Louisiana Standards
Louisiana Grades 9–10 ELA Standards
All 41 Louisiana English language arts standards for grades 9–10, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Louisiana Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
41 standards
Reading Standards for Literature
9 standardsRL.9-10.1
Back an analysis of a literary work with relevant, thorough evidence that covers both what the text states and what it implies.
RL.9-10.2
Find a theme in a novel or play, trace in detail how it first emerges and how particular scenes shape and sharpen it, and summarize the work objectively.
RL.9-10.3
Follow a complex character with conflicting motives, like Macbeth, through the text and explain how their changes and clashes with others drive the plot or theme.
RL.9-10.4
Read a poem or novel's words for their figurative and emotional shades, and explain how the word choices add up to a tone or a sense of time and place.
RL.9-10.5
Explain how a writer's structure, like parallel plots, flashbacks or a slowed-down scene, builds mystery, tension or surprise in a story.
RL.9-10.6
Analyze the point of view or cultural experience shown in works of literature, drawing on broad reading of literature from around the world.
RL.9-10.7
Compare how a poem and a painting, or a novel and its film, treat the same scene or subject, noting what each one stresses and what each leaves out.
RL.9-10.9
Trace how a specific work borrows and reworks an older source, like Shakespeare drawing on Ovid or West Side Story reshaping Romeo and Juliet.
RL.9-10.10
Read stories, plays and poems in the grades 9 to 10 band with support at the top end by the end of 9th grade, and at the top end on your own by the end of 10th.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
10 standardsRI.9-10.1
Support an analysis of a nonfiction text with relevant, thorough evidence, showing both what it says directly and what can be inferred, like a speech's implied goal.
RI.9-10.2
Find an essay or speech's central idea, trace how it emerges and how specific facts and examples sharpen it, and summarize the text objectively.
RI.9-10.3
Explain how a nonfiction writer unfolds an argument or a chain of events, including the order of the points, how each is introduced and how they connect.
RI.9-10.4
Work out figurative, connotative and technical meanings in nonfiction, and explain how word choices add up to a tone, like a court opinion beside a news story.
RI.9-10.5
Show in detail how particular sentences, paragraphs or a whole chapter build and sharpen a nonfiction author's ideas or claims.
RI.9-10.6
Pin down an author's purpose or stance and analyze the rhetoric that pushes it, like repetition, appeals to emotion or a pointed question.
RI.9-10.7
Compare accounts of the same subject in different media, like a biography and a documentary about the same person, and say which details each one stresses.
RI.9-10.8
Map out a text's argument and claims, judge whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence relevant and sufficient, and flag false statements and logical fallacies.
RI.9-10.9
Analyze seminal U.S. documents, like the Gettysburg Address and King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, and how they take up related themes such as freedom and equality.
RI.9-10.10
Read literary nonfiction like speeches and memoirs in the grades 9 to 10 band with support at the top end in 9th grade, and at the top end alone by the end of 10th.
Writing Standards
10 standardsW.9-10.1
Argue a substantive topic or text in writing with a precise claim, a counterclaim weighed for its strengths and limits, linked sections, a formal tone and a close.
W.9-10.2
Explain a complex topic in writing, sorting ideas to show connections, adding headings or figures where they help, using precise terms, and closing on why it matters.
W.9-10.3
Write a story that opens on a problem, sets up a narrator and point of view, weaves dialogue, pacing and more than one plot line, and closes with a reflection.
W.9-10.4
Shape a lab report, history essay or technical write-up so its organization and style fit the assignment, its purpose and its readers.
W.9-10.5
Strengthen writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting or trying a new approach, focusing on what matters most for a specific purpose and audience.
W.9-10.6
Write, publish and keep updating a piece online, alone or with a group, using links and flexible displays like an embedded chart or an expandable section.
W.9-10.7
Run short and longer research projects on a question you pose or are given, narrowing or widening it as needed and weaving several sources into one account.
W.9-10.8
Use advanced searches to gather information from several authoritative sources, weigh each one's limits, and work it into writing with standard citations, avoiding plagiarism.
W.9-10.9
Use evidence from literature and literary nonfiction to support analysis, reflection and research, like how an author reworks a Shakespeare play or Bible story.
W.9-10.10
Write regularly for many tasks, purposes and audiences, from a research paper drafted and revised over weeks to a response finished in a single sitting or a day or two.
Speaking and Listening Standards
6 standardsSL.9-10.1
Lead discussions on grades 9 to 10 texts, arriving with evidence, setting rules with peers, tying questions to larger ideas and revising your view when warranted.
SL.9-10.2
Pull together information from a chart, a podcast and an article on one topic, and judge how credible and accurate each source is.
SL.9-10.3
Weigh a speaker's stance, reasoning, evidence and rhetoric, and catch a logical fallacy, an exaggerated statistic or a quotation twisted out of context.
SL.9-10.4
Present findings and evidence clearly and concisely in an order listeners can follow, with organization, depth and style suited to the purpose, audience and task.
SL.9-10.5
Choose digital media for a presentation strategically, like a chart for data or a short audio clip, where each one makes the reasoning clearer or adds interest.
SL.9-10.6
Adjust speech to different settings, audiences and tasks, showing a command of formal English when it is required, like in a mock trial or job interview.
Language Standards
6 standardsL.9-10.1
Print many letters, use everyday nouns, verbs and little words like in and on, make plurals like dogs and wishes, ask with who and where, and speak in full sentences.
L.9-10.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.9-10.3
Notice how language works differently in a lab report, a poem and a speech, and write and edit to a style manual such as the MLA Handbook when the task calls for one.
L.9-10.4
Work out an unfamiliar word in grades 9 to 10 reading from context, from word families like analyze and analytical, or from a specialized dictionary, then verify it.
L.9-10.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
L.9-10.6
Build and use the academic and subject-specific vocabulary needed for college and career reading and writing, looking up on your own any word that matters to an idea.
The official Louisiana documents
- K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts · adopted March 2016, revised 2019 · since 2016-17, through 2026-27
- 2026 K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts · coming next · adopted 2026 · from 2027-28
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Louisiana's standards, not the official wording, which Louisiana Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.