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Common Core ELAGrades 11–12Reading: Informational

RI.11-12.7: Weighing Sources in Different Media

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 41 Grades 11–12 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 11-12, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.11-12.7 Means in Plain English

Juniors and seniors combine sources in different forms, tables, maps, photographs and prose, weigh what each can and cannot show, and use them together to answer a question or solve a problem. A state choosing where to build one wildlife overpass needs all four.

Ninth and tenth grade (RI.9-10.7) compared accounts of one subject told in different mediums, like a life story in print and on film. Grades 11-12 put sources to work on a problem. This is the last band of the line, the research reading that college and career readiness demands.

RI.11-12.7 I Can Statements

  • I can pull the key information from a table, map or image.
  • I can judge what each source can show and what it cannot.
  • I can combine several sources into one answer to a problem.

RI.11-12.7 Worked Example

The scenario is invented for this page. Each source points somewhere slightly different, and only the answer that reads them together finds the right spot.

Read the Story
The problem: A western state can afford one wildlife overpass on a two-lane highway where drivers keep hitting pronghorn. Where should it go?Source A, a table of five years of crashes with pronghorn by mile: mile 12 has 41 crashes, mile 15 has 23, and no other mile has more than 9.Source B, a map of GPS collar tracks from 30 pronghorn: during the spring and fall migrations, nearly every track crosses the highway between miles 14 and 16, along a dry creek bed.Source C, a trail-camera photograph taken at mile 12 at dusk: a dozen pronghorn graze the green strip along the shoulder, where rain running off the pavement keeps the grass growing.Source D, a memo from the project engineer: the budget covers one overpass and up to six miles of eight-foot fence. Fencing alone pushes animals to its ends, so every mile of fence should lead toward a crossing.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Where should the state build its one overpass, and what else should it do? Use all four sources and say what each can and cannot show.
Not Yet“Build it at mile 12. Source A shows that mile 12 has 41 crashes, the most on the highway, so that is where the pronghorn are crossing.”It answers from one source and assumes crashes mark crossings. The map shows the herds migrate across at miles 14 to 16, and the photo explains mile 12: animals feeding on roadside grass, not passing through.
Meets the Standard“Build the overpass near mile 15. The table shows where crashes happen but not why. The collar map shows where the herds actually cross on migration, and mile 15 also has the second-highest crash count, so a crossing there serves both. The photo explains mile 12: animals graze the roadside strip, which an overpass three miles away would not fix by itself. Following the memo, the state should run fence from mile 11 to mile 16 so the grazing animals are kept off the road and guided toward the overpass. Each source has limits: the map covers only 30 collared animals, and the photo is one evening, so the state should check the plan against the next two years of crash data.”It integrates all four media, uses each for what it shows best, names each one’s limits, and turns the sources into a two-part solution that the memo’s budget can pay for.
Question Stems to Use
What can this source show that the others cannot?What can this source not show? What would you need to know?Where do two sources seem to disagree, and what explains the difference?Which source would you trust most for this part of the problem, and why?How does your solution use every source, not just the most striking one?

Common Mistakes with RI.11-12.7

Answering from the most striking source

“Mile 12 has the most crashes, so build it there.”

Try this: Have students cite a source by letter for every claim, and check that each source appears at least once in the answer.

Reading a picture as decoration

An answer that skips the trail-camera photo because it has no numbers

Try this: Ask students what the image shows that no table could, then have them use it to explain one pattern in the numbers.

Ignoring each source’s limits

“The GPS map proves exactly where all the pronghorn cross.”

Try this: Add a limits column to every source note: who made it, what it covers, and what it leaves out, like animals without collars.

Where RI.11-12.7 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.9-10.7Analyze accounts of one subject told in different mediums and what each one emphasizes.
AlongsideRH.11-12.7Integrate visual, numerical and written sources to address a question in history.RST.11-12.7Integrate data, video and text in science to address a question or solve a problem.
Comes NextSL.11-12.2Combine information from several media to make decisions and solve problems, judging each source’s credibility.W.11-12.7Synthesize multiple sources in a research project on a question or problem.

Practice RI.11-12.7

Quick Check

  1. Why is mile 12 the wrong place for the overpass, even though it has the most crashes?
  2. Which source shows where the herds actually cross, and what is its limit?
  3. How does the engineer’s memo shape the solution?

RI.11-12.7: Other Names

RI.11-12.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.