CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1
The Standard
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students make claims about both clear details and implied meanings in a literary text. They choose the best supporting passages, explain each connection, and identify questions the text does not settle.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student states a defensible reading, uses precise quotations from more than one part of the text, and connects each quotation to the claim. The student separates fact from inference and names ambiguity without forcing a single answer.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often insert a quotation but never explain how it proves the claim. They may choose the first related line instead of the strongest evidence. Some treat an inference as fact or force certainty where the author leaves questions open.
How to Assess It
- Give students a 200-word passage with an ambiguous ending. Ask them to state one interpretation, cite two supporting details, and name one point that remains unresolved.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut an excerpt into sentence strips, then have groups sort details under direct statement, supported inference, or unresolved question.
Write one paragraph answering, “What does the character want, and what remains uncertain?” using two quotations and an explanation for each.
Run an evidence ranking game where pairs order four quotations from strongest to weakest support for one claim and justify the top choice.
Compare a novel excerpt with its film scene, then identify which interpretation the director chose and what textual uncertainty allowed that choice.
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Printable RL.11-12.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1, 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: Literature progression map.
Before This Standard
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1
The Grades 11–12 version of this standard.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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