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Common Core ELAGrades 9–10Writing

W.9-10.8: Gather, Assess and Cite Sources

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.8 · Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

Get the Paragraph TemplateAll 41 Grades 9–10 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

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

What W.9-10.8 Means in Plain English

Ninth and tenth graders search like researchers: exact phrases in quotation marks, a site or file-type limit, a date filter. They judge how useful each source is for their question, quote or paraphrase only what serves the paragraph, and cite it in MLA or APA to avoid plagiarism.

Eighth grade (W.8.8) uses search terms well and assesses each source’s credibility and accuracy. Grades 9 to 10 add advanced searches, usefulness for the specific question and selective integration that keeps the flow of ideas. Grades 11 to 12 (W.11-12.8) weigh each source’s strengths and limitations.

W.9-10.8 I Can Statements

  • I can use advanced search tools to find authoritative sources.
  • I can judge how useful each source is for my question.
  • I can integrate and cite sources without plagiarizing.

W.9-10.8 Worked Example

Both students searched for the same paragraph; only one could say why each source earned its place.

Prompt

Research question: Do prescribed burns lower the risk of severe wildfire in dry pine forests? A search for prescribed burns returned millions of hits, so you tried “prescribed burn” “fuel load” site:.gov with a filter for the last ten years. Judge each source’s usefulness in a sentence, then write a paragraph that integrates the useful one with an MLA in-text citation. Source A: “Fire as a Tool,” by forest ecologist Ines Calloway, on a state forestry agency website, which says burns “remove the dry brush and fallen branches that let a wildfire climb into the treetops.” Source B: a post on a camping gear retailer’s blog, no author, which says burns “basically stop wildfires for good.”

Not YetPrescribed burns basically stop wildfires for good. They remove the dry brush and fallen branches that let a wildfire climb into the treetops. So forests should have more of them (Google).The overstated claim from the least useful source leads the paragraph, Source A’s sentence is copied word for word without quotation marks, which is plagiarism, and “(Google)” names a search engine, not a source. The writer never says why either source should be trusted.
Meets the StandardSource note: Calloway’s article is the useful one, since she is a forest ecologist writing for a state forestry agency and explains how burns work; the blog has no author, sells camping gear and overstates its claim. Prescribed burns appear to lower the risk of severe wildfire mainly by removing fuel near the ground. As forest ecologist Ines Calloway explains, a controlled burn clears “the dry brush and fallen branches that let a wildfire climb into the treetops” (Calloway). A fire that stays on the forest floor is far easier to control than one racing through the canopy, so less ground fuel means fewer fires that grow out of reach. Burns do not prevent wildfire altogether, however; they change how a fire behaves once it starts.The source note does what W.9-10.8 adds: it judges each source’s usefulness for this question, not just whether it looks reliable. The paragraph then integrates only the phrase it needs, inside the writer’s own sentence, with quotation marks and an MLA in-text citation, and the claim stays as narrow as the evidence.
Moves to Use
Search with exact phrases, a site or domain limit and a date filter.Judge each source by how well it answers your question, not by how it looks.Quote only the words you need, inside a sentence of your own.Cite every borrowed idea in MLA or APA, quoted or paraphrased, and list it in the works cited.

Common Mistakes with W.9-10.8

Searching with a whole sentence

Typing “are prescribed burns good or bad for forests” and using the first three results

Try this: Teach two operators at a time, exact phrase and site limit, and have students compare the first ten results before and after.

Patchwriting

Source sentences with a few words swapped and a citation at the end

Try this: Have students read the passage, close the tab, write the idea from memory, then check it and quote any phrase they kept.

Quotations dropped in whole

A five-line block quotation standing alone between two paragraphs

Try this: Require every quotation to sit inside a sentence of the student’s own and to be followed by a sentence explaining it.

Where W.9-10.8 Fits

Comes BeforeW.8.8Use search terms effectively, assess credibility and accuracy, and cite sources in a standard format.
AlongsideW.9-10.7Run the research projects these sources feed, synthesizing several sources into one account.L.9-10.3Write and edit work so it conforms to a style manual such as the MLA Handbook.
Comes NextW.11-12.8Assess each source’s strengths and limitations and avoid overreliance on any one source.

Practice W.9-10.8

Rubric GeneratorFree ToolBuild a source-use rubric with rows for search quality, usefulness to the question, integration and MLA citation.Source useCitationGrades 9-10
Make a Rubric

Quick Check

  1. Which search tools did the student use to narrow the results?
  2. Why is the retailer’s blog not useful for this paragraph?
  3. What makes the weak response’s second sentence plagiarism?

W.9-10.8: Other Names

W.9-10.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.8

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.