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Colorado Standards

Colorado Grades 11–12 ELA Standards

All 10 Colorado English language arts standards for grades 11–12, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Colorado Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

10 standards

Oral Expression and Listening

2 standards
RW.H2.1.1
Keep discussions civil and open to every position, ask questions that probe reasoning, bring together differing views and unresolved points, and judge a speaker's stance, logic and evidence.
RW.H2.1.2
Present findings with a clear, distinct perspective and logic that fits the audience, use digital media to deepen understanding, and command formal English across settings.

Reading for All Purposes

3 standards
RW.H2.2.1
Interpret complex literature by tracking how several themes interact, judging an author's choices, seeing through satire or irony, comparing interpretations, and studying classic American works.
RW.H2.2.2
Evaluate complex nonfiction by citing thorough evidence, weighing structure and rhetoric, predicting a text's effect on readers, combining media sources, and analyzing founding U.S. documents.
RW.H2.2.3
Read language closely using context, word-form patterns and specialized references, interpret hyperbole and paradox, and weigh fine differences between words with nearly the same meaning.

Writing and Composition

4 standards
RW.H2.3.1
Write a formal argument with a significant, well-informed claim, fairly developed counterclaims, attention to the audience's values and biases, varied syntax, and a conclusion that supports it.
RW.H2.3.2
Write to explain complex ideas by choosing the most significant facts, building each point on the last, using metaphor and varied syntax, keeping an objective tone, and drawing out implications.
RW.H2.3.3
Write a meaningful real or imagined story that builds toward a set tone or outcome, uses several plot lines, telling details and stylistic devices, and closes with reflection.
RW.H2.3.4
Revise, publish and update writing in response to feedback, settle contested usage with references, follow hyphen rules, and vary syntax for effect using a style guide.

Research Inquiry and Design

1 standard
RW.H2.4.1
Run short and sustained research to answer questions or solve problems, combine authoritative sources, judge bias and accuracy, document sources in a style guide, and defend conclusions.

The official Colorado documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Colorado's standards, not the official wording, which Colorado Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.