CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.10
The Standard
By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11—CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11—CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
What This Standard Means
Students need to read demanding nonfiction, such as speeches, essays, memoir excerpts, editorials, and historical documents, and make sense of the writer’s ideas, structure, evidence, and word choices. They should handle long sentences, older language, abstract claims, and layered arguments without giving up.
Mastery looks like independent reading with accurate summaries, strong annotations, text-based discussion, and written analysis that tracks the author’s meaning. Students often get stuck on dense syntax, unfamiliar references, shifting tone, and separating the author’s main claim from supporting details.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a marked-up speech excerpt, cut it into sections, and have them label claim, evidence, tone shift, and purpose.
- Ask students to write: Which sentence carries the author’s main point, and how do three later sentences build on it?
- Use a five-minute exit slip with one hard sentence from the text, asking students to paraphrase it and underline clue words.
- Connect reading to an op-ed, court opinion, or policy statement students might see before voting, working, or joining a community debate.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.10
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6—8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.10
By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11—CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaff...