9th Grade ELA (Alaska Standards)

Reading Standards for Literature

• RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough text evidence to support analysis of explicit meaning and inferences.
• RL.9-10.2 Find a theme or central idea, analyze in detail how specific details shape it and summarize main ideas or events in order.
• RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters develop, interact with others and advance the plot or theme.
• RL.9-10.4 Work out figurative and connotative meanings and analyze the cumulative effect of word choice on meaning and tone.
• RL.9-10.5 Analyze how structure, genre devices (foreshadowing, imagery, allusion, symbolism), plot order and time shifts create tension or surprise.
• RL.9-10.6 Analyze a point of view or cultural experience in a range of world literature, e.g. mythology, colonialism or local culture.
• RL.9-10.7 Analyze a subject or key scene in two different artistic media, including what each emphasizes or leaves out.
• RL.9-10.9 Analyze how a writer uses and reshapes source material in a particular work.
• RL.9-10.10 By end of grade 9 read literature from many cultures in the upper grade 8–10 band; by end of grade 10, the upper grade 9–11 band.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

• RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough text evidence to support analysis of explicit meaning and inferences in an informational text.
• RI.9-10.2 Find the central idea, analyze how specific details shape and refine it and summarize main ideas or events in order.
• RI.9-10.3 Analyze how an author presents a series of ideas or events, including their order, development and connections.
• RI.9-10.4 Work out figurative, connotative and technical meanings and analyze the cumulative effect of word choice on meaning and tone.
• RI.9-10.5 Analyze in detail how particular sentences, paragraphs or sections develop and refine an author's ideas or claims.
• RI.9-10.6 Work out the author's viewpoint or purpose and analyze how rhetoric moves it forward.
• RI.9-10.7 Analyze how a subject is told in different media and which details each one emphasizes.
• RI.9-10.8 Evaluate an argument's claims, including bias, propaganda and loaded language; judge reasoning and evidence and spot false or faulty logic.
• RI.9-10.9 Analyze landmark U.S. documents of historical and literary importance and how they treat related themes and ideas.
• RI.9-10.10 By end of grade 9 read literary nonfiction in the upper grade 8–10 band; by end of grade 10, the upper grade 9–11 band.

Writing Standards

• W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims about substantive topics or texts with valid reasoning and enough relevant evidence.
  • a. Introduce precise claims, tell them apart from counterclaims and organize claims, reasons and evidence logically.
  • b. Develop claims and counterclaims fairly with evidence, pointing out the strengths and limits of each for the audience.
  • c. Use words, phrases and clauses to link sections, create cohesion and clarify relationships between claims, reasons and evidence.
  • d. Set up and keep a formal style and objective tone that fit the norms of the discipline.
  • e. End with a conclusion that follows from and supports the argument.
• W.9-10.2 Write informative texts that examine and convey complex ideas clearly through effective selection, organization and analysis.
  • a. Introduce a topic, organize ideas to make connections and distinctions, and add formatting, graphics or media when useful.
  • b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant facts, definitions, details, quotations or examples suited to the audience.
  • c. Use suitable and varied transitions to link major sections and clarify relationships among complex ideas.
  • d. Handle a complex topic with exact language and subject vocabulary.
  • e. Set up and keep a formal style and objective tone that fit the norms of the discipline.
  • f. End with a conclusion that follows from the information and states its implications or significance.
• W.9-10.3 Write true or imagined narratives using strong technique, carefully chosen details and a clear event structure.
  • a. Hook the reader by presenting a problem, situation or observation, a viewpoint and the narrator or characters.
  • b. Build events and characters with dialogue, pacing, description, reflection and more than one plot line.
  • c. Order events with varied techniques so each builds on the last into a unified story.
  • d. Use precise words, telling details and sensory language to give a vivid picture.
  • e. End with a conclusion that reflects on what was experienced, observed or resolved.
• W.9-10.4 Produce clear, coherent writing whose development, organization and style suit the task, purpose and audience.
• W.9-10.5 Improve writing by planning, revising, editing or rewriting, with purpose and audience in mind.
• W.9-10.6 Use technology and the internet to create, publish and update solo or group writing, using links and interactive features.
• W.9-10.7 Do short and longer research projects to answer a question or solve a problem, narrowing or broadening the inquiry and synthesizing sources.
• W.9-10.8 Gather information from authoritative print and digital sources with advanced searches, judge usefulness, integrate it smoothly without plagiarism and cite.
• W.9-10.9 Use evidence from literature or informational texts to back up analysis, reflection and research.
  • a. Use the grades 9–10 literature reading skills when writing about literature.
  • b. Apply grades 9–10 reading standards to nonfiction, e.g. evaluating an argument for bias, propaganda, word choice and faulty logic.
• W.9-10.10 Write often, in long projects and short sittings, for many tasks, purposes and readers.

Speaking and Listening Standards

• SL.9-10.1 Lead and join many kinds of discussions on grades 9–10 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and making a clear case.
  • a. Come prepared and refer to evidence to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange.
  • b. Agree with peers on discussion norms (consensus, voting, hearing other views) and set goals, deadlines and roles as needed.
  • c. Move conversations forward with questions that link to broader themes, involve others and clarify or challenge ideas.
  • d. Respond thoughtfully to different perspectives, summarize agreement and disagreement and qualify or justify one's views.
• SL.9-10.2 Combine several sources of information in different media and formats, judging the credibility and accuracy of each.
• SL.9-10.3 Judge a speaker's viewpoint, reasoning, evidence and rhetoric, catching faulty logic and twisted or overstated evidence.
• SL.9-10.4 Present information and evidence clearly and logically so listeners can follow the reasoning, suited to purpose, audience and task.
• SL.9-10.5 Use digital media strategically in presentations to add understanding, reasoning and evidence and to add interest.
• SL.9-10.6 Adapt speech to different contexts and tasks, using formal English when suitable.

Language Standards

• L.9-10.1 Use correct standard English grammar when speaking and writing.
  • a. Use parallel structure.
  • b. Use different types of phrases and clauses to convey meaning and add variety and interest.
• L.9-10.2 Show command of capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.
  • a. Use a semicolon, with or without a conjunctive adverb, to link closely related independent clauses.
  • b. Put a colon before a list or a quotation.
  • c. Spell correctly.
• L.9-10.3 Use knowledge of language to understand how it works in different contexts and to make effective style choices.
  • a. Write and edit work to follow a style manual (e.g. MLA, APA).
• L.9-10.4 Work out unknown and multiple-meaning words using a range of strategies.
  • a. Infer meaning from roots and affixes (incl. word origins, e.g. kayak), context, dialect and idioms.
  • b. Spot and use the ways word forms change for meaning or part of speech (e.g. analyze, analysis).
  • c. Use general and specialized references to find pronunciation, precise meaning, part of speech or etymology.
  • d. Check a first guess at a word's meaning.
• L.9-10.5 Understand figurative language, how words relate and fine shades of meaning.
  • a. Explain figures of speech such as euphemism and oxymoron in context and the job they do.
  • b. Analyze small differences between words whose dictionary meanings are close.
• L.9-10.6 Learn and use general academic and subject-specific words accurately and gather vocabulary knowledge independently.