ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
ENGLISH I-II
Reading Informational
A Teacher’s Guide
Standard 1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: Students are required to use textual evidence that is convincing and complete to support their ideas. Citing from the text may include a formal citation or a verbal reference. Analysis should include inferred and literal meanings. Students in the ninth grade should be introduced to the skill of determining the difference between ―strong evidence‖ and insufficient or unreliable details. They should understand how much evidence is needed to support a claim. In grade 10, these skills should build as students continue to cite evidence both formally and informally. They should be able to distinguish between text that provides strong support and text that is not related, uncertain, or insufficient as evidence. Their analysis should offer insights that show they can derive understanding from details that are directly stated as well as from those that are implied.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
This standard looks almost the same for informational texts as it does for literature. It is all about going back to the text and looking for tiny details to support a claim or an inference. The only difference is that instead of making inferences about character motivations (as they would in literature), students need to make inferences about the author’s beliefs in informational texts or decide what the author would agree or disagree with, based on clues. Don’t assume that students who have mastered this standard with regard to fiction are going to ace it with technical texts as well! This is a whole different beast. And one of the reasons this standard seems to be more of a challenge with informational texts is simply due to the range of technical vocabulary and background knowledge that students will need in order to understand what’s happening.
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Citation, textual evidence, inferences / What is stated explicitly in the text?
What inferences can you draw from specific textual evidence?
What evidence leads you to this conclusion?
What evidence is most supportive of your analysis?
What can you infer from the text? Why?
What uncertainties remain?
What additional information is necessary?
Standard 2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: As students continue to determine a central ideal of a text in high school, they need to examine not only how a central idea is developed but also how details in the text influence and add to a central idea. Students will need to use the key details of a text to provide a summary that is free of personal opinions or feelings.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
The good news is that this standard is just a fancy way of saying: “Make sure students can figure out the main idea of a non-fiction text.” In most cases, main idea statements (or thesis statements) are easier to formulate for non-fiction texts than for fiction or poetry. Usually, the authors of nonfiction texts explicitly state the main idea somewhere at the beginning of the text. This standard also asks students to find the main ideas of sub-sections of the text. So they need to be able to find or state the main idea of each smaller paragraph and explain how all the smaller ideas build to or support the overall main idea.
[Note: Sometimes, the author’s opinion or the main idea shifts at some point during the reading, and this can be tricky for students to figure out and articulate. In such a case, make sure that students can formulate a main idea that incorporates both sections!]
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Central idea, objective summary / What is the central idea?
How is the central idea developed?
What supporting ideas are included in the text?
When does the central idea first emerge?
How is the central idea refined through the course of the text?
How can you objectively summarize the text?
Standard 3: Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: Students need to examine how an author builds an opinion or a study with key details, paying close attention to how the ideas are introduced, sequenced, and developed. Finding connections between ideas should be reviewed.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
Students must be able to follow the author’s logic, no matter how many twists and turns the text takes. This standard is about mapping out the author’s main arguments or points. (This standard is very, very similar to Standard 5, so you can probably teach them together.)
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Structure using details / What analysis or series of ideas or events does the author provide?
How were the ideas or events developed?
How did the author connect the ideas and events?
In what order are the points made? What effect does the order of points have?
What connections did the author provide in his analysis?
Identify the text’s sequence of events?
How does the interaction of individuals/events/ideas develop over the course of the text?
Standard 4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: After determining the figurative, connotative, and technical meanings of words and phrases as they are used in a text, students need to consider the significant influence of the author’s word choice as a whole on the text’s tone or overall understanding. Ninth grade students should begin to understand that an author’s word choice is selective and deliberate. They should be aware that the collective effect of words influences the tone and meaning of text. By tenth grade, students should notice the connection between the words that the author chose and the point that the author was making.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
This standard has two different skills disguised as one. The first is that students have to be able to figure out the meaning of a word using context clues. They’ve probably been exposed to this skill since elementary school, but you have to make sure they can do it with 9th and 10th grade texts. The second skill in this standard is the ability to analyze the overall language patterns or style of a technical text. Give students plenty of opportunities to analyze the different language patterns in various texts, and the effects that these have on the reader. In short, students have to be able to articulate how the audience of a particular text affects the writer’s language choice.
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Tone, diction, connotation / What effect does the figurative language have on _?
What effect does the connotative language have on _?
What technical meanings are required and used in the text?
What is the tone?
Which words phrases and/or synonyms are used repeatedly and impact the tone?
How does a meaning of a particular word change over the course of a text?
Standard 5: Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: When examining the development of an author’s ideas, students should pay attention to how specific parts of the text enhance a thought or expand an idea.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
This standard works well in conjunction with Standard 3. While Standard 3 asks students to map the order and general idea of large chunks of text, this standard is more about the tiny details. Even though students might be able to say, “The second paragraph convinces the reader that global warming is real,” this standard forces them to answer the question: How does the author do that? Does the author use a personal example? Discredit a counter-example? Introduce a statistic? Compare two sides of an issue? Or make a prediction?
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Structure for argument / What is the key idea and/or claim presented in this sentence/paragraph/section and/or chapter?
How did this sentence/paragraph/portion of the text help develop/refine the idea or claim?
What text features are provided to develop an argument?
Identify structural elements that the author uses to convince and/or engage the reader.
Justify how the organization of the exposition or argument is effective or ineffective.
What text structure is used in the exposition or argument?
Standard 6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: After establishing what an author’s purpose or point of view is in a text, they should examine how the language is used effectively especially considering any persuasive techniques the author might use to influence readers.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
This standard asks students to figure out the author’s point of view or purpose for writing the text. In most informational texts, the authors discuss their opinions on the topics in a clear and forthright manner, and also give plenty of evidence to support their arguments. But occasionally, an author can be subtler, and students are going to have to scour the text for tone, and for critical or judgmental words that point to the author’s attitude. The second part of this standard focuses on rhetoric, which can be a lengthy topic to cover in class. For 9th and 10th graders, it might help to focus on rhetorical devices that show up frequently in informational texts and speeches, such as:
· Anaphora
· Alliteration
· Parallel structure (Parallelism)
· Rhetorical questions
· Fear mongering
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Point of view, purpose, rhetoric / What point of view is presented? How do you know?
What is the purpose of this text?
How and where does the author skillfully use language (rhetoric)?
How does the use of rhetoric advance either the point of view or purpose of the piece?
What type of rhetorical device was used?
Why is the content of the text important?
How does the rhetoric contribute to the aesthetic of the text?
Standard 7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
NCDPI Unpacking Document Explanation: When examining several texts that share the same subject but use different vehicles or modes to communicate, students should be able to judge what details are emphasized in each account. In the ninth grade students should be able to recognize various accounts of a subject told in multiple forms and acknowledge characteristics of each. By tenth grade students should expand their reasoning to include what each version stressed or called attention to and how that influenced the account.
Simplifying the Explanation: (From Schmoop.com)
Late night comedians are the masters of this standard. In the words of Emily Dickinson, “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.” This standard is all about getting students to analyze how facts can be interpreted in different lights.
From Durham Public Schools 9-12 English wiki:
Skills and Concepts / Question Stems and Prompts (Can be used to guide objectives, essential questions, instruction, and assessment questions)Subject, analysis through a lens / What mediums are used to present the subject?
Which details are emphasized/absent in the different mediums?
What are the connections between the mediums?
How does the use of a certain medium affect the understanding of the information?
Standard 8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.