Georgia 12.T.RA.1.b

ELA12th GradeResearch & Inquiry

The Standard

Synthesize information from a variety of credible sources to support a central thesis, citing appropriately. (I)

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Texts (T) · Research & Analysis

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students develop a focused, defensible thesis about a research question. They connect evidence from several trustworthy texts rather than listing separate summaries. They identify borrowed ideas with consistent citations.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student selects evidence that directly supports a clear, debatable thesis. The student shows where sources agree, differ, or add context. Quotations and paraphrases are introduced, explained, and cited correctly.
Common Misconceptions: Students often stack separate source summaries instead of connecting ideas across texts. They may treat every website as equally reliable. They may insert quotations without explaining how the evidence supports the thesis.
How to Assess It: Give students four labeled excerpts on one issue, including one weak source. Ask them to write a thesis and one paragraph connecting two credible excerpts with parenthetical citations.

Lesson moves

Give groups printed source cards; they sort them by claim, then build an evidence chain that supports one thesis.
Ask, “Where do these authors agree, differ, or complicate the issue?” Students answer with one cited sentence from each source.
Run a synthesis relay where teams match thesis cards to evidence from two sources and explain why each pairing works.
Have students write a school policy memo using district data, student survey results, and local news coverage, with citations.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 12.T.RA.1.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Keep exploring

Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.