Common Core Standards

Grades 11-12

Reading RI.11-12.7

Standard 7: 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.

Breakin’ it Down:

This standard is the final stepping-stone to writing college reports or literature reviews. It is extremely important that students have practice synthesizing multiple sources into one common theme or thesis, while noting where authors agree and disagree with one another.

NOTE: Assignments that cover this standard are also a great way to test whether or not students can properly cite information using APA or MLA citation conventions.

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Teaching Guides Using this Standard

Example 1

Teacher Feature: Ideas for the classroom

1. UNDERSTUDY: Literature-Based Research Writing

Although this is a reading standard, it can be tested at an advanced level with a writing assignment that allows students to synthesize multiple sources on a topic or question. If this seems a little out of place in your literature-intensive curriculum, pick a theme or topic that relates to the literature your class is reading. Researching the historical context or historical perspectives of an issue in conjunction with a fictional work can add extraordinary depth to the understanding of an author’s message.

Example 2

2. COLLEGIATE: Senior Project or Honors Thesis

Many schools require students to complete a comprehensive writing assignment before graduation. If your school is not one of those, the incorporation of these standards can be a great opportunity to start the tradition! This standard naturally aligns to extensive writing assignments. But the part of this standard that is usually skipped is that of requiring students to interpret non-textual resources like graphs, data tables, and surveys. If possible, include this skill in your criteria for the writing assignment.

Quiz Questions

Here's an example of a quiz that could be used to test this standard.

  1. On the CDC website, read Childhood Obesity Facts and Adult Obesity Facts, and also consult the table “2010 State Obesity Rates” and the information under the subheading “The History of State Obesity Prevalence.” Then, answer the questions that follow:

    Which of the following states met the Healthy People 2010 goal for adult obesity?

    Correct Answer:

    None of the above

    Answer Explanation:

    • (a) - Nope.
    • (b) - No.
    • (c) - And no again!
    • (d) - Nice work! In the text above the table, the author states that ‘No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%.’ The table confirms this.

  2. Which of the following is true about both childhood obesity and adult obesity?

    Correct Answer:

    Both rates are much higher among some ethnic groups

    Answer Explanation:

    • (a) - This answer is only true for childhood obesity. We don’t know the rate of increase for adult obesity.
    • (b) - We don’t have any state data for childhood obesity, so we don’t know if this is true.
    • (c) - Good! This is the only fact that pops up in both sections. It is the final bullet point of each list.
    • (d) - Even though Mississippi has the highest rate in the table for adult obesity, we don’t have any state data for childhood obesity.

  3. Which of the following statements is true, based on the data above?

    Correct Answer:

    In 2000, no state’s rate of obesity was higher than 30%

    Answer Explanation:

    • (a) - Nope. The national average for childhood obesity is 17%. If you look at the table, every state is higher than 17% in adult obesity.
    • (b) - Correct! Don’t get tripped up by the dates! The table represents 2011 data. But if you read the text above, it says, ‘In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30% or more.’
    • (c) - Non-Hispanic whites have an average obesity rate of 32.6%, which is stated in the text above the table. In the table, Alabama has a rate of 32.2%, which makes this answer false.
    • (d) - This can’t be proven because we don’t have individual state data from 2000. We only have the table for 2011.

  4. First, refer to the painting entitled “How the Negro slaves work and look for gold in themines of the region called Veragua [Panama],” by an unidentified artist, painted ca. 1570s. Next, read the extract below that is taken from Robert Beverley, Jr.’s “The History and Present State of Virginia,” which was published in 1705. Then, answer the questions that follow:

    “CH. X. OF THE SERVANTS AND SLAVES IN VIRGINIA.

    Slaves are the Negroes, and their Posterity [offspring], following the condition of the Mother, according to the Maxim [law], partus sequitur ventrem. They are call’d Slaves in respect of the time of their Servitude, because it is for Life.

    …The Male-Servants and Slaves of both Sexes are employed together in Tilling and Manuring the Ground, in Sowing and Planting Tobacco, Corn, &c. [etc.] Some Distinction indeed is made between them in their Clothes and Food, but the Work of both is no other than what the Overseers, the Freemen, and the Planters themselves do.

    Sufficient Distinction is also made between the Female-Servants and Slaves, for a White Woman is rarely or never put to work in the Ground if she be good for anything else. And to Discourage all Planters from using any Women so, their Law imposes the heaviest Taxes upon Female-Servants working in the Ground, while it suffers [the law allows] all other white Women to be absolutely exempted. Whereas, on the other hand, it is a common thing to work a Woman Slave out of Doors; nor does the Law make any Distinction in her Taxes, whether her Work be Abroad, or at Home.

    Because I have heard how strangely cruel and severe the Service of this Country is represented in some parts of England, I can’t forbear affirming that the work of their Servants and Slaves is no other than what every common Freeman does. Neither is any Servant requir’d to do more in a Day than his Overseer. And I can assure you, with a great deal of Truth, that generally their Slaves are not worked near so hard, nor so many Hours in a Day, as the Husbandmen, and Day-Laborers in England. An Overseer is a Man that, having served his time, has acquired the Skill and Character of an experienced Planter and is therefore entrusted with the Direction of the Servants and Slaves. . . .”

    Which of the following is true of both the written and illustrated accounts of slavery in Panama and Virginia?

    Correct Answer:

    Both note a difference in clothing between slave and master

    Answer Explanation:

    • (a) - Neither account shows direct violence towards slaves, and the written account reports that the slaves are not treated in a particularly ‘cruel’ or ‘severe’ way when compared to other laborers.
    • (b) - Right! The writing notes that there was ‘some Distinction indeed…between them in their Clothes and Food’. And the picture shows the master dressed while the slaves are not clothed.
    • (c) - Only the written account shows the role of an overseer. In the picture, there is no depiction of a middleman between the master and slave.
    • (d) - Nope. In the written account, the author begins by noting that the slaves are Negroes, so this answer is already false.

  5. Which of the following is true about the depictions of slavery in these two countries?

    Correct Answer:

    Both give evidence that slaves were used as manual labors to work the land.

    Answer Explanation:

    • (a) - Good! The illustration’s caption indicates slaves in Panama were used to mine gold, and the journal describing Virginia’s slaves mentions they were used for ‘tilling and Manuring the Ground, in Sowing and Planting Tobacco.’
    • (b) - The second part of this statement is not true. There is no indication in the writing that women were more valuable than men in the slavery system.
    • (c) - The written document actually refutes the claim that slaves are treated cruelly, and there is not enough evidence in the picture to assume that the slaves are being treated humanely.
    • (d) - Just because there is a picture of a shelter in the drawing does not mean that we can assume what it was used for. Also, there is no description of the housing arrangements for slaves in the writing.

Aligned Resources

More standards from Grades 11-12 - Reading

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