Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)
Common Core State Standards, Grades 9-10, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.9-10.5 Means in Plain English
Ninth and tenth graders revise on their own, starting with what matters most for the reader. A volunteer guide that saves its two safety rules for the last line gets reorganized before anyone touches a comma. Editing then applies grades 9 to 10 rules: parallel structure, semicolons and colons.
Eighth grade (W.8.5) revises with guidance and support from peers and adults. Grades 9 to 10 drop that clause and ask writers to rank their own problems by significance. Grades 11 to 12 (W.11-12.5) keep the wording, with editing up to the grades 11 to 12 Language standards.
W.9-10.5 I Can Statements
I can find what matters most in my draft for its reader.
I can reorganize, rewrite or restart a draft without being told to.
I can edit for parallel structure, semicolons and colons.
W.9-10.5 Worked Example
The weak text is the student’s first draft; the strong one is her revision after she reread it as a nervous first-time volunteer would.
Prompt
Revise this section of the guide your service-learning class is writing for first-time volunteers at the Corrigan Street Food Pantry. The pantry director says two rules matter more than anything else: volunteers may not accept home-canned food, and they must check the expiration date on every item before it goes on a shelf. Then edit for parallel structure, semicolons and colons.
Not YetThe Corrigan Street Food Pantry was started in a church basement by a group of neighbors and has grown a lot since then. Volunteers will be sorting donations, to stock shelves, and they also help families carry bags. Please be friendly and make sure to wear closed-toe shoes, also don’t take home-canned food and check expiration dates.This is the draft. The history in the first sentence is the least useful thing for a nervous first-timer, and the two rules the director called most important come last, squeezed into a run-on after the shoes. Editing has work too: the list of duties breaks parallel structure (sorting, to stock, they also help).
Meets the StandardTwo rules come before everything else at the Corrigan Street Food Pantry: never accept home-canned food, and check the expiration date on every item before it goes on a shelf. Home-canned food can carry bacteria we have no way to test for; consequently, even a jar from a trusted neighbor goes back with a polite thank-you. Expired items go in the gray bin by the back door, never on the shelves. On a typical shift, you will be sorting donations, stocking shelves and carrying bags to families’ cars. Wear closed-toe shoes, since the loading area is full of heavy crates. The pantry’s history is on the back of this sheet for anyone curious about how it began.The writer revised for significance first: the two rules now open the guide, each with the reason a volunteer needs, and the history moved to the back where it no longer stands in the way. Editing came last: a colon introduces the two rules, a semicolon with consequently joins two related clauses, and the duties are parallel (sorting, stocking, carrying).
Moves to Use
Ask what this reader must know first, and check where the draft puts it.Move, cut or rewrite whole sections before fixing a single sentence.Give every rule the reason behind it, so readers can apply it.Edit last, for grades 9 to 10 conventions: parallel lists, semicolons, colons.
Common Mistakes with W.9-10.5
Polishing the wrong draft
A clean, comma-perfect second draft that still opens with the pantry’s history
Try this: Have students rank the draft’s three biggest problems for the reader and fix the top one before any editing pass.
Revising only by adding
A revision twice as long as the draft, with the two rules still at the end
Try this: Require at least one cut and one move in every revision, and have students explain each in a margin note.
Lists that break parallel structure
“Volunteers will be sorting donations, to stock shelves, and they also help families.”
Try this: Have students underline the first word of each list item and rewrite until every item starts with the same form.
What did the writer decide mattered most, and how does the revision show it?
The two rules about home-canned food and expiration dates. They moved from the last sentence to the first, each with its reason, and the history went to the back of the sheet.
Find the parallel structure error in the draft and its fix.
“Sorting donations, to stock shelves, and they also help families” mixes three forms. The revision uses one: sorting donations, stocking shelves and carrying bags.
Which grades 9 to 10 punctuation does the revision use?
A colon to introduce the two rules, and a semicolon with the conjunctive adverb consequently to join two closely related independent clauses.