CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10
The Standard
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11—CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6—12
What This Standard Means
Students need to handle demanding science and technical texts without constant teacher support. They should read lab reports, manuals, research summaries, diagrams, and technical articles, then explain the main ideas, key details, vocabulary, and how the parts fit together.
Mastery looks like students choosing useful reading strategies, tracking evidence, and explaining complex information accurately. Common trouble spots are dense vocabulary, long noun-heavy sentences, unfamiliar formats, and skipping over charts or diagrams instead of using them to build meaning.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a one-page technical manual excerpt and sticky notes to label purpose, steps, warnings, diagrams, and confusing terms.
- Ask students to write: What did the author assume the reader already knows, and where did that make reading harder?
- Use a five-minute exit ticket with one complex sentence from the text, asking students to paraphrase it and define two key terms.
- Bring in an OSHA fact sheet or product spec sheet and have students identify what a worker or buyer must understand before acting.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.10
By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6—8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- 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...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11—CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.