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Alabama Standards

Alabama 9th Grade ELA Standards

All 34 Alabama English language arts standards for 9th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Alabama State Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

34 standards

Recurring Standards for Grades 9-12

7 standards
9.R1
Gather new information from print and nonprint sources, like a job posting or a city bus schedule, and use it to meet real needs at work and in daily life.
9.R2
Read a range of literature, like an ancient epic or a folktale, and grasp both its literal events and its figurative meanings as the text type and purpose call for.
9.R3
Listen actively in casual and formal conversations, like a small-group chat or a class debate, while following agreed-upon discussion rules.
9.R4
Use digital tools and devices responsibly, safely, and ethically, like protecting passwords and giving credit for images found online.
9.R5
Plan, revise, edit with peers, and rewrite a piece, like a personal essay, until it is focused, organized, and clear for its purpose and readers.
9.R6
Use correct grammar, mechanics, and usage, like subject-verb agreement and comma rules, so writing and speech come across clearly to the intended audience.
9.R7
Figure out the meaning of an unknown word heard or read by using nearby clues, like a definition or example in the same sentence.

Critical Literacy

11 standards
9.1
Read, analyze, and judge complex fiction and nonfiction from many cultures, mainly works from outside the US and British Isles written up to 1599, like The Odyssey.
9.2
Study charts, maps, and infographics to reach conclusions, back up claims, and make decisions, like using a crime-rate graph to argue a point.
9.3
Explain how a writer's cultural background shapes their style, word choice, and themes, like how Greek beliefs about fate color Oedipus Rex.
9.4
Analyze how writers build meaning through point of view, characterization, figurative language, literary elements, and word connotations and denotations.
9.5
Analyze how a work's historical context and its structure shape theme, tone, and overall meaning, like the frame story in One Thousand and One Nights.
9.6
Compare or contrast viewpoints across fiction, nonfiction, digital, and multimodal texts from many eras, cultures, and places, reaching beyond the year's literary focus.
9.7
Read and evaluate writing from fields such as biology and government to see how each discipline uses its own vocabulary and lays out content.
9.8
Listen closely to a speaker and judge tone, organization, content, and body language to decide the speaker's purpose and how believable they are.
9.9
Write short and long narratives such as memoirs, evidence-based explanations, and reasoned arguments, with clear organization and a style and tone suited to the audience.
9.10
Share research results with classmates, formally or informally, using accurate, trustworthy information from several sources, including videos or other media.
9.11
Take part in group discussions with differing viewpoints, adding ideas and replies supported by relevant evidence and comments, like a Socratic seminar on a myth.

Digital Literacy

4 standards
9.12
Read a digital text, like a website or social media post, and identify its subject, occasion, audience, purpose, tone, and how trustworthy it is.
9.13
Listen to digital audio, like a podcast episode, and identify its topic, occasion, intended listeners, purpose, tone, and reliability.
9.14
Create and edit digital writing, like a class blog post or an email to a coach, with a purpose and tone that fit the audience and occasion.
9.15
Plan and give a group presentation, like a team slideshow on a world myth, whose purpose and tone suit the audience and occasion.

Language Literacy

5 standards
9.16
Explain how a writer's sentence structure and rhetorical style add to meaning in poems, stories, and nonfiction, like a historical speech or a business letter.
9.17
Sort language as formal or informal, like slang versus a school announcement, to understand it, interpret it, and respond in a fitting way.
9.18
Analyze a speaker's rhetorical moves, style, and structure to figure out their point of view and purpose, like a student council campaign speech.
9.19
Use correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, verbs, pronouns, modifiers, and sentence structure to reach the audience, keeping a consistent writing style.
9.20
Adjust how you speak to suit the purpose and listeners in different settings, like a class presentation versus a group chat, using formal English when called for.

Research Literacy

7 standards
9.21
Find relevant, trustworthy information and decide whether it helps answer a question, solve a problem, or support a position, like data for a school-lunch proposal.
9.22
Use different search tools and research methods, like keyword searches, library databases, and advanced search filters.
9.23
Gather useful, credible facts from audio sources, like a podcast or oral history, to solve a problem, answer a question, or argue for a position.
9.24
Research honestly and responsibly, like crediting every source, and write clear, well-organized work in language that fits the audience and purpose.
9.25
Work facts from two or more sources into your writing through quotes, paraphrases, or summaries, citing each one in a style like MLA.
9.26
Write clear, organized work that uses at least one scholarly source, like a journal article, to take a position, answer a research question, or propose a solution.
9.27
Use honest, responsible research habits to present clear, well-organized work, like a cited slideshow, in language suited to the audience and purpose.

The official Alabama documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Alabama's standards, not the official wording, which Alabama State Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.