South Dakota ELA 11-12.RST.7

ELAGrades 11–12Reading: Science/Technical Subjects

The Standard

Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025) · Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students turn numbers described in a science or technical passage into a table or chart. They also explain a graph, table, or equation in clear sentences, keeping the units and relationships accurate.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a lab note with temperatures at three times, a student makes a table with correct labels and units. Given a graph or equation, they explain what the values show without adding claims the data do not support.
Common Misconceptions: Students may copy numbers into a chart but leave out units or swap the axes. They may treat a rising line as proof of cause and effect, or name the letters in an equation without explaining the relationship.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A 60-watt lamp runs for 3 hours, and energy in watt-hours equals watts times hours. Make a labeled table of power, time, and energy, then explain E = P × t in words.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a lab note: 20°C at 0 minutes, 30°C at 5, 40°C at 10; plot the points on graph paper.
Label v as speed, d as distance, and t as time; ask students to explain v = d ÷ t in a sentence.
Play a matching round: students pair three data tables with three written findings, then correct one finding that reverses an increase.
Hand out a nutrition label and have students compare sugar and protein per serving in a sentence, then draw a two-bar chart.

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