CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
The Standard
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify at least two central ideas in an informational text. They trace how details develop each idea, explain how the ideas interact, and write a neutral summary.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can state two defensible central ideas and select details that show how each develops. The student explains how the ideas reinforce, complicate, or qualify each other. The summary covers the full text without opinions or minor details.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a broad topic or striking detail instead of a full central idea. They may trace each idea separately without explaining how the ideas connect. Summaries often include opinions, quotations, or minor examples.
How to Assess It
- Give students a one-page article and ask: Name two central ideas, show where each develops, explain their connection, and write a 75-word objective summary.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Print an article in sections, then have students color-code two ideas, arrange the sections, and connect related evidence with string.
Ask students to write: How does the second central idea change or deepen the reader’s understanding of the first?
Play Evidence Sort by having teams place detail cards under two central ideas, then defend any card that fits both.
Compare two ideas in a news explainer about housing costs, then discuss how their interaction shapes the reader’s understanding of the issue.
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Printable RI.11-12.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
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Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Informational Text progression map.
Before This Standard
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Related Standards
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- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.2
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