South Dakota ELA 11-12.RL.2.a

ELAGrades 11–12Reading Literature

The Standard

Analyze and evaluate their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another within a complex account.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students track two or more themes from the opening to the ending of a story. They explain how events develop each theme and how the themes affect each other.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student states each theme as a claim, not a one-word topic. They use details from early and late scenes to explain how one theme strengthens or complicates another.
Common Misconceptions: Students may call a topic, such as tradition, a theme. They may find evidence for two themes separately but miss how the same event develops both.
How to Assess It: After reading "The Lottery," ask: How do the village's tradition and pressure to conform reinforce each other? Cite one detail from the gathering and one from the ending.

Lesson moves

Sort event cards for the gathering, drawing, and stoning in "The Lottery"; draw arrows showing how conformity keeps the tradition going.
Ask pairs: When does following the crowd keep the lottery going, and when does the lottery make dissent harder? Cite two moments.
Play evidence match with event cards from "The Lottery"; teams earn a point by explaining how each event develops two linked themes.
Have students list two reasons schools keep spirit week, then compare them with the villagers' reasons for keeping the lottery.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 11-12.RL.2.a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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