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Common Core ELAGrades 9–10Language

L.9-10.3: Language in Context and MLA Style

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3 · Cluster: Knowledge of Language.

Make an MLA Review GameAll 41 Grades 9–10 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 9-10, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.9-10.3 Means in Plain English

Ninth and tenth graders notice how language shifts between a lab report, a poem and a speech, and choose words and sentence forms to match. In research writing they follow a style manual such as MLA: author and page in parentheses, a Works Cited list, consistent formatting.

Eighth graders (L.8.3) chose active or passive voice and a verb mood for effect. Grades 9 and 10 add a manual’s rules, so a student can check a citation instead of guessing. In grades 11 and 12 (L.11-12.3), students vary syntax for effect and study it in complex texts.

L.9-10.3 I Can Statements

  • I can cite a source in MLA style with author and page.
  • I can tell when a sentence is too casual for a research paper.
  • I can look up a citation rule instead of guessing.

L.9-10.3 Worked Example

One sentence from a biology research paper, first in a casual register with a mixed-up citation and then revised to MLA style.

Prompt

Revise this sentence from a research paper on air quality so it fits a formal register and follows MLA style. The source is an article by Inés Ferreira, “What the Lichens Know,” and the quoted words are on page 7. “In her article ‘What the Lichens Know,’ Ferreira says lichens are basically ‘living air monitors’ that totally disappear where there’s tons of sulfur dioxide (Ferreira, 2020, pg. 7).”

Not YetIn her article “What the Lichens Know,” Ferreira states that lichens are “living air monitors” that vanish where sulfur dioxide levels are high (Ferreira 2020, p. 7).The register is fixed, but the citation isn’t MLA. An MLA in-text citation gives the author and page with no year and no p., and an author already named in the sentence doesn’t need repeating in the parentheses.
Meets the StandardFerreira describes lichens as “living air monitors” that vanish where sulfur dioxide levels are high (7).The casual words (basically, totally, tons of) are gone, and the signal phrase names the author, so the parentheses hold only the page. The article title waits for the Works Cited entry, and the period follows the citation.
Moves to Use
Match the register to the task: no filler or slang in a research paper.MLA in-text: author and page, no comma between them, no year, no p.If the sentence names the author, put only the page in parentheses.Put the period after the parenthetical citation, not inside the quotation.Check the manual, not memory, for any source type you haven’t cited before.

Common Mistakes with L.9-10.3

Mixing citation styles

“(Ferreira, 2020, p. 7)” in a paper that is supposed to follow MLA

Try this: Hand out one model citation per source type from the current MLA Handbook, and have students match each citation to a model.

Formal means padded

“It is important to note that in today’s society lichens are very significant organisms.”

Try this: Have students cut every phrase that adds length but no information, then reread the sentence for anything casual left.

The style manual as a mystery

Students guess at a citation format instead of looking it up, and every paper formats it differently

Try this: Teach students where the answers live: the MLA Handbook or the school’s guide, bookmarked, and checked for each new source type.

Where L.9-10.3 Fits

Comes BeforeL.8.3Choose active or passive voice and a verb mood on purpose, for an effect.
AlongsideW.9-10.8Gather and cite sources, following a standard citation format like MLA or APA.W.9-10.4Shape a piece’s development, organization and style to its task, purpose and audience.
Comes NextL.11-12.3Vary syntax for effect and apply an understanding of syntax to complex texts.

Practice L.9-10.3

Jeopardy Game MakerFree ToolBuild a review board with categories like In-Text Citations, Works Cited and Too Casual?, where each square is a sentence to fix.MLA reviewRegisterHigh school
Make a Game
Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolScramble formal research sentences that end in a citation, so students rebuild the signal phrase, the quotation and the page in order.Signal phrasesMLA citations
Make a Scramble

Quick Check

  1. Why does the strong version put only the page number in parentheses?
  2. Which words made the original sentence too casual for a research paper?
  3. Write the MLA in-text citation for page 12 of an article by Ferreira when her name is not in the sentence.

L.9-10.3: Other Names

L.9-10.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.