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Common Core ELAGrades 9–10Language

L.9-10.6: Academic and Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Make a Vocabulary QuizAll 41 Grades 9–10 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

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

What L.9-10.6 Means in Plain English

Ninth and tenth graders use the exact words of each subject (solute, ion, freezing point) and the general academic words that carry reasoning across subjects (consequently, process, depends on). When a word matters to understanding a text, they look it up on their own without being told.

Eighth graders (L.8.6) learned grade-level academic words and gathered new ones as they read. Grades 9 and 10 raise the target to college and career reading and ask students to gather words independently. The wording stays the same in grades 11 and 12 (L.11-12.6), with harder texts behind it.

L.9-10.6 I Can Statements

  • I can explain a science idea using its exact subject words.
  • I can use academic words like consequently to show reasoning.
  • I can look up a word that matters without being told.

L.9-10.6 Worked Example

Two answers to the same chemistry question, one in everyday words and one in the subject’s own vocabulary.

Prompt

Chemistry exit question: Why do road crews spread salt on icy roads, and why does it stop working on the coldest nights? Use the unit words solute, solution and freezing point, and at least one academic word that shows cause and effect.

Not YetThe salt melts the ice because salt is hot and makes the ice turn into water. But when it’s super cold the salt can’t do it anymore because it’s too cold for it to work.Salt isn’t hot, and “too cold for it to work” only repeats the question. None of the unit words appear, and nothing explains how the salt changes the water.
Meets the StandardSalt dissolves in the thin film of liquid water on top of the ice, making a solution called brine. The dissolved salt is the solute, and it lowers the freezing point of the water, so the brine stays liquid below 0°C and the ice it touches melts. Consequently, salt works only while the road is warmer than the brine’s freezing point. On the coldest nights the road falls below it, and the brine freezes too.It explains the process in order with the unit words used correctly (the salt is the solute, the brine is the solution, the freezing point drops), and consequently shows that the cold-night limit follows from that process.
Moves to Use
Use the subject’s exact word in place of an everyday one: solute, not the salt stuff.Explain the process in order, one step per sentence.Use academic words like consequently or depends on to show how the steps connect.Look up any unit word you can’t yet use in a sentence of your own.

Common Mistakes with L.9-10.6

Word lists without use

Students match solute to its definition on a quiz but never use it in an explanation

Try this: Have students write each new term into a sentence that explains a process, not just one that defines the word.

Dropping terms in without meaning

“The solute freezing point solution makes the ice melt.”

Try this: Ask students to explain the answer aloud to a partner first, then add each term where it names something they said.

Waiting to be given the words

Students skip an unfamiliar term in the reading because it wasn’t on the vocabulary list

Try this: Have students keep a running list of words they looked up on their own, with the sentence where each one appeared.

Where L.9-10.6 Fits

Comes BeforeL.8.6Learn and use grade-appropriate academic and subject words, and gather vocabulary while reading.
AlongsideL.9-10.4Work out unfamiliar words from context, word families and reference works.W.9-10.2Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to explain a complex topic.
Comes NextL.11-12.6Keep building college-level academic and specialist words on your own, for harder texts.

Practice L.9-10.6

Vocabulary Quiz GeneratorFree ToolMake a quiz from a unit list like solute, solution and freezing point, with fill-in items set inside short explanations rather than lone definitions.Unit vocabularyFill-inHigh school
Make a Quiz

Quick Check

  1. In the strong answer, what is the solute, and what is the solution?
  2. Why does the salt stop working on the coldest nights?
  3. Which academic word in the strong answer shows cause and effect, and what does it connect?

L.9-10.6: Other Names

L.9-10.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6

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.