Common Core ELA6th GradeReading: Informational

RI.6.9: Compare Two Authors’ Accounts of the Same Events

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

The Official Wording

Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.6.9 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders read two authors on the same events and compare what each chooses to show. One account of the 1953 Everest climb follows two men to the summit. Another follows the hundreds of people who got them there. Both are true, yet they leave different impressions.

Fifth graders (RI.5.9) combined several texts on one topic. Sixth grade compares instead, and the classic pairing is a memoir and a biography of the same person. Seventh grade (RI.7.9) asks how authors stress different evidence or read the same facts differently.

RI.6.9 I Can Statements

I can tell how two authors present the same events.
I can find details one author includes and the other leaves out.
I can explain how each author’s choices shape what readers think.

RI.6.9 Worked Example

Neither account gets a fact wrong, but they disagree about whose story the climb is, and the weak answer only compares facts.

Read the Story

Text A, from a book of famous firsts: At 11:30 on the morning of May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa climber, stepped onto the top of Mount Everest, the first people known to stand on the highest point on Earth. They stayed about fifteen minutes, and Hillary took a photograph of Tenzing holding up his ice axe.Text B, from a history of Himalayan climbing: The 1953 British expedition brought about 400 people to the mountain, most of them porters who carried some 10,000 pounds of supplies. For weeks, climbing teams built a chain of camps, each one higher than the last.Text B: On May 26, the first summit pair, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, came within about 300 feet of the top before trouble with their oxygen gear turned them back. Three days later, the second pair climbed from a high camp the whole team had helped stock.

A short passage written for this page.

Question: How do the two texts present the first climb of Mount Everest differently? Explain what each author focuses on and the effect of that choice.

Not Yet“Text A says they reached the top on May 29, 1953. Text B says there were 400 people and 10,000 pounds of supplies. Both texts are about Everest.”It lists a fact from each text and notes the shared topic, but never compares the presentations: what each author puts at the center, what each leaves out and how that changes the story.

Meets the Standard“Text A tells the climb as a moment for two heroes: the exact time, the fifteen minutes on top, the photograph. Text B tells it as a team effort: about 400 people, weeks of building camps and a first pair that came within 300 feet and turned back. Text A leaves out everyone but Hillary and Tenzing, and Text B never describes the summit at all. A reader of Text A remembers two climbers, while a reader of Text B remembers that the climb took hundreds.”It names each author’s focus, points to what each one leaves out and explains the different impression each leaves, which is the comparison the standard asks for.

Question Stems to Use

What does each author put at the center of the events?What does one author include that the other leaves out?How would your picture change if you read only Text A? Only Text B?Where do the two accounts agree on the facts?Why might each author have chosen this focus?

Common Mistakes with RI.6.9

Comparing facts instead of presentations

“Text A has a date and Text B has numbers.”

Try this: Ask what each author makes the most important thing in the event, then compare those choices instead of the facts themselves.

Deciding one account is wrong

“Text A is wrong because it forgets the porters.”

Try this: Remind students that both accounts can be accurate, then ask what each author chose to include and what reason they might have.

Ignoring what is left out

A comparison that lists what each text says and never notices that Text B skips the summit

Try this: Have students list one thing each author leaves out and explain how the account would feel different if it were included.

Where RI.6.9 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.5.6Compare several accounts of one event and the points of view behind them.RI.5.9Combine information from several texts on one topic.

AlongsideRL.6.9Compare how stories, poems and other forms handle similar themes and topics.RH.6-8.9Analyze how a primary and a secondary source on the same topic relate.

Comes NextRI.7.9Show how authors on the same topic stress different evidence or read the facts differently.

Practice RI.6.9

Quick Check

What does Text A focus on?
The moment Hillary and Tenzing reached the summit: the time, the fifteen minutes on top and the photograph.
What does Text B include that Text A leaves out?
The roughly 400 people and 10,000 pounds of supplies, the weeks of building camps and the first pair who turned back about 300 feet short.
Do the two texts disagree about any facts? Explain.
No. They agree on the facts but choose different ones, so Text A reads as two climbers’ triumph and Text B as a team’s achievement.

RI.6.9: Other Names

RI.6.9CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9