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Common Core ELA5th GradeWriting

W.5.9: Use Evidence from Texts in Writing

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.9 · Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What W.5.9 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders write about what they read and prove each point with the text. With a story, that means comparing two characters through what they say and do. With nonfiction, it means showing which reasons and evidence back which point the author makes.

Fourth grade (W.4.9) applies the grade 4 reading standards, such as describing one character in depth. Fifth grade compares two characters, settings or events. Sixth grade (W.6.9) compares texts in different genres and evaluates an author’s argument, sorting supported claims from unsupported ones.

W.5.9 I Can Statements

  • I can use quotes and details from a story to compare two characters.
  • I can show which evidence supports which point in a nonfiction text.
  • I can explain how each piece of evidence proves my point.

W.5.9 Worked Example

Both students read the same short scene. One wrote opinions about the characters; the other let the scene prove the comparison.

Prompt

Read the scene, then write a paragraph comparing how Rosa and her brother Eli respond when their bridge model collapses the night before the science fair. Use evidence from the text. “When the last straw snapped, the bridge folded into the table. Eli kicked the leg of his chair. ‘It’s ruined. We should just quit,’ he said. Rosa picked up the broken straws and laid them in a row. ‘The middle had nothing holding it,’ she said quietly. ‘If we add a triangle here, it might hold.’”

Not YetRosa and Eli are different. Rosa is nice and Eli is mean. Rosa is a better sister because she does not get mad.There is a claim, but no words from the scene back it, and “nice” and “mean” are judgments the scene never shows. Eli is frustrated, not mean, and the paragraph never compares what the two of them actually do.
Meets the StandardRosa and Eli face the same collapsed bridge, but they respond in opposite ways. Eli reacts with frustration: he “kicked the leg of his chair” and says, “We should just quit.” Rosa, in contrast, studies the problem, laying the broken straws “in a row” as if looking for a pattern. She even finds the cause, saying, “The middle had nothing holding it,” and suggests adding a triangle. These details show that Eli sees the end of the project, while Rosa sees a problem she can solve.Each claim about a character is followed by the exact words that prove it, quoted accurately. The paragraph compares the two responses point for point instead of describing each sibling separately, and the last sentence explains what the evidence adds up to.
Moves to Use
State the comparison in the first sentence.Follow each claim with the exact words from the text, in quotation marks.Compare the two characters at the same moment, point for point.Use contrast words like in contrast and while to show the difference.End by explaining what the evidence shows about both characters.

Common Mistakes with W.5.9

Judging a character without proof

“Eli is mean.”

Try this: Ask “Which words in the scene show that?” and accept the claim only once a quotation or a specific action backs it up.

Dropping in a quote with no explanation

“Eli kicked the leg of his chair.” followed straight by the next point

Try this: Teach the quote sandwich: a sentence before the quotation that sets it up and a sentence after that explains what it proves.

Evidence matched to the wrong point

In a nonfiction response, a fact about cost offered as proof of a point about safety

Try this: Have students draw lines from each of the author’s points to the reasons that support it before they write a word.

Where W.5.9 Fits

Comes BeforeW.4.9Draw evidence from texts, for example describing one character, setting or event in depth.
AlongsideRL.5.3Compare and contrast two characters, settings or events using specific details: the reading this writing rests on.RI.5.8Explain which reasons and evidence support which of an author’s points.RL.5.1Quote accurately when explaining what a text says and when drawing inferences.
Comes NextW.6.9Compare texts in different genres and evaluate the claims in an argument.

Practice W.5.9

Quick Check

  1. Which two quotations does the strong response use to show Eli’s frustration?
  2. What does Rosa say that shows she has found the cause of the collapse?
  3. Why is “Eli is mean” weak evidence-based writing?

W.5.9: Other Names

W.5.9CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.9

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.