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Minnesota Standards

Minnesota Grades 11–12 ELA Standards

All 40 Minnesota English language arts standards for grades 11–12, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Minnesota Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

40 standards

Reading

19 standards
11.1.2.1
Read on your own and combine ideas from several texts to build or deepen understanding of a topic, annotating what you learn.
11.1.2.2
Choose and read grade 11 and 12 level texts with strong understanding for academic work, like a college-level essay or a Supreme Court opinion.
11.1.2.3
Read widely, finding and choosing texts that explore issues from many viewpoints, including those of dominant, non-dominant and marginalized groups.
11.1.3.1
Choose and read texts for interest, enjoyment or school that show Dakota and Anishinaabe perspectives and identities, to dig into ideas, issues or histories.
11.1.4.1
Cite strong, thorough evidence for what literature and informational texts state and imply, noting where a text leaves things uncertain, and summarize objectively.
11.1.4.2
Identify two or more themes or central ideas in a text and analyze how they develop, interact and build on each other across the text.
11.1.4.3
Analyze how an author's choices about setting, the order of action and how characters are introduced shape a story or drama.
11.1.4.4
Analyze a complex set of ideas or events in informational text and explain how particular people, ideas or events interact and develop.
11.1.5.1
Evaluate how an author's structural choices, including how parts of a text interact and add up to the whole, affect its meaning and appeal.
11.1.5.2
Evaluate how authors use different informational text structures to support their ideas, claims and arguments.
11.1.5.3
Compare how illustrations, graphics and other audio or visual features affect the use, meaning and look of many kinds of texts.
11.1.6.1
Evaluate how an author's purpose, identity, biases and viewpoint, with Dakota and Anishinaabe authors among them, shape the content and style of a text.
11.1.6.2
Trace how an idea like democracy or identity has changed over decades or centuries across major historical and literary documents.
11.1.6.3
Outline and evaluate the reasoning, premises, purposes and arguments in key scientific and legal texts, telling persuasive opinion apart from factual evidence.
11.1.7.1
Judge the reasoning and evidence behind arguments in several texts to decide how credible commonly used sources are.
11.1.8.1
Analyze how word choices add up to shape meaning, mood and tone in literature, like language that creates a sense of time and place or a formal tone.
11.1.8.2
Evaluate how academic, technical and subject-specific words and phrases shape the content, style and meaning of informational texts.
11.1.9.1
Gather information from many sources, including academic journals and peer-reviewed studies, on all sides of an issue to deepen understanding of an inquiry topic.
11.1.9.2
Choose sources critically and build an annotated bibliography with summary or critical notes for each source.

Writing

15 standards
11.2.1.1
Write and edit work to follow the style manual that fits the subject and purpose, like MLA or Chicago, independently.
11.2.1.3
Use grammar and mechanics in varied ways so your voice and style match your publishing plan.
11.2.2.1
Write often for many tasks, purposes and audiences, choosing your own topics and formats and adding visuals like tables or audio clips where they fit.
11.2.2.2
Write a reflection on how your perspective, identity and voice have grown and shifted over time as part of the global community.
11.2.3.1
Make and follow a plan to publish writing for a wider audience, planning, drafting, revising and editing with that plan in mind.
11.2.3.2
Vary sentence structure for effect and apply knowledge of syntax with your audience in mind, using reference resources as needed.
11.2.4.1
Write arguments that back both the claim and counterargument with evidence and make strong, logical appeals.
11.2.4.2
Write persuasive pieces that support a position with well-developed ideas and logical reasoning.
11.2.5.1
Write to inform or explain complex ideas by comparing and weighing facts, choosing the best structure for the audience and using precise terms, metaphor and analogy.
11.2.5.2
Write a response to literature that analyzes several texts sharing a genre, author or theme.
11.2.6.1
Write creative pieces like personal or autobiographical essays that engage readers, set up context and point of view, and use basic and advanced literary techniques.
11.2.6.2
Use the structural features typical of a personal or autobiographical essay in your own writing.
11.2.7.1
Write your own questions that narrow or widen an inquiry to show you understand the subject being studied.
11.2.7.2
Plan and conduct independent research using varied sources like academic journals and peer-reviewed studies, show understanding of the subject, and share findings in writing.
11.2.8.1
Draw on many print and digital sources through quotes, paraphrases and summaries, citing each in the right style manual format with no plagiarism.

Listening, Speaking, Viewing and Exchanging Ideas

6 standards
11.3.1.1
Lead and join civil discussions on grade 11 and 12 topics, seeking Dakota, Anishinaabe and missing voices near and far, setting goals and roles, and resolving conflict.
11.3.1.2
Come prepared and extend discussions with questions that test reasoning and evidence, explore the full range of positions, and invite creative and differing views.
11.3.1.3
Give and take constructive feedback thoughtfully, summarize where people agree and disagree, and ask for useful feedback to revise your work.
11.3.2.1
Choose words, language and speaking techniques skillfully in many forms, from video calls to live talks, to fit your audience and setting.
11.3.3.1
Choose and deliver the presentation style that best fits the task, audience and subject so listeners can follow your reasoning, communicating ethically and safely.
11.3.3.2
Create and present a digital piece for a specific, current purpose, which may ethically remix others' work, and publish it with audience and digital footprint in mind.

The official Minnesota documents

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