Skip to main content
Common Core ELAGrades 11–12Speaking & Listening

SL.11-12.1: Lead Discussions That Hear Every Side

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1 · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration.

Time the Seminar RoundsAll 41 Grades 11–12 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 11-12, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.11-12.1 Means in Plain English

Juniors and seniors open discussions, not just join them, and arrive with research they cite by source. They keep talk civil, probe each other’s reasoning, make sure the unpopular position gets a real hearing, sum up every side, reconcile contradictions where they can and name the research still missing.

In grades 9 and 10 (SL.9-10.1), students set discussion rules and tied questions to larger ideas. This is the last band of the line, and its goal is college and career readiness: a group that decides democratically, assigns roles and deadlines, and leaves knowing what to research next.

SL.11-12.1 I Can Statements

  • I can bring researched evidence and cite it to push the discussion.
  • I can make sure every position on the issue gets a hearing.
  • I can sum up all sides and name what we still need to research.

SL.11-12.1 Worked Example

Twenty minutes into a seminar, three classmates have staked out positions that seem to collide. Two students reply, and only the second moves the group toward its recommendation.

Prompt

Seminar on three readings about whether a university museum should return 31 bronze plaques taken from a royal palace during a colonial raid in the 1890s: a statement from the requesting nation’s culture minister, an op-ed by the museum’s director and a legal scholar’s article. The class owes the museum’s student advisory panel a recommendation by Friday. Teodora said the plaques were taken by force, so they should go back. Rasmus said this museum is the only place 40,000 visitors a year can see them. Ifeoma said the requesting nation’s new museum will not open for three years. Respond.

Not YetI agree with Teodora, because stealing is wrong, period. Rasmus, the museum doesn’t own them just because it has had them a long time. Honestly, anyone who disagrees is basically defending the raid.It picks a side, answers Rasmus with a slogan, never touches Ifeoma’s point and ends by casting anyone who disagrees as a defender of the raid, which shuts down the hearing every position is owed. Nobody knows what to decide or research next.
Meets the StandardCan I try to pull these together? Teodora and Rasmus sound like they contradict each other, but the director’s op-ed, page 2, describes a model where ownership transfers now and some plaques stay here on long-term loan. That would answer Teodora on who owns them and Rasmus on who gets to see them. Ifeoma, does the three-year wait still matter if ownership moves first? Before Friday we need one fact none of us has: whether the requesting museum has ever agreed to loans. Could someone take that? And before we vote, I’d like to hear from anyone who thinks the plaques should stay exactly where they are.It synthesizes all three speakers, resolves the apparent contradiction with evidence from a reading and its page, probes Ifeoma’s point with a question, names the missing fact and assigns it before the deadline, and invites the position nobody has voiced yet.
Moves to Use
Cite the reading and the page when you bring your preparation into the room.Hold the group to its goal and deadline, and hand out a job when work appears.Ask who hasn’t been heard, and invite the position the room is avoiding.Look for a version where two clashing claims can both hold before choosing between them.End your turn by naming what the group still needs to find out.

Common Mistakes with SL.11-12.1

A seminar run as a debate to win

Students score points off each other, and the last five minutes go to restating sides nobody has moved from

Try this: Ask the group to end every seminar with a written synthesis: where the sides agree, what still conflicts, and what to research next.

The position nobody voices

Everyone agrees within ten minutes, and the strongest argument for the other side is never said aloud

Try this: Assign one student each round to state the strongest case for the side nobody in the room is defending.

Opinions with no preparation behind them

“I just feel like…” replies that never name a reading, a page or a fact

Try this: Make the entry ticket a marked-up reading plus one outside source, and require every reply to name where its evidence comes from.

Where SL.11-12.1 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.9-10.1Set discussion rules with peers, tie questions to larger ideas, and revise a view when the evidence warrants.
AlongsideRI.11-12.1Cite strong evidence and say where a text leaves matters uncertain, often the research a seminar still needs.W.11-12.1Develop claims and counterclaims fairly in writing, the written twin of giving every position a hearing.
Comes NextSL.11-12.4Present the group’s findings with a distinct perspective, answering the opposing views the seminar aired.W.11-12.7Turn the questions a seminar leaves open into a sustained research project.

Practice SL.11-12.1

Classroom TimerFree ToolRun the seminar in timed rounds: opening questions, a synthesis round, then five minutes to name the research the group still owes.Seminar roundsSynthesis round
Start a Timer
Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin for the student who must voice the position nobody has defended yet, then spin again for the one who sums up all sides.Unheard positionSynthesizer
Spin a Name

Quick Check

  1. How does the strong reply resolve the contradiction between Teodora and Rasmus?
  2. What does the strong reply say the group still needs to find out?
  3. Why does the weak reply fall short even though it takes a clear side?

SL.11-12.1: Other Names

SL.11-12.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1

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.