 in the morning, at noon, and at 2, 4 and 6 in the afternoon. Our drivers counted every boarding. We counted 236 boardings on the first Saturday and 254 on the second, an average of 245. That is about 60 percent of a normal weekday. The busiest trips were in the middle of the day, and the 6 p.m. trip carried the fewest riders both times.
3We also asked riders where they were going. We surveyed 180 riders across the two days, and about 41 percent were going to the hospital, most of them staff starting or finishing a shift. The mall came second.
4Now the cost. Each Saturday costs about $1,200 to run, mostly for the driver's time and fuel. Fares bring back about $370 a Saturday. So the town would pay roughly $830 a Saturday, or a little over $43,000 a year.
5Two cautions. First, two Saturdays is a small sample. Second, the second Saturday was the day of the Harvest Fair downtown, which may have brought extra riders. If the council wants a firmer number, we can run a longer trial in the spring. Thank you. I'm happy to take questions.
SVHS (original transcript; the town, the people and the data are invented), Source 1: The Transit Planner's Report to the Town Council (transcript of an oral presentation). Original passage written for this page.
Source 2: Route 9 trial Saturdays, boardings on each round trip (both directions; each bus has 40 seats; invented data)
Trip leaving Downtown
Saturday 1
Saturday 2
8 a.m.
31
35
10 a.m.
44
47
Noon
52
55
2 p.m.
48
51
4 p.m.
39
42
6 p.m.
22
24
Total
236
254
Source 2, continued: where surveyed riders were going, both trial Saturdays (180 riders; invented data)
Destination
Riders
Fairhaven Hospital
74
Westgate Mall
58
Downtown shops and offices
30
Other
18
Total
180
Checking a spoken number against a table
Dana Okafor says the two Saturdays averaged 245 boardings, "about 60 percent of a normal weekday." Check both numbers with Source 2 and paragraph 1.
Result: The table's totals are 236 and 254, and (236 + 254) / 2 = 245. Route 9 carries 410 riders on a weekday, and 245 / 410 is about 0.598, so "about 60 percent" is accurate. A listener who noted the numbers by ear can now confirm them.
What the table adds to the speech
Okafor says only that "the busiest trips were in the middle of the day." What does the table add?
Result: The size of the difference. The noon trip had 52 and 55 boardings, while the 8 a.m. trip had 31 and 35. The speech gives the pattern; the table shows how big it is, which matters if the town considers running fewer trips.
Evaluating a spoken source's credibility
How much should the council trust Okafor's report?
Result: She explains how the numbers were collected ("Our drivers counted every boarding," "We surveyed 180 riders") and gives the cost in round figures that can be checked. Her department would run the service, so a council member might still ask for an independent count.
Turning the numbers into a decision measure (grades 9-12)
What does each Saturday rider cost the town before fares are counted?
Result: About $1,200 / 245 riders, or roughly $4.90 per boarding. A single measure like this lets the council compare Saturday service with other uses of the money. It still leaves out what the numbers cannot show, such as how many riders would have had no other way to travel.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Two more sources. The teacher reads Source 3, a local radio segment, aloud while students add to their listening notes; then pairs read the transcript (paragraphs 1-11) and study Source 4, the flyer chart in the Diagrams section (Diagram 1). Grades 6-8 pairs complete a chart with one row per source: what it says, what it adds, and one question about it. Grades 9-12 pairs add columns for accuracy, credibility and motive.
1Host: Good morning. The town council votes next week on Saturday bus service. With me is Carla Mendes, president of the Fairhaven Merchants Association, which printed the flyers you may have seen around town. Carla, why does your group want Saturday buses?
2Mendes: Our shops lose customers every Saturday because people without cars can't get to us. And people want this bus. During the trial, ridership grew eight percent in a single week. By spring we expect six hundred riders every Saturday.
3Host: Where does six hundred come from?
4Mendes: That's our members' estimate, based on how busy the stores get once people know a bus is running.
5Host: Let's take some calls. Dale, you're on the air.
6Dale: Hi. I'm a nurse at Fairhaven Hospital. Half the people on my Saturday shift don't drive. During the trial I took the 8 a.m. bus, and it was full of hospital staff. Without it, some of my coworkers pay for a taxi or walk forty minutes.
7Host: Thanks, Dale. Ruth, go ahead.
8Ruth: I don't ride the bus, and I don't see why the town should spend sixty-two thousand dollars a year on half-empty buses on Saturdays.
9Host: Carla, a quick response?
10Mendes: The buses won't be half-empty once people know they're running. That's the whole point.
11Host: We'll leave it there. The council meets Tuesday at seven.
SVHS (original transcript of an invented local radio program; the station, the people and the data are invented), Source 3: "Fairhaven Morning" Radio Segment on Saturday Buses (transcript). Original passage written for this page.
Who is speaking, and for whom? Ask: "Who is Carla Mendes, and who printed the flyer?" Teacher note: she is president of the Fairhaven Merchants Association, and paragraph 1 says the association "printed the flyers." The radio guest and the flyer come from the same group, so they are not two independent sources.
What does the group stand to gain? Ask: "Why might shop owners want Saturday buses?" Teacher note: Mendes says it herself: "Our shops lose customers every Saturday." A commercial motive does not make a claim false, but it is a reason to check the group's numbers rather than accept them.
Read the flyer's labels. Ask pairs to read every label and footnote on Diagram 1 before they look at the bars. Teacher note: careful reading of small print is part of evaluating a visual.
Hold the rest for the quiz. Pairs finish their charts on their own; the quiz asks about the specific claims in Sources 3 and 4.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Recommendation to the council. Students write a short recommendation on Saturday service that integrates the four sources. Grades 6-8: three to four sentences that use one number from the table, one point from a spoken source and one observation about the flyer. Grades 9-12: a paragraph that names the most credible and the least credible source with reasons, notes one discrepancy among the sources and how they resolved it, and ends with one more piece of data the council should collect. Either position can earn full credit; the grade is for how well the sources are used.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: Name one thing you could only catch by listening carefully and one thing you could only see in the table or the chart. Then write one question you would ask before trusting a number you heard on the radio.
Teacher note. Every source on this page is invented: the town, the people, the radio program, the school, the counts and the survey. The flyer and the merchants' and callers' statements contain exaggerations on purpose, for students to find; the planner's report is the model of a careful source. For the listening practice, read each transcript aloud at a natural pace once before students see it.
For homework: students read the principal's announcement below (paragraphs 1-4), the student council's table under it and the council's chart (Diagram 2 in the Diagrams section). If possible, read the announcement aloud in class first. All are invented.
1Good morning, Lakeview Middle School. This is Principal Avery with an update on the lunch line.
2Last month, many of you told us the line is too slow, so the student council timed it. For one week, council members recorded how long the tenth student in line waited, from joining the line to reaching the cashier, in every lunch period.
3The results are clear. Students in Period B wait about twice as long as students in Period A. The council also surveyed 50 students in Period B, and 36 of them said they often don't have time to finish their lunch.
4So, starting Monday, we will open a second serving line during Period B only. The council has posted its chart outside the cafeteria, and its full table is on the school website. Thank you to the student council for their careful work, and have a great day.
SVHS (original transcript; the school, the people and the data are invented), Homework Source 1: Principal Avery's Morning Announcement (transcript). Original passage written for this page.
Homework Source 2: the student council's table, minutes waited by the tenth student in line (invented data)
Lunch period
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Period A (11:00)
6
7
5
6
6
Period B (11:35)
11
12
10
13
9
Period C (12:10)
8
9
7
8
8
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a listening-notes chart with the speaker's name and the topics of each paragraph already filled in
Highlight the matching numbers in the planner's report and the table in the same color before students compare them
Provide frames: "The speaker says ___, and the table shows ___, so ___." and "I trust this source more / less because ___."
For Advanced Students
Ask students to compute the town's cost per Saturday rider after fares and explain whether it changes their recommendation
Have students design the spring trial Okafor offers: how many Saturdays, which weeks to avoid and what to count
Ask students to redraw the flyer as an honest chart and write a caption that a merchant and a careful council member would both accept
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work combines sources in single statements ("The planner's average of 245 matches the table") instead of summarizing each source separately, checks spoken and printed numbers against each other, and judges each source on how it knows, whether its numbers are accurate and what it gains if believed. Look for students who notice projections presented as data and discrepancies among the sources. Watch for students who trust whichever source sounds most confident, who copy numbers without saying what they mean, or who dismiss a source only because it has a motive.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Listen, Then Look
15 minIndividual, then pairs
Students take notes on a spoken source by ear, then check their notes against the transcript and the table. Comparing what they caught with what was there shows what listening gives and what it loses.
How It Works
The teacher reads Source 3, the radio segment, aloud once at a natural pace while students keep two-column notes: what was said, and what to check
Students turn over their notes and list every number they heard
Pairs then read the transcript and Source 2 and mark each note as accurate, partly accurate or missed
Grades 6-8 Version
Before the reading, the teacher tells students to listen for numbers and for who is speaking
Pairs check three of their notes against the transcript
Each pair writes one sentence on what the table showed that the radio segment did not
Grades 9-12 Version
No listening prompts are given in advance
Pairs check every number they noted against both the transcript and Source 2
They write a short paragraph on how hearing a confident voice affected their first judgment of the claims, and whether rereading changed it
Discussion Questions
Which kind of detail was easiest to miss by ear: numbers, names or qualifications such as "estimate"?
What does a speaker's voice add that a printed transcript cannot?
When would you trust a number you heard only once?
2
Credibility Line-Up
15 minGroups of 4
Groups rank the sources from most to least credible, using the same four criteria for each. Ranking forces students to compare the sources directly instead of judging each one alone.
The Criteria
How it knows: counts, a survey, personal experience or an estimate
Checkable: could another person check the information?
Accurate: do its numbers match the other sources?
Motive: what does the source gain if listeners believe it?
Grades 6-8 Version
Groups rank the planner, the table and survey, the flyer, and each radio voice (Mendes, Dale and Ruth)
For each, they fill in the four criteria in a few words
They agree on the most credible source and give the class two reasons
Grades 9-12 Version
Groups rank the same sources, then decide whether any low-ranked source still adds something the council should hear
They identify one claim that two sources disagree about and decide which source to trust on it, and why
They write one sentence explaining how a source can be both motivated and accurate
Discussion Questions
Did your group rank a source low because of its motive or because of its numbers? Is that the same thing?
Which source did the groups disagree about most?
What would make the least credible source more credible?
3
The One-Page Brief
20 minGroups of 3
Groups combine the sources into a one-page brief for the council: a short summary, one honest chart and a recommendation. Building their own integrated document shows what each format is best at.
What the Brief Contains
A three-sentence summary that uses at least one spoken source and one number
One chart, drawn by hand from Source 2, with labeled axes starting at zero
A box titled "Where the Sources Disagree"
A recommendation of one or two sentences
Grades 6-8 Version
Groups draw a bar graph of the boardings on each trip for one Saturday
The disagreement box lists one claim from the radio segment that the table does not support
Each group presents its chart and explains what it shows that the speech did not
Grades 9-12 Version
Groups choose the chart type that best supports their recommendation and justify the choice in a caption
The disagreement box lists two discrepancies and says how the group resolved each one, or what data would resolve it
The recommendation names the cost to the town and one condition, such as a longer trial
Discussion Questions
Which part of the brief was hardest to write without the original sources in front of a reader?
Did any group's chart make its recommendation look stronger than the data allow?
Which spoken source, if any, belongs in a brief, and why?
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Source 4, the Merchants' Flyer
Source 4: a flyer posted around the invented town of Fairhaven by the Fairhaven Merchants Association, redrawn for this page with its labels and footnotes as printed. Read every label, then compare the bars with Source 2. All data are invented.
Diagram 2: Homework Source 3, the Student Council's Posted Chart
The chart the invented Lakeview Middle School student council posted outside the cafeteria, redrawn for this page. Use it with the principal's announcement and the council's table at the end of the lesson plan. All data are invented.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
CCRA.SL.2 Homework: The Lunch Line at Lakeview Middle School
Directions: Use the three homework sources: Principal Avery's announcement (paragraphs 1-4) and the student council's table, both at the end of the lesson plan (in Closure), and the council's posted chart (Diagram 2). The school, the people and the data are invented. Show any calculation, cite the announcement by paragraph number, and you may use a calculator. Grades 9-12 complete the extra step in Problems 3 and 6.
Part 1: Integrating the Sources (Problems 1-2)
Use the table to find the average wait for each lunch period over the five days. Which period waits longest, and by how many minutes on average does it exceed the shortest?
In paragraph 3, the principal says Period B students wait "about twice as long" as Period A students. Use your averages to check this claim. Is it accurate, exaggerated or understated? Show the calculation.
Part 2: Evaluating the Chart and the Survey (Problems 3-4)
Compare the bars in the posted chart (Diagram 2) with the table. What numbers did the council actually chart? Explain how a student who saw only the chart might misunderstand the wait times, and write a better title for it. Grades 9-12: also explain whether the chart's choice makes the case for a second line stronger or weaker than the averages do.
The principal reports that 36 of 50 Period B students said they often don't have time to finish lunch. What percent is that? Then explain one reason this survey cannot tell us how students in Periods A and C feel.
Part 3: Deciding (Problems 5-6)
Evaluate the credibility of the two sources of information, the principal's announcement and the student council's measurements. For each, say how it knows what it reports and whether anything could be checked.
The school will open a second serving line during Period B only. Using all three sources, write a recommendation of four to five sentences: is this the right fix? Include at least two numbers. Grades 9-12: also name one discrepancy among the sources and one more measurement the council should take.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Integration
Combines the spoken announcement, the table and the chart in single statements that show how they fit or conflict
Uses all sources but keeps them separate
Uses only one source
Accuracy with Numbers
Averages, comparison and percent correct, with work shown
One calculation or copying error
Numbers missing or several errors
Evaluation of Sources
Judges each source's accuracy and credibility and explains how the chart could mislead
Judges sources in general terms without specific evidence
Accepts every source as given
Recommendation
Clear decision supported by numbers from the sources, with a limit or further data named
Decision supported vaguely or by one source only
No decision or no support
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
All questions use the Fairhaven bus sources: Source 1, the planner's report, and Source 2, the counts and survey (Direct Instruction); Source 3, the radio segment (Guided Practice); and Source 4, the flyer (Diagram 1). Question 1 stands on its own. All data are invented. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What does it mean to integrate information from a speech, a table and a chart?
Answer: D
Integrating means putting the sources together and noticing where they confirm, add to or contradict each other. Choice A drops sources instead of combining them. Choice B moves numbers without understanding what they mean together, and choice C trusts one format over the others without checking.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Dana Okafor says "the 6 p.m. trip carried the fewest riders both times." Which numbers in Source 2 support this?
Answer: B
The 6 p.m. row shows 22 and 24 boardings, the smallest number in each Saturday's column. Choice A gives the 8 a.m. counts, which are low but not the lowest. Choice C gives the noon trip, the busiest. Choice D gives the daily totals, which say nothing about any one trip.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Carla Mendes says ridership "grew eight percent in a single week." What does Source 2 show about the change from Saturday 1 to Saturday 2?
Answer: A
254 - 236 = 18 more boardings, and 18 / 236 is about 0.076, or 7.6 percent, so "eight percent" is a fair rounding of the number itself. Choice B treats the 18 boardings as if they were 18 percent. Choice C takes the 8 from her percent as a count of riders. Choice D doubles the difference.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why is the change from Saturday 1 to Saturday 2 weak evidence that ridership is growing?
Answer: C
Okafor gives both cautions herself: "two Saturdays is a small sample," and the second was "the day of the Harvest Fair downtown, which may have brought extra riders." Integrating her report with Mendes's claim shows the rise may be the fair, not a trend. Choice A has no support in the sources. Choice B is false: no caller questions the eight percent. Choice D misreads the survey, where the hospital comes first.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In the flyer (Diagram 1), what is misleading about the "Month 3" and "Month 6" bars?
Answer: D
The two bars are the Association's own estimates, explained only in a small footnote, yet they are drawn in the same color and style as the two counted Saturdays, so the chart looks like a record of growth. Mendes confirms on the radio that six hundred is "our members' estimate." Choice A is wrong: the flyer's axis starts at 0. Choices B and C contradict the chart and the planner's report.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Dale, the nurse, says the 8 a.m. bus "was full of hospital staff." What does Source 2 suggest about the word "full"?
Answer: A
The 8 a.m. round trip had 31 and 35 boardings in both directions, and each bus has 40 seats, so even if every rider was on board at once, seats were left. "Full" is an exaggeration, though Dale's point that hospital staff use the bus is supported elsewhere. Choice B is false: noon was the busiest. Choice C goes beyond the table, which does not show destinations. Choice D adds the two Saturdays together as if they were one trip.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
How does the rider survey in Source 2 fit with what Dale says on the radio?
Answer: B
74 of 180 surveyed riders, about 41 percent, were going to the hospital, "most of them staff," the largest group. That supports Dale's main point. The survey does not measure how full any bus was, how many staff drive, or which trip they took, so choices C and D claim more than it shows. Choice A reverses the survey's result.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Ruth says the town would spend "sixty-two thousand dollars a year" on Saturday buses. What does her figure leave out?
Answer: C
$1,200 a Saturday times 52 Saturdays is $62,400, the full cost before fares. Okafor says fares bring back about $370 a Saturday, so the town would pay "a little over $43,000 a year." Ruth's number is real but incomplete. Choice A is wrong because driver time and fuel are what the $1,200 covers. Choices B and D are costs no source mentions.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Dale says, "Half the people on my Saturday shift don't drive." What kind of evidence is this?
Answer: A
Dale speaks from her own workplace, which makes her claim relevant and possibly accurate, but it covers one shift and no source on the page checks it. Choice B is wrong because the survey reports destinations, not who drives. Choices C and D attach her words to other sources, a mix-up that is easy to make when several voices are heard in a row.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The flyer's headline is "Saturday Riders Will Soar!" What is that claim actually based on?
Answer: D
"Will soar" is a prediction, and the only support for it is the Month 3 and Month 6 bars, which the footnote calls "estimates by Association members." Choice A is wrong because the counts show 236 and 254, not a soaring trend. Choices B and C are real numbers that say nothing about future growth.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Okafor reports that about 41 percent of the 180 surveyed riders were going to the hospital. About how many riders is that?
Answer: B
41 percent of 180 is 0.41 × 180, or about 74, which matches the survey table. Choice A reads the percent as a count. Choice C is the number of riders going somewhere other than the hospital (180 - 74). Choice D subtracts the percent from the total (180 - 41), which mixes a percent with a count.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The host asks Mendes, "Where does six hundred come from?" Why is this a useful question for a listener?
Answer: C
A number said with confidence is easy to accept by ear. The question makes Mendes reveal that it is "our members' estimate," which a listener can then weigh. Choice A reads a position into a neutral question. Choice B misdescribes it, and choice D goes too far: an estimate is not proven false, only shown to be an estimate.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Taking all the sources together, which statement is best supported?
Answer: A
The survey shows 74 of 180 riders going to the hospital, more than to any other destination, and the planner says the same. Choice B rests on the merchants' estimate. Choice C conflicts with the counts of 31 and 35 boardings and 40 seats. Choice D gives the cost before fares, not after.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The flyer's bars for the two trial Saturdays are labeled 236 and 254. How do they compare with Source 2?
Answer: B
Source 2's totals are 236 and 254, the same as the flyer's first two bars. A careful evaluator checks before assuming everything on a motivated source is wrong: the flyer's problem lies in its estimates and headline, not in these two bars. Choices A, C and D describe errors that are not there.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Use Source 2 to compare the two trial Saturdays trip by trip. Did every trip gain riders on Saturday 2, and by how much? What does the pattern suggest, given what Okafor says about the Harvest Fair?
Model answer: Every trip gained a little: 31 to 35 (+4), 44 to 47 (+3), 52 to 55 (+3), 48 to 51 (+3), 39 to 42 (+3) and 22 to 24 (+2), for 18 in all. The rise is small and spread across the whole day rather than a jump at one time. It could come from the fair or from more people hearing about the bus, and two Saturdays cannot tell those apart, which is why a longer trial would help. Rubric: full credit gives accurate trip-by-trip changes, describes the pattern and connects it to the fair with an appropriate caution; partial credit gives the changes without interpreting them.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Choose two sources from the bus question: the planner, Dale or Ruth. For each, name a possible motive and explain how it might shape what the source emphasizes.
Model answer: Dale works at the hospital and has coworkers who need the bus, a social motive, so she stresses how crowded the bus was and leaves out that the 8 a.m. trip was not the busiest. Ruth does not ride the bus and does not want to pay for it, so she stresses the full yearly cost and leaves out the fares. Neither motive makes a source worthless: Dale's point about hospital staff is supported by the survey. Rubric: full credit names a plausible motive for each source and shows how it shapes what is said or left out, with evidence; partial credit names motives without showing their effect.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Grades 9-12: Describe two changes that would make the flyer chart (Diagram 1) present the data honestly, and explain each.
Model answer: First, draw the Month 3 and Month 6 bars differently, as outlines or dashed bars labeled "merchants' estimate," or remove them, so readers can tell measurements from predictions. Second, replace "Riders Will Soar!" and "Up 8% in one week!" with a headline the counts support, such as "Trial Saturdays averaged 245 riders," and add a note that the second Saturday was the day of the Harvest Fair. Rubric: full credit names two changes that fix real problems in the flyer, each with a reason; partial credit names changes without reasons, or one change.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Grades 9-12: Write a three-sentence recommendation to the council on Saturday service that integrates at least one spoken source and one number from Source 2, and names one discrepancy among the sources.
Model answer: "The trial counts support a modest demand for Saturday service, averaging 245 boardings, about 60 percent of a weekday, with the largest group of surveyed riders going to the hospital. The merchants' claim of 600 riders by spring and the nurse's report of a full bus are not supported by the counts, so the council should not base its budget on them. Because the second Saturday was also the Harvest Fair, the council should approve the spring trial Ms. Okafor offered before committing about $43,000 a year." Rubric: full credit integrates a spoken source and a number accurately, names a real discrepancy and makes a clear recommendation; partial credit does two of the three.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
What could a listener catch in the radio segment that would be harder to notice in a printed chart, and what does the chart or table show that is hard to catch by ear? Give one example of each.
Model answer: By ear, a listener can catch how a speaker answers a direct question: when the host asks where six hundred comes from, Mendes's answer shows it is only "our members' estimate." A printed chart cannot be questioned that way. On paper, a reader can compare all twelve trip counts at once and see that the 8 a.m. trip had at most 35 boardings; a listener hearing those numbers once would struggle to hold them. Rubric: full credit gives one accurate example for each format and explains the difference; partial credit gives one example.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Okafor calls two Saturdays "a small sample" and mentions the Harvest Fair. Explain why these cautions make her more credible, not less, and name one more piece of data the council could collect.
Model answer: A source that names the limits of its own data shows it is trying to inform rather than to win, and it tells listeners exactly where to be careful; Mendes, by contrast, presents an estimate as growth. The council could count riders on six or more Saturdays in the spring, avoiding special events, or survey hospital staff about how they get to Saturday shifts now. Rubric: full credit explains why stated limits build credibility, with a contrast or example, and names a useful piece of data; partial credit does one of the two.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
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Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does CCRA.SL.2 mean?
It means students should be able to combine and judge information that comes in different forms: things they see (charts, maps, images), numbers (tables, statistics) and things they hear (speeches, interviews, broadcasts). A student meeting it can put a speech and a table together into one accurate picture, check a spoken number against the data, and judge each source's accuracy, credibility and motive before using it.
How does CCRA.SL.2 change from grade 6 to grade 12?
It moves from understanding each format to weighing many sources for a decision. Grade 6 students interpret information in different formats and explain how it adds to a topic; grade 7 analyzes main ideas and details; grade 8 adds the purpose and the motives behind a presentation. Grades 9-10 integrate several sources while evaluating each one's credibility and accuracy, and grades 11-12 use them to make informed decisions while noting discrepancies among the data.
What is the difference between CCRA.SL.2 and CCRA.R.7?
Both ask students to integrate and evaluate information in different formats. CCRA.R.7 belongs to reading and centers on texts with visuals and data; CCRA.SL.2 belongs to speaking and listening and adds information presented orally, such as a speech, a meeting or a broadcast. In practice they often work together, as on this page, where a spoken report is checked against a table.
How can students practice the oral part of CCRA.SL.2 without audio or video?
By listening to a teacher or classmate read a transcript aloud before they see it. Students take listening notes, then check their notes against the printed transcript and the data. This page uses that "listen first, then read" routine; any recording, live speaker or class presentation works the same way.
What does "evaluating the credibility" of a source mean?
It means judging how much to trust the source: how it knows what it reports (counts, a survey, personal experience, an estimate), whether the information can be checked, whether its numbers match other sources and what it gains if listeners believe it. A credible source often says what its own data cannot show.
What does CCRA.SL.2 mean by motives?
The grade 8 standard asks students to evaluate the motives behind a presentation, for example social, commercial or political ones. A motive is what the source hopes to gain: shop owners who want customers, a worker who wants a ride to work, a taxpayer who wants lower costs. A motive is a reason to check a claim, not proof that the claim is false.
What are common ways charts and spoken claims mislead?
Common problems include a bar chart whose axis does not start at zero, a percent given without the count it is a percent of, an average that hides a wide spread, a map or picture cropped to leave out part of the scene, and a confident spoken number with no source. Students can catch each one by asking how the source knows and checking the claim against the data.
How is CCRA.SL.2 assessed?
Tasks usually give students several sources in different formats and ask them to answer a question, make a recommendation or check a claim using all of them. Strong answers integrate the sources in single statements, use accurate numbers and judge each source. The quiz and homework on this page follow that pattern, and the rubric scores integration, accuracy, evaluation and the recommendation.
Does CCRA.SL.2 require math?
Only the math needed to read the numbers: totals, averages, differences and percents. The aim is to understand what the numbers say about the question, for example that 245 average riders is about 60 percent of a weekday's 410. Students may use calculators; the judgment about the sources is the main skill.
How can families practice CCRA.SL.2 at home?
When a news segment, an advertisement or a sports broadcast gives a number, look for the same number in print or in a chart and compare them. Ask together: who is saying this, how do they know, and what do they want us to believe? Noticing when a spoken claim and the data don't match is the core habit of the standard.
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Related Standards
8 standards
These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.SL.2 in grades 6-12, plus closely related anchors.
Grades 6-8
SL.6.2Grade-band standard
Interpret information in diverse media and formats and explain its contribution
