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Common Core LiteracyGrades 9–10Writing

WHST.9-10.8: Search, Judge and Cite Discipline Sources

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

Make a RubricAll 29 Grades 9–10 Literacy 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: History, Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What WHST.9-10.8 Means in Plain English

Ninth and tenth graders search archives, journals and agency sites with advanced tools: exact phrases, a minus sign to drop sales pages, a file-type or site limit. They judge how useful each source is for their exact question, use only what fits and cite it in a standard format.

Grades 6 to 8 (WHST.6-8.8) check each source’s credibility and accuracy. Grades 9 to 10 add advanced searches and usefulness: a reliable study on the wrong soil is still the wrong source. Grades 11 to 12 (WHST.11-12.8) weigh strengths and limitations and avoid overreliance on one source.

WHST.9-10.8 I Can Statements

  • I can use search operators to find authoritative sources quickly.
  • I can judge how useful each source is for my question.
  • I can weave in only what fits and cite it correctly.

WHST.9-10.8 Worked Example

Both students ran the same search; only one could say which source actually answered the garden’s question.

Prompt

Environmental science. Research question: Would mixing biochar into the school garden’s heavy clay beds raise kale yields? A search for biochar returned mostly ads, so you tried “biochar” “clay soil” yield filetype:pdf -buy -shop. Judge each source’s usefulness in a sentence, then write a paragraph that integrates what fits, with APA in-text citations. Source A: a university extension trial (Marsh & Delgado, 2022) that grew leafy greens in clay soil with and without biochar for two seasons and found yields 18 percent higher with biochar. Source B: a journal review of 90 biochar studies (Lindqvist et al., 2021), most on corn and rice in sandy tropical soils, which reports the largest gains in acidic, sandy ground. Source C: a biochar company’s page promising to “double your harvest.”

Not YetBiochar can double your harvest. A big review of 90 studies found that biochar works, so our garden should use it (biochar.com).The paragraph leads with the seller’s promise, cites a website instead of an author and year, and treats the review as proof without noticing that its studies were on corn and rice in sandy tropical soil, not greens in clay. Nothing says which source answers this garden’s question.
Meets the StandardSource notes: Source A is the most useful, because it tested leafy greens in clay soil over two seasons, the closest match to our beds. Source B is authoritative but less useful here, since most of its studies used corn and rice in sandy tropical soils, where biochar helps most. Source C sells biochar and offers no data, so it is left out. Biochar is likely to raise kale yields in our clay beds, though by far less than sellers promise. In a two-season extension trial in clay soil, leafy greens grown with biochar yielded 18 percent more than those grown without it (Marsh & Delgado, 2022). Because the largest gains have been reported in acidic, sandy ground (Lindqvist et al., 2021), not clay like ours, a gain near the trial’s 18 percent is a more reasonable expectation than a doubled harvest.The source notes judge usefulness, not just reliability: the review is authoritative but answers a different question, so the writer uses it only to limit the claim. The paragraph integrates the one finding it needs from the trial inside the writer’s own sentence, cites both studies in APA style and keeps the claim as narrow as the evidence.
Moves to Use
Combine exact phrases, a file-type limit and minus signs to cut sales pages.Rank sources by how closely they match your question, then by reliability.Use a strong source on a different question only for what it actually shows.Cite author and year in APA style inside the sentence that uses the idea.

Common Mistakes with WHST.9-10.8

Credible means useful

Citing a 90-study review of tropical corn to answer a question about kale in clay

Try this: Have students write one sentence per source comparing its subjects, setting and conditions with their own question before using it.

Searching for a product

Typing one word, biochar, and reading the first five ads

Try this: Teach the minus sign and the file-type limit together, then have students count how many sales pages each search returns.

A website for a citation

“(biochar.com)” at the end of a borrowed claim

Try this: Require author and year in every APA in-text citation, and send students back to the source when either is missing.

Where WHST.9-10.8 Fits

Comes BeforeWHST.6-8.8Use search terms effectively, assess credibility and accuracy, and quote or paraphrase without plagiarizing.
AlongsideW.9-10.8The same gathering, judging and citing skills for English class research.RST.9-10.9Compare a text’s findings with other sources, noting where they support or contradict each other.
Comes NextWHST.11-12.8Assess each source’s strengths and limitations for the task and avoid overreliance on any one source.

Practice WHST.9-10.8

Rubric GeneratorFree ToolBuild a source-use rubric with rows for search operators, usefulness to the question, selective integration and APA citation.Source useAPA citationGrades 9-10
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Quick Check

  1. Which search tools narrowed the results?
  2. Why is Source B authoritative but less useful for this question?
  3. Why does the strong response leave Source C out?

WHST.9-10.8: Other Names

WHST.9-10.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.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.