Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9-10 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)
Common Core State Standards, Grades 9-10, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What SL.9-10.6 Means in Plain English
Ninth and tenth graders tell the same story differently at lunch, in a debate and in a mock interview, and know which version each room needs. In formal settings they use complete, parallel sentences, precise words and no filler, without sounding like they are reading a script.
The wording barely changes from eighth grade (SL.8.6) through grades 11 and 12 (SL.11-12.6). What changes is the grammar it points to: voice and mood in eighth grade, parallel structure and varied phrases and clauses now (L.9-10.1), and contested usage and varied syntax in grades 11 and 12.
SL.9-10.6 I Can Statements
I can tell when a setting calls for formal English.
I can retell the same story for a friend and an interviewer.
I can use parallel, complete sentences when I speak formally.
SL.9-10.6 Worked Example
One answer to a mock-interview question, first in the voice that works at lunch and then in the voice the interview calls for.
Prompt
Mock interview for a summer job as a day-camp counselor. The interviewer asks, “Tell me about a time you solved a problem under pressure.” You were stage manager for the spring musical when the lead lost her voice two hours before opening night.
Not YetOh yeah, so basically our lead, like, totally lost her voice right before opening night, and everybody was freaking out. So I was like, okay, we got this, and I grabbed the understudy, and we ran her lines and stuff, and it went fine. Honestly it was kind of a vibe.This is how the story sounds at a lunch table, and there it works. In an interview, the filler, the slang and the string of ands hide what the speaker actually did, and “it went fine” gives no result.
Meets the StandardLast spring I was stage manager for our musical, and two hours before opening night, our lead lost her voice. I had three jobs: telling the director, preparing the understudy and keeping the cast calm. I pulled the understudy into the green room, ran her two hardest scenes with her and rewrote the cue sheet so the crew knew every change. The curtain went up on time, and the director asked me to manage the fall play.Same story, formal register: complete sentences, a clear order (problem, plan, actions, result), parallel lists of jobs and actions, and a specific result. It still sounds like a person talking, not a memorized script.
Moves to Use
Read the setting: who is listening, and what do they need from you?Swap filler (like, basically, stuff) for the specific detail it was hiding.Use parallel structure for lists of tasks and actions.End with a result the listener can picture.
Common Mistakes with SL.9-10.6
Teaching formal as the only right way
Marking a student’s lively lunch-table storytelling as “wrong English”
Try this: Have students tell one story in two settings, and discuss what each version does well for its own listener.
Formal means fancy
“I endeavored to facilitate the remediation of the vocal predicament.”
Try this: Teach formal speech as complete and precise rather than fancy, then have students swap each puffed-up word for a plain one.
Polished answers with no shape
A filler-free answer that wanders for two minutes and never states a result
Try this: Give students a four-part frame for interview answers: the situation, the task, the actions and the result.
Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin for an interviewer and a candidate, then spin again for a classmate to retell the same answer the way they would at lunch.InterviewerCandidate