explain how the grades 11-12 standards raise the demand on reading, writing and discussion, and where English 11A meets each new demand.
English 11A is the first course in the charter sequence built on the grades 11-12 band of the California Common Core. Students arrive from English 10 able to write a 900-1,100 word essay with a thesis, embedded evidence and a counterclaim. This semester asks for more in four specific ways, and it helps to name them to students in the first week.
Reading: American foundations. Two standards exist only in this band. RL.11-12.9 asks for knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how texts from the same period treat similar themes. RI.11-12.9 asks students to analyze seventeenth- through nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents for their themes, purposes and rhetorical features. That is why English 11 is an American literature year, and why every 11A unit pairs a literary work or essay with a document.
Reading: delineating reasoning. RI.11-12.8 asks students to delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including constitutional principles and legal reasoning. In grades 9-10 students traced an argument and judged whether its evidence was sufficient. Now they must lay out the premises of a Federalist paper or a Supreme Court opinion step by step and test the premises. Unit 1 teaches this with Madison, Unit 3 with Taney and Curtis. Expect it to be hard. Students summarize when they are asked to delineate; the premise chart in Lessons 1.3 and 3.4 is the scaffold.
Writing: length and counterclaims. Essays grow to 1,300-1,800 words. W.11-12.1.b now asks students to develop claims and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each. A counterclaim paragraph that sets up a straw man met the grade-10 bar for some teachers; it does not meet this one. The scoring lessons show the difference.
Discussion: roles and synthesis. SL.11-12.1.b asks students to set clear goals, deadlines and roles for discussion, and 1.d asks them to synthesize comments from all sides and resolve contradictions where possible. 11A seminars assign roles and end with a synthesis round.
Two new California standards. SL.11-12.4.a (a reflective narrative, planned and delivered) and 4.b (an argument presentation) are California additions. 11A assesses 4.b in Unit 1 and 4.a in Unit 4.
Across the year. English 11A and 11B together cite all 76 codes in the grades 11-12 file. The table below shows where the band’s new demands land this semester.
Where the grades 11-12 demands land in English 11A
| New demand | Standard | Where taught | Where assessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundational American literature | RL.11-12.9 | 2.3, 4.3 | 2.5, 4.5 |
| Foundational U.S. documents | RI.11-12.9 | 1.1, 3.1 | 1.5, 3.5 |
| Delineating legal and constitutional reasoning | RI.11-12.8 | 1.3, 3.3, 3.4 | 1.5, 3.5 |
| Counterclaims developed fairly and thoroughly | W.11-12.1.b | 1.4, 3.4 | 1.5, 3.5 |
| Discussion roles and synthesis | SL.11-12.1.b, 1.d | 1.3, 2.3, 4.3 | Seminar recordings |
| California oral standards | SL.11-12.4.a, 4.b | 1.5, 4.4 | 1.5, 4.5 |
A student’s Federalist 10 chart restates each paragraph in order. What has the student not yet done?
How confident are you that you can explain what the grades 11-12 band adds and where 11A teaches it?