A response is appropriate when it is logically connected to the topic in question and uses sufficient text evidence as justification. Students are expected to develop responses that are pertinent to the lesson or concept being taught and that follow the specific purpose of the task. For example, students may be asked to write an argumentative essay after reading two articles that present opposing views on a topic.

Students are expected to use information taken directly from texts to justify their responses. When responding to a text, students need to make sure that they are correctly interpreting the author's purpose and the content when using text evidence to support an interpretation or inference. It is important that students understand that their responses must be based on actual ideas presented in a text and not on their personal opinions about the topic being discussed.