CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1b
The Standard
Resolve issues of complex or contested usage, consulting references (e.g., Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, Garner's Modern American Usage) as needed.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
What This Standard Means
Students need to make smart grammar and usage choices when the answer is not obvious. They should know how to check a trusted usage guide, compare advice, and explain why one choice fits the sentence, audience, and purpose.
Mastery looks like a student revising a sentence and defending the choice with evidence from a reference. Students often get stuck treating grammar as only right or wrong. They may also grab the first search result, miss context, or avoid explaining why a disputed form works or does not work.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs five disputed sentences, a usage guide entry, and sticky notes to choose, revise, and label their reasoning.
- Ask students to write which sounds more formal, between who and whom in a sample sentence, then defend the better choice.
- Use an exit ticket with one contested usage item and require a corrected sentence plus one cited reference note.
- Show two workplace emails with different usage choices, then ask which version better fits the audience and why.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1b
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a
Apply the understanding that usage is a matter of convention, can change over time, and is sometimes contested.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.4c
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word o...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4c
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word o...