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Common Core ELAGrades 9–10Reading: Literature

RL.9-10.10: Read Complex Literature Independently

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 · Cluster: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

All 41 Grades 9–10 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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

What RL.9-10.10 Means in Plain English

By the end of 9th grade students read stories, plays and poems across the grades 9 to 10 range, with support on the hardest. By the end of 10th grade they read the hardest alone: long sentences, irony, and meaning carried by an image, not a statement.

In 8th grade (RL.8.10) students read the top of the grades 6 to 8 range on their own. The band then moves up, and support returns for a year. In grades 11 and 12 (RL.11-12.10) the same pattern repeats with texts up to college level.

RL.9-10.10 I Can Statements

  • I can follow a long, complex sentence to its main point.
  • I can explain what a narrator implies without saying it outright.
  • I can read a challenging story on my own by year’s end.

RL.9-10.10 Worked Example

A grandchild narrates a family estate auction in long, ironic sentences, the kind of text at the top of the grades 9 to 10 band.

Read the Story
The auctioneer, who had never met my grandmother, sold her in lots: the sewing machine to a woman who wanted it only for the drawers, the hall clock to a dealer who tapped its case twice, the way a doctor taps a chest, and named a price that was an insult disguised as a kindness.My uncles stood at the back with their arms folded, as men do who have agreed to something in a lawyer’s office and would now prefer not to watch it.Lot forty-one, catalogued as “kitchen, misc.,” went to me for six dollars, which was, the dealer remarked to no one, about what it was worth.He was right, of course, by every measure he knew, and I let him be right, carrying the box out past my uncles with her rolling pin knocking against the side like someone asking to be let in.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: The narrator never says outright how they feel about the auction or the uncles. What does the passage show about both, and which phrases do the work?
Not Yet“The narrator is sad that their grandmother died, and they buy a box at the auction.”It gets the event and misses everything the sentences say sideways: the anger at the uncles, the irony about worth, and the grandmother brought back in the last image. At this level, comprehension means reading what is implied.
Meets the Standard“The opening, ‘sold her in lots,’ says the auction is selling the grandmother herself, not her things, and the dealer’s offer is ‘an insult disguised as a kindness,’ so the narrator resents strangers pricing her life. The uncles get a quieter verdict: they ‘would now prefer not to watch’ what they agreed to in a lawyer’s office, which accuses them of selling up and dodging the guilt. The six-dollar box flips the dealer’s idea of worth. He is right ‘by every measure he knew,’ and the narrator lets him be, because the real value is one he can’t measure. The rolling pin knocking ‘like someone asking to be let in’ brings the grandmother back just as she is carried out.”It reads the long sentences for what they imply, the narrator’s anger, the judgment of the uncles and the two kinds of worth, and quotes the phrase that carries each. That is independent comprehension at the top of the band.
Question Stems to Use
What is this long sentence’s main clause, and what is the rest doing?What does the narrator imply but never say outright?Which comparison surprised you, and what does it suggest?Where does the narrator’s tone turn ironic, and how can you tell?What would you need to reread to be sure of your answer?

Common Mistakes with RL.9-10.10

Reading for plot only

“A family has an auction and the narrator buys a box.”

Try this: Ask “What does the narrator think about this?” after each paragraph, and require the phrase that reveals it.

Getting lost in long sentences

Loses track of who “he” is by the end of the last sentence

Try this: Have students find the subject and main verb of each long sentence first, then read the added clauses as commentary on it.

Scaffolding the same way all year

Tenth graders still get a summary of each chapter before they read it

Try this: Scaffold heavily early in grade 9, then withdraw supports step by step so that tenth graders read the hardest texts alone.

Where RL.9-10.10 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.8.10Read literature at the high end of the grades 6 to 8 band independently.
AlongsideRI.9-10.10Read literary nonfiction in the grades 9 to 10 band, independently by the end of grade 10.L.9-10.4Work out unfamiliar words and phrases from context and word parts.
Comes NextRL.11-12.10Read literature in the grades 11 to college-ready band, independently by the end of grade 12.

Practice RL.9-10.10

Quick Check

  1. How much does the narrator pay for lot forty-one?
  2. What does the comparison “the way a doctor taps a chest” suggest about the dealer?
  3. What does the rolling pin knocking “like someone asking to be let in” suggest?

RL.9-10.10: Other Names

RL.9-10.10CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10

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.