Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

This standard is a continuation of the skills students should have started learning in sixth grade. However, instead of asking students to analyze just one central idea, like in sixth grade, now students have to do multiple. Students should look at the order in which evidence is presented when they describe how a main idea if developed over the course of a text. Check our description of the eighth grade counterpart of this standard for a fleshed-out example of how students can identify how a central idea is developed.