CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.2e

ELAGrades 11–12Text Types and Purposes

The Standard

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation provided (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

What This Standard Means

Students need to end an informational or explanatory piece in a way that fits the evidence and ideas they already presented. The conclusion should not repeat the introduction. It should show why the explanation matters, what the findings suggest, or what readers should understand now.

Mastery looks like a final paragraph that grows out of the body of the writing and leaves the reader with a clear sense of significance. Students often get stuck by adding vague final lines, introducing brand-new evidence, or writing a summary that feels tacked on.

Ways to Teach It

Give students three weak conclusions and have them revise each one to name a clear implication, significance, or takeaway from the evidence.
Prompt students: What does your reader understand now that they did not understand before, and why does that matter?
Collect only conclusion paragraphs and ask students to underline the sentence that connects back to the main explanation.
Show the final paragraph of a science article or history article, then identify how it explains the significance of the topic.

Related Standards

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