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Minnesota Standards

Minnesota 9th Grade ELA Standards

All 40 Minnesota English language arts standards for 9th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Minnesota Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

40 standards

Reading

19 standards
9.1.2.1
Read grade 9 texts independently, track your understanding, annotate as you learn, and when a passage stops making sense, use strategies like checking a reference.
9.1.2.2
Choose and read grade 9 level texts with strong understanding for academic work, like a play or research article assigned in class.
9.1.2.3
Track down two writers' takes on one shared topic or theme and read both, like two essays about social media.
9.1.3.1
Choose and read texts for a purpose like enjoyment or school that show Dakota and Anishinaabe perspectives, past and present, to explore ideas, issues or histories.
9.1.4.1
Cite strong, thorough text evidence for what a text states and what you infer from it, connect it to other texts, and summarize it objectively.
9.1.4.2
Analyze how themes or central ideas emerge and grow from details across several texts, considering each author's perspective, identity and bias.
9.1.4.3
Compare and contrast complex characters, like those with mixed or conflicting motives, in one or more works of literature.
9.1.4.4
Analyze how an author lays out a series of ideas or events in an informational text, including the order of points, how they develop and how they connect.
9.1.5.1
Evaluate how literary elements like foreshadowing, flashbacks, pacing and the narrator's point of view shape the structure of a text.
9.1.5.2
Analyze how informational texts are built, like claim and support, critique, or inductive and deductive reasoning, and how sentences and paragraphs develop a key idea.
9.1.5.3
Analyze critically how illustrations, graphics and other audio or visual features are used, what they mean, how they look, and how they relate to the text.
9.1.6.1
Examine how a writer's goals, named identities, biases and point of view, Dakota and Anishinaabe writers included, shape what a text says and how it says it.
9.1.6.2
Examine how a text's publication date affects whether it is still valid and credible today, in literature, social studies or science.
9.1.6.3
Trace the argument and claims in a text and identify false statements and faulty reasoning, like a straw man or slippery slope.
9.1.7.1
Compare the arguments of two authors with opposing views on one topic, judging whether their evidence is relevant and enough and their reasoning sound.
9.1.8.1
Analyze how word choice, rhythm, meter and other style choices shape meaning and tone in literature, like words that point to a culture, era or place.
9.1.8.2
Examine subject-specific words in informational texts by studying their roots and origins and using reference tools like a dictionary.
9.1.9.1
Find information from many sources showing both sides of an issue or several viewpoints while carrying out an inquiry.
9.1.9.2
Judge sources for perspective, bias, credibility, relevance and sufficiency, and look for more sources when needed.

Writing

15 standards
9.2.1.1
Write and edit work to follow a style guide that fits the subject and purpose, like MLA for an English essay, with guidance.
9.2.1.3
Use grammar and mechanics well enough to shape voice and style, like pronoun agreement, parts of speech and sentence structure.
9.2.2.1
Write regularly for many tasks, purposes and readers, choosing topics and formats and adding visuals like illustrations or audio when they fit.
9.2.2.2
Write a reflection on how your identities, and the ways they overlap, shape your point of view.
9.2.3.1
Plan and draft several pieces, seek reader feedback in different ways, and use it to strengthen your writing through revision, editing and publishing.
9.2.3.2
Vary word choice and sentence structure for effect, with the audience and situation in mind.
9.2.4.1
Write arguments and counterarguments backed by evidence on real issues that matter to you, like a school dress code.
9.2.4.2
Write persuasive pieces that consider and answer other points of view, like an editorial for the school paper.
9.2.5.1
Write explanations that compare facts from diverse views, including Dakota and Anishinaabe ones, link and contrast key ideas, and use precise terms and clear structure.
9.2.5.2
Write a response to a literary text that analyzes narrative elements like plot, setting and point of view, through reactions, analysis or interpretation.
9.2.6.1
Write creative pieces in various forms using basic and advanced literary techniques modeled in mentor texts, for different tasks and purposes.
9.2.6.2
Imitate the structure of mentor texts in your own stories, poems or other creative writing.
9.2.7.1
Write your own questions to guide an inquiry that solves a problem, then add more questions for deeper research.
9.2.7.2
Plan and conduct independent research, combine information from many sources to show you understand the subject, and share findings in writing.
9.2.8.1
Use and cite many print and digital sources through quotes, paraphrase and summary, avoiding plagiarism and following a style guide, with guidance.

Listening, Speaking, Viewing and Exchanging Ideas

6 standards
9.3.1.1
Lead and join discussions on grade 9 topics, weighing Dakota, Anishinaabe and other views, summing up agreement, building consensus and using teacher models to resolve conflict.
9.3.1.2
Come prepared and add to discussions by linking them to bigger themes, drawing others in, and clarifying, checking or challenging ideas and conclusions.
9.3.1.3
Ask for helpful feedback and use it to revise your work.
9.3.2.1
Adjust speech and writing to different settings, audiences and tasks, using formal English when the situation calls for it.
9.3.3.1
Pull together information from a chart, a podcast and an article on one topic, and judge how credible and accurate each source is.
Common Core SL.9-10.2
9.3.3.2
Create and share a digital piece alone or in a group for a set purpose and audience, minding your digital footprint and respecting others' intellectual property.

The official Minnesota documents

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