Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.11-12.9

ELAGrades 11–12Reading Informational Text

The Standard

Analyze documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address related themes and concepts.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read two significant texts that address the same idea. They compare what each writer says, using details from both texts and the time in which each was written.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how the Declaration of Independence presents equality as an ideal while Frederick Douglass points to the gap between that ideal and slavery. They support the comparison with a line from each text.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume that the Declaration’s claims meant everyone had equal rights in 1776. They may mistake Douglass’s use of those claims for approval of how the nation acted.
How to Assess It: Give students short excerpts from both texts. Ask: How does Douglass use an idea from the Declaration to criticize the nation? Use one detail from each excerpt.

Lesson moves

Give pairs cut-up lines from both excerpts and have them match each statement of an ideal with a line showing Douglass’s response.
Ask partners: Where does Douglass show a gap between the Declaration’s ideal and the nation’s actions? Find a line from each text.
Play a quote sort using lines from both excerpts: students label each as a stated ideal or a criticism of national practice.
Post 'All voices count,' tally speakers during a two-minute talk about school lunch, and compare the statement with who spoke.

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