Grades 11–12 ELA (Colorado Academic Standards)

Standard 1: Oral Expression and Listening

• RWC.11-12.1.1 Follow group guidelines so every view is heard, then evaluate the responses. (being checked)
  • 1. Come prepared to a range of discussions, build on others' ideas and state your views clearly and persuasively.
  • 1.a. Come prepared and cite researched evidence to fuel a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange.
  • 1.b. Help peers hold civil, democratic discussions and decisions, setting goals, deadlines and roles as needed.
  • 1.c. Drive discussion with questions that test reasoning and evidence, invite all views and encourage creative thinking.
  • 1.d. Respond thoughtfully to differing views, pull together points from all sides, resolve conflicts and name research needed.
  • 2. Combine information from varied formats and media to make decisions, judging each source's accuracy and noting conflicts.
  • 3. Judge a speaker's stance, reasoning, evidence, word choice, emphasis and tone.
• RWC.11-12.1.2 Give polished oral presentations for different audiences and purposes, using credible, accurate information. (being checked)
  • 1. Present findings and evidence so listeners can follow the reasoning, address opposing views and suit the purpose.
  • 2. Use digital media such as graphics, audio and interactive elements to clarify findings and engage listeners.
  • 3. Adapt speaking style to context and task, using formal English when fitting.

Standard 2: Reading for All Purposes

• RWC.11-12.2.1 Interpret and critically evaluate challenging literature using a range of close-reading strategies. (being checked)
  • 1. Key ideas and details
  • 1.a. Back up stated meaning and inferences with strong evidence, noting where the text leaves things open.
  • 1.b. Find two or more themes, trace how they develop and interact and summarize objectively.
  • 1.c. Explain how an author's choices about setting, order of events and characters shape a story or play.
  • 2. Craft and structure
  • 2.a. Interpret figurative, connotative and multiple-meaning words, including in Shakespeare, and their effect on tone.
  • 2.b. Evaluate how choices about where a text begins, ends and resolves shape its structure, meaning and impact.
  • 2.c. Separate what is stated from what is meant in satire, sarcasm, irony and understatement.
  • 3. Integration of knowledge and ideas
  • 3.a. Compare several versions of a story, drama or poem and judge how each interprets the source.
  • 3.b. Know key American literary classics and how two texts from one era treat similar themes or topics.
  • 4. Read complex literature at the right level, growing toward independence.
  • 4.a. Read stories, dramas and poems proficiently in the grade 11 band, with support as needed.
  • 4.b. By the end of grade 12, read the most complex literature independently and with full understanding.
• RWC.11-12.2.2 Interpret and critically evaluate demanding nonfiction using varied critical reading methods. (being checked)
  • 1. Key ideas and details
  • 1.a. Back up stated meaning and inferences with strong evidence, noting questions the text leaves open.
  • 1.b. Find two or more central ideas, trace how they develop and give an objective summary.
  • 1.c. Analyze complex ideas or sequences of events and how people, ideas or events interact over time.
  • 1.d. Set a reading purpose and apply what is learned to a task such as persuading or deciding.
  • 1.e. Predict an informational text's effect on its audience and give reasons.
  • 2. Craft and structure
  • 2.a. Work out word meanings, including figurative and technical ones, and how key terms develop in a text.
  • 2.b. Judge how well an author's structure makes points clear, convincing and engaging.
  • 2.c. Find an author's view or purpose where the rhetoric is strong and explain how style and content persuade.
  • 3. Integration of knowledge and ideas
  • 3.a. Combine and judge information from several sources in varied formats to answer a question or solve a problem.
  • 3.b. Judge the reasoning in key American texts, including constitutional principles, legal reasoning and public advocacy.
  • 3.c. Analyze foundational U.S. documents from the 17th to 19th centuries for themes, purposes and rhetoric.
  • 4. Read nonfiction across the complexity band, growing toward independence.
  • 4.a. By year's end, read literary nonfiction proficiently in the grade 11 band, with help as needed.
  • 4.b. By the end of grade 12, read literary nonfiction at the top of the band independently.
• RWC.11-12.2.3 Understand how language shapes meaning in stories, arguments and informational texts and choose words well. (being checked)
  • 1. Work out unknown or multiple-meaning words using context, word patterns, references and checking.
  • 1.a. Use surrounding sentences, paragraphs or a word's position as clues.
  • 1.b. Notice how word forms signal changes in meaning or part of speech.
  • 1.c. Use print or digital dictionaries, glossaries and thesauruses for pronunciation, meaning, origin or usage.
  • 1.d. Check a guessed meaning against context or a dictionary.
  • 2. Understand figurative language, word relationships and shades of meaning.
  • 2.a. Interpret figures of speech such as hyperbole or paradox in context and their role in the text.
  • 2.b. Examine fine differences between words with similar meanings.
  • 3. Use general academic and subject vocabulary accurately in reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Standard 3: Writing and Composition

• RWC.11-12.3.1 Write well-developed arguments with credible, significant claims that consider the audience's values and biases. (being checked)
  • 1. Write arguments on substantial topics or texts with valid reasoning and strong evidence.
  • 1.a. State a precise, significant claim, separate it from opposing claims and order reasons and evidence logically.
  • 1.b. Develop claims and counterclaims fairly with relevant evidence, noting strengths and limits for the audience.
  • 1.c. Use transitions and varied sentence structures to link sections and clarify how claims, reasons and evidence relate.
  • 1.d. Keep a formal, objective tone that follows the norms of the discipline.
  • 1.e. End with a conclusion that follows from and supports the argument.
• RWC.11-12.3.2 Write clear, accurate explanatory texts that convey complex ideas through careful choice and organization of content. (being checked)
  • 1. Explain complex ideas clearly and accurately by choosing, organizing and analyzing content carefully.
  • 1.a. Introduce the topic and order complex ideas so each builds on the last, adding headings, figures or media when helpful.
  • 1.b. Develop the topic fully with significant facts, definitions, details, quotations or examples for the audience.
  • 1.c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link sections and clarify how complex ideas relate.
  • 1.d. Use precise words, subject terms and devices such as metaphor, simile or analogy to handle complexity.
  • 1.e. Keep a formal, objective style that fits the discipline.
  • 1.f. End with a conclusion that follows from the explanation and states its implications or significance.
• RWC.11-12.3.3 Write engaging, meaningful real or imagined narratives that build toward a chosen tone or outcome. (being checked)
  • 1. Write about real or imagined experiences with effective technique, vivid details and well-ordered events.
  • 1.a. Orient readers with a problem or situation and its importance, a point of view and a narrator or characters.
  • 1.b. Build events and characters through dialogue, pacing, description, reflection and several plot lines.
  • 1.c. Order events in varied ways so they build to a coherent whole and a chosen tone such as suspense or growth.
  • 1.d. Use precise words, telling details and sensory language to paint a vivid picture of events and characters.
  • 1.e. End with a conclusion that reflects on what was experienced, observed or resolved.
  • 1.f. Choose and use stylistic devices to make the writing engaging and effective.
• RWC.11-12.3.4 Revise and publish writing using feedback and conventions for clear, polished, error-free work. (being checked)
  • 1. Use standard English grammar and usage in writing and speech.
  • 1.a. Recognize that usage is a matter of convention, changes over time and is sometimes disputed.
  • 1.b. Settle complex or disputed usage questions by checking usage guides as needed.
  • 2. Use standard capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.
  • 2.a. Follow hyphenation conventions.
  • 2.b. Spell common words correctly and check less familiar ones in dictionaries, spell check or with trusted people.
  • 3. Use knowledge of language to shape meaning and style and to understand texts more fully.
  • 3.a. Vary sentence structure for effect, using references as needed, and analyze syntax in complex texts.
  • 4. Write clearly and coherently with development, organization and style that fit the task, purpose and audience.
  • 5. Plan, revise, edit or try new approaches to strengthen writing, focusing on what matters most.
  • 6. Use technology and the internet to produce and update writing in response to ongoing feedback.
  • 7. Write regularly over long and short periods for many tasks, purposes and audiences.

Standard 4: Research Inquiry and Design

• RWC.11-12.4.1 Combine several reliable sources to resolve questions or problems, producing organized, well-defended research. (being checked)
  • 1. Do short and longer research projects on a question, narrowing or widening the scope and combining sources.
  • 2. Gather information from authoritative sources with advanced searches, judge each source's limits, integrate selectively and cite.
  • 3. Judge the quality, accuracy and completeness of information and the bias, credibility and reliability of sources.
  • 4. Credit sources for quotations, paraphrases and other information using a style guide such as MLA or APA.
  • 5. Use evidence from stories or nonfiction to support analysis, reflection and research.
  • 5.a. Apply reading standards to literature, e.g. comparing two works from the same period on similar themes.
  • 5.b. Apply reading standards to literary nonfiction, e.g. evaluating arguments in landmark U.S. texts and public advocacy.