South Dakota ELA 11-12.RI.1
The Standard
Accurately cite strong, relevant, and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferentially, including determining where the text is open for interpretation.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify what a text states directly and what it suggests without saying outright. They cite relevant passages to support both kinds of claims and point out wording that allows more than one reasonable reading.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student cites precise lines from across a text and explains how each supports a claim. They separate stated facts from inferences and use the text to support two readings of an unclear passage.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may pick a quote because it shares words with their claim, even though it does not prove it. They may present an inference as a stated fact or call a sentence ambiguous without explaining two text-based readings.
How to Assess It
- Post: 'The principal said the school may open a quiet room after classes. Two teachers volunteered, but the district has not approved their hours. Students who work late said they would use the room.' Ask for one stated fact, one inference supported by two cited phrases, and two readings of 'may.'
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed editorial about later school start times; use two highlighters to mark stated claims and clues to implied concerns.
Ask students to write two readings of an unclear sentence in the editorial and cite a different passage supporting each.
Make claim cards and quote cards from the editorial; teams match them, reject weak matches, and explain which evidence is strongest.
Read a school board's proposed phone policy; quote wording that allows two readings and explain how each could affect students.
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Printable 11-12.RI.1 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 9-10.RI.1
Cite strong, relevant and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferentially.
- 9-10.RL.1
Cite strong, relevant and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferentially.
- 11-12.RL.1
Accurately cite strong, relevant, and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferentially, including determining wh...
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