CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1

ELAGrades 11–12Key Ideas and Details

The Standard

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6—12

What This Standard Means

Students need to use exact details from primary and secondary sources to support a claim about what the source means. They should not just drop in quotes. They need to explain how each detail helps them understand the whole document, argument, event, or historical question.

Mastery looks like a student choosing strong evidence, naming where it comes from, and linking it clearly to an analysis of the full source. Students often get stuck summarizing, choosing long quotes, or explaining one sentence without connecting it to the larger message or context.

Ways to Teach It

  • Give students two short sources on the same event and have them highlight three details that best support a claim about perspective.
  • Ask students to write: Which detail most changes how you understand the whole source, and why?
  • Use an exit ticket with one claim, one cited detail, and one sentence explaining how the detail supports the claim.
  • Compare a political speech excerpt with a modern news analysis and ask students how specific evidence shapes each author’s message.

Before This Standard

If students are struggling here, check these first.

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Related Standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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