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10th Grade ELA (Maine Learning Results)

Your Teacher Information Pack for 10th Grade ELA in Maine: the standards with their official codes, the state tests and the official links. Check what you're teaching and plan a lesson.

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State
Maine
Grade
Grade 10
Standards
Maine Learning Results: English Language Arts/Literacy (2020 Maine ELA Standards)
Last checked
2026-10-21

Maine sets these standards for grades 9–12 together: see the band page.

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The standards (our summaries)

Maine's official codes with our own short summaries (not the official wording). Each code links to the official document.

Language 1: Grammar and usage

  • L1.9-12.1 Use parallel structure.
  • L1.9-12.2 Use a range of phrase and clause types to convey precise meaning and add variety to writing and talks.
  • L1.9-12.3 Understand that usage is set by convention, changes over time and can be disputed.
  • L1.9-12.4 Settle questions of tricky or disputed usage, checking references when needed.

Language 2: Capitalization, punctuation and spelling

  • L2.9-12.1 Join closely related independent clauses with a semicolon, with or without a conjunctive adverb.
  • L2.9-12.2 Use a colon before a list or a quotation.
  • L2.9-12.3 Follow the rules for hyphens.
  • L2.9-12.4 Spell correctly.

Language 3: Using knowledge of language

  • L3.9-12.1 Write and edit to follow a style manual that fits the subject and task.
  • L3.9-12.2 Vary syntax for effect, using references as needed, and use syntax knowledge to read complex texts.

Language 4: Working out word meanings

  • L4.9-12.1 Use context across a sentence, paragraph or whole text, or a word's role, as a clue to meaning.
  • L4.9-12.2 Recognize and use word-form changes that signal new meanings or parts of speech, such as conceive and conception.
  • L4.9-12.3 Use general and specialist references for pronunciation, exact meaning, part of speech, word origin or usage.
  • L4.9-12.4 Check a guessed meaning against context or a dictionary.

Language 5: Figurative language and word relationships

  • L5.9-12.a Interpret figures of speech such as hyperbole, paradox and oxymoron in context and analyze their role.
  • L5.9-12.b Analyze subtle differences in meaning between words with similar denotations.

Language 6: Academic and subject vocabulary

  • L6.9-12.1 Learn and use academic and subject words at college and career level and independently build vocabulary.

Speaking and Listening 1: Collaborative discussion

  • SL1.9-12.1 Take part in a range of high school discussions, building on others' ideas and arguing their own persuasively.
  • SL1.9-12.2 Come prepared from reading and research and use evidence to spark a well-reasoned exchange.
  • SL1.9-12.3 Work with peers to keep discussion civil and democratic, set goals and deadlines and assign roles.
  • SL1.9-12.4 Move discussion forward by asking and answering questions that test reasoning and evidence.
  • SL1.9-12.5 Weigh diverse views, synthesize all sides, resolve contradictions where possible and identify further research needed.

Speaking and Listening 2: Understanding and judging what is presented

  • SL2.9-12.1 Combine sources in different media to make decisions and solve problems, judging credibility and noting discrepancies.
  • SL2.9-12.2 Evaluate a speaker's technique, including evidence, reasoning, style and rhetoric.

Speaking and Listening 3: Presenting information and evidence

  • SL3.9-12.1 Present findings and evidence with a clear perspective so listeners can follow the reasoning.
  • SL3.9-12.2 Address opposing views, with organization, content and style suited to purpose, audience and task.
  • SL3.9-12.3 Make eye contact, speak loudly enough and pronounce words clearly.
  • SL3.9-12.4 Use multimedia strategically to strengthen understanding of findings, reasoning and evidence.

Speaking and Listening 4: Adapting speech

  • SL4.9-12.1 Adapt speech to different contexts using a suitable register (see grades 9–Diploma Language 1 and 3).

Reading 4: Close reading and textual evidence

  • R4.9-12.1 Cite strong, thorough evidence for what texts state and imply, including points of inconsistency or ambiguity.

Reading 5: Summary, themes and central ideas

  • R5.9-12.1 Summarize texts accurately, showing how key details and ideas relate.
  • R5.9-12.2 Identify themes or central ideas and analyze how they develop and build together into a complex account.

Reading 6: How characters, events and ideas develop

  • R6.9-12.1 Analyze the effect of an author's choices on how characters, events, ideas or techniques interact and develop.

Reading 7: Word meanings in texts

  • R7.9-12.1 Work out figurative, connotative and technical meanings and analyze word choice, including words with several meanings.

Reading 8: Text structure and features

  • R8.9-12.1 Analyze how specific features and parts of texts are organized and structured.
  • R8.9-12.2 Evaluate how well a text's structure conveys its overall meaning or purpose.

Reading 9: Perspective and purpose

  • R9.9-12.1 Analyze and evaluate how authors from varied backgrounds use perspective and purpose to shape content, style and effect.

Reading 10: Arguments and claims

  • R10.9-12.1 Evaluate how well authors use literary or rhetorical strategies to build arguments.
  • R10.9-12.2 Evaluate premises, claims and conclusions, verifying facts and checking conclusions against other sources.

Reading 11: Integrating texts, forms and media

  • R11.9-12.1 Evaluate and synthesize many sources, including visual and quantitative texts, for a purpose or question.
  • R11.9-12.2 Analyze how different authors or texts treat similar themes to build knowledge or compare approaches.
  • R11.9-12.3 Synthesize sources such as texts and experiments into a coherent understanding, noting differing perspectives.

Reading 12: Fluency

  • R12.9-12.1 Read accurately and fluently enough to understand.
  • R12.9-12.2 Read a range of grade-level texts with purpose and understanding.
  • R12.9-12.3 Use context to check or correct word reading.

Writing 1: Inquiry and research

  • W1.9-12.1 Pursue their own questions through sustained inquiry or problem solving, using advanced searches as needed.
  • W1.9-12.2 Judge the credibility and usefulness of authoritative sources and synthesize them into sound conclusions.
  • W1.9-12.3 Take organized notes from many sources without plagiarizing or leaning too heavily on one source.
  • W1.9-12.4 Use a standard citation format, in text and in a source list, suited to task and audience.

Writing 2: Process, production and technology

  • W2.9-12.1 Improve writing through planning, revising, editing and reflection, focusing on what matters most for purpose and audience.
  • W2.9-12.2 Use technology plus continuing feedback, such as new arguments and facts, to make writing more dynamic.
  • W2.9-12.3 Keep up keyboarding skills that allow longer pieces of writing.

Writing 3: Composing for audience and purpose

  • W3.9-12.1 Write clear, varied and complex pieces with deliberately designed sections that explore ideas in depth.
  • W3.9-12.2 Develop and support the topic with varied techniques, embedding the most important details on purpose.
  • W3.9-12.3 Use varied transitions and deliberate syntax to connect increasingly complex ideas.
  • W3.9-12.4 Use sophisticated, precise language to build a well-developed voice and tone.
  • W3.9-12.5 End with a closing that strengthens and reflects the purpose of the piece.

Tests and key dates

Check the Maine Department of Education for which grades are tested and this year's testing dates.

More packs

Common Core version: Grade 10 ELA · Maine hub · Find another TIP

Structure (strands, standard numbers, grade levels and grade spans) from the 2020 Maine ELA Standards, Maine Department of Education. Summaries are Classfern's own words. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Maine DOE.

Codes are facts; the descriptions are our own short summaries, not the official text. Always check the official document.

Classfern is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Maine Department of Education.