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Oklahoma Standards

Oklahoma 9th Grade ELA Standards

All 53 Oklahoma English language arts standards for 9th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is one click away under each one.

53 standards

Listening and Speaking: Listening

2 standards
Students will develop and apply effective communication skills through active listening.
9.1.L.1
Follow class discussion norms while listening, keeping your words and body language in check, like waiting your turn and facing the speaker.
Official wording
Students will actively listen using agreed-upon discussion rules with control of verbal and nonverbal cues.
9.1.L.2
Listen closely to a speaker's words and body language, then ask questions that pin down why they speak and from what viewpoint, like during a class debate.
Official wording
Students will actively listen in order to analyze and evaluate speakers’ verbal and nonverbal messages by asking questions to clarify purpose and perspective.

Listening and Speaking: Speaking

3 standards
Students will develop and apply effective communication skills to share ideas through speaking.
9.1.S.1
Work well in mixed groups by giving ground when needed, carrying a fair share of the task, and crediting what each member adds, like on a lab report team.
Official wording
Students will work effectively and respectfully in diverse groups by showing willingness to make necessary compromises to accomplish a goal, sharing responsibility for collaborative work, and recognizing individual contributions
9.1.S.2
Talk about readings and writing in pairs, small groups, and as a class by following set norms, stating ideas clearly, adding to others' points, and disagreeing politely.
Official wording
Students will follow agreed-upon rules as they engage in collaborative discussions about what they are reading and writing, expressing their own ideas clearly, building on the ideas of others, and respectfully disagreeing when necessary in pairs, diverse groups, and whole-class settings.
9.1.S.3
Give formal and informal talks in different settings, backing the message with evidence and using voice, eye contact, and gestures, like a book talk.
Official wording
Students will conduct formal and informal presentations in a variety of contexts supporting their message with evidence and using verbal and nonverbal cues.

Reading and Writing Process: Reading

2 standards
Students will read and comprehend inclusive, diverse, and increasingly complex literary and informational texts.
9.2.R.1
Sum up the central ideas of harder texts and restate key passages in your own words, like a chapter of a novel or a news feature.
Official wording
Students will summarize the main ideas and paraphrase significant parts of increasingly complex texts.
9.2.R.2
Name the features of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction and explain how knowing them helps you understand a text, like stage directions in a play.
Official wording
Students will identify characteristics of genres and analyze how they enhance comprehension of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction.

Reading and Writing Process: Writing

5 standards
Students will engage in a recursive process that may include prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
9.2.W.1
Plan before and during writing by brainstorming and sorting ideas, returning to planning as needed, like listing points for an essay on a short story.
Official wording
Students will routinely and recursively prewrite (e.g., develop and organize ideas).
9.2.W.2
Write drafts built on a clear structure such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, or problem and solution, revisiting them as the piece grows.
Official wording
Students will routinely and recursively develop drafts, applying organizational structure(s) (e.g., description, compare/contrast, sequential, problem/solution, cause/effect, etc.).
9.2.W.3
Rework drafts so ideas flow, using better order, transitions, varied sentences, and a steady tone and viewpoint, like smoothing a personal essay.
Official wording
Students will routinely and recursively revise drafts for organization, transitions, sentence variety, and consistent tone and point of view in order to improve coherence and meaning.
9.2.W.4
Use tools like a style guide or grammar checker to fix grammar, usage, punctuation, and formatting so a draft is ready to share.
Official wording
Students will routinely and recursively use resources to edit for grammar, usage, mechanics, and format in order to finalize drafts for publication.
9.2.W.5
Share finished writing with real readers, like posting it online, sending it to a school paper, or entering a writing contest.
Official wording
Students will routinely and recursively publish final drafts for an authentic audience (e.g., publishing digitally, community and professional audiences, newspapers and magazines, entering contests).

Critical Reading and Writing: Reading

7 standards
Students will analyze, interpret, and evaluate increasingly complex literary and informational texts that include a wide range of historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives from a variety of genres.
9.3.R.1
Analyze how an author's era, culture, or place in the world shapes their style in literary and informational texts, like the language of a Depression-era story.
Official wording
Students will analyze the extent to which historical, cultural, and/or global perspectives affect authors’ stylistic choices in grade-level literary and informational texts.
9.3.R.2
Judge an author's viewpoint and explain how it shapes what a text means, like how a memoir writer's background colors their account.
Official wording
Students will evaluate authors’ perspectives and explain how those perspectives contribute to the meanings of texts.
9.3.R.3
Judge how setting, plot structure, conflict, characters, characterization, point of view, and archetypes shape theme, mood, or tone, citing the text.
Official wording
Students will evaluate how literary elements impact theme, mood, and/or tone, using textual evidence:•setting•plot structure (e.g., foreshadowing, flashback, in media res)•conflict (i.e., internal, external)•characters (e.g., protagonist, antagonist)•characterization (i.e., direct, indirect)•point of view (e.g., narrator reliability)•archetypes
9.3.R.4
Judge how figurative language, sound devices like alliteration, and verbal, situational, or dramatic irony build theme, mood, or tone, with quotes as support.
Official wording
Students will evaluate how literary devices impact theme, mood, and/or tone, using textual evidence:•figurative language (i.e., simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, imagery, symbolism)•sound devices (i.e., onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance)•irony (i.e., verbal, situational, dramatic)
9.3.R.5
Test a speaker's argument by sorting kinds of evidence, separating backed from unbacked claims, weighing ethos, logos, and pathos, and spotting bias and fallacies.
Official wording
Students will evaluate the validity of a speaker’s argument:•distinguish the kinds of evidence (e.g., logical, empirical, anecdotal)•distinguish substantiated from unsubstantiated claims•analyze rhetorical appeals (i.e., ethos, logos, pathos)•identify bias•identify logical fallacies
9.3.R.6
Analyze how the way an informational text is organized, like cause and effect or chronological order, helps the author achieve a purpose.
Official wording
Students will analyze how informational text structures support the author’s purpose.
9.3.R.7
Analyze how two or more texts treat a shared theme or topic, backing claims and inferences with quotes, like two poems about home.
Official wording
Students will analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics, using textual evidence to support their claims and inferences.

Critical Reading and Writing: Writing

4 standards
Students will thoughtfully and intentionally write, addressing a range of modes, purposes, and audiences.
9.3.W.1
Write true or invented stories with complex characters and conflict, a chosen narrator, events ordered for effect like suspense, vivid detail, and dialogue.
Official wording
Students will compose narratives reflecting real or imagined experiences that:•include engaging plots involving well-developed, complex characters resolving conflicts•establish narrator(s) that enhance(s) the narrative•are intentionally sequenced in a way to achieve a specific effect (e.g., create suspense, establish mood, reflect theme)•provide clear descriptions, using precise language, sensory details, and dialogue•include varied syntax to enhance readability•emulate literary elements and/or literary devices from mentor texts
9.3.W.2
Write informative essays, reports, or technical pieces with a defensible thesis, facts and data as evidence, clear organization, and a formal, concise style.
Official wording
Students will compose informative essays, reports, or technical writing that:•objectively introduce and develop topics•include a defensible thesis•incorporate evidence (e.g., specific facts, details, charts and graphs, data)•maintain an organized structure•use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity and concision•establish and maintain a formal style•emulate literary devices from mentor texts
9.3.W.3
Write argumentative essays, reviews, or op-eds with a clear thesis, credible evidence, counterclaims addressed, logical order, and a tone fit for the audience.
Official wording
Students will compose argumentative essays, reviews, or op-eds that:•introduce precise, informed claims•include a defensible thesis•acknowledge counterclaims or alternate perspectives•organize claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a logical sequence•provide the most relevant evidence to develop balanced arguments, using credible sources•use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity and concision•use style and tone that suits the audience and purpose
9.3.W.4
Mix storytelling, explanation, and argument in one piece to fit the reader and goal, like a personal story that opens a persuasive essay.
Official wording
Students will blend narrative, informative, and argumentative writing to suit their audience and purpose.

Vocabulary: Reading

4 standards
Students will expand their grade-level vocabularies through reading, word study, and class discussion.
9.4.R.1
Analyze how words relate as synonyms, antonyms, and analogies, like finch is to bird as oak is to tree.
Official wording
Students will analyze the relationships among synonyms, antonyms, and analogies.
9.4.R.2
Work out or confirm word meanings from context, connotation, and denotation, and tell apart words with several meanings, like bank or bark.
Official wording
Students will use context clues, connotation, and denotation to determine or clarify the meaning of words or distinguish among multiple-meaning words.
9.4.R.3
Use prefixes, suffixes, and Greek, Latin, or Anglo-Saxon roots to figure out what harder words mean, like bio and logy in biology.
Official wording
Students will use word parts (e.g., affixes, Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin roots, stems) to define and determine the meaning of increasingly complex words.
9.4.R.4
Look up words in a dictionary, glossary, or thesaurus to check meaning, syllables, pronunciation, synonyms, part of speech, and word origin.
Official wording
Students will use resources (e.g., dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, etc.) to determine or clarify the meanings, syllabication, pronunciation, synonyms, parts of speech, and etymology of words or phrases.

Vocabulary: Writing

2 standards
Students will apply knowledge of vocabulary to speak and write effectively.
9.4.W.1
Choose exact, grade-level words in writing to express complex ideas clearly, like scrutinize in place of look at.
Official wording
Students will use precise, grade-level vocabulary in writing to clearly communicate complex ideas.
9.4.W.2
Pick words for the effect they create in writing based on purpose and readers, like vivid verbs in a story or neutral terms in a report.
Official wording
Students will select language to create a specific effect in writing according to purpose and audience.

Language: Reading

2 standards
Students will expand and apply knowledge of grammar, usage, mechanics, and style to comprehend, analyze, and/or evaluate a variety of texts.
9.5.R.1
Notice parallel structure and active versus passive voice in texts and examine how each shapes meaning, like a balanced list in a speech.
Official wording
Students will recognize and examine the effect of parallel structure and active and passive voice to convey specific meanings.
9.5.R.2
Spot noun, verb, adjective, and adverb phrases and explain what each does in a given sentence, like a phrase that tells when.
Official wording
Students will recognize noun, verb, adjectival, and adverbial phrases and explain their effect in particular sentences.

Language: Writing

11 standards
Students will expand and apply knowledge of grammar, usage, mechanics, and style to speak and write effectively, demonstrating standard usage when appropriate.
9.5.W.1
Write or revise with active or passive voice and parallel words and phrases on purpose, like rewriting a passive sentence so the doer comes first.
Official wording
Students will use or revise for active/passive voice and parallel structure in words and phrases for effect.
9.5.W.2
Use parts of speech and different phrases and clauses to make writing and speeches clearer, more varied, and more stylish, like opening with a prepositional phrase.
Official wording
Students will add clarity, variety, and/or style to their writing and presentations with parts of speech and various types of phrases and clauses.
9.5.W.3
Find and fix misplaced and dangling modifiers, like a sentence that makes it sound as if the rain was walking to school.
Official wording
Students will recognize and correct misplaced and dangling modifiers.
9.5.W.4
Capitalize correctly in writing, like proper nouns, titles of works, and the first word of a quoted sentence.
Official wording
Students will write using correct capitalization mechanics.
9.5.W.5
End sentences with the right punctuation, choosing among periods, question marks, and exclamation points.
Official wording
Students will write using correct end mark mechanics.
9.5.W.6
Use apostrophes correctly in writing, like for possessives such as the students' lockers and contractions such as won't.
Official wording
Students will write using correct apostrophe mechanics.
9.5.W.7
Set off simple interrupting words or phrases with commas, like however or by the way in the middle of a sentence.
Official wording
Students will use commas to set off simple parenthetical elements.
9.5.W.8
Use a colon to introduce a reveal at the end of a sentence, like naming the one thing a character wanted most.
Official wording
Students will use a colon to reveal information (e.g., The prince searched the castle high and low for his most prized possession: his guitar.).
9.5.W.9
Mark words left out of a quotation with an ellipsis and words added for clarity with brackets.
Official wording
Students will use an ellipsis to indicate omission from quoted material and brackets to indicate an addition or clarification to quoted material.
9.5.W.10
Use italics correctly, like for titles of books, films, and magazines or for words being discussed as words.
Official wording
Students will write using correct italics mechanics.
9.5.W.11
Use semicolons correctly, like joining two closely related complete sentences without a conjunction.
Official wording
Students will write using correct semicolon mechanics.

Research: Reading

3 standards
Students will gather, comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize researched information to acquire and refine knowledge.
9.6.R.1
Find and understand information on a topic by working from research questions you wrote yourself, like how social media affects sleep.
Official wording
Students will find and comprehend information about a topic, using their own viable research questions.
9.6.R.2
Pull together relevant information from primary and secondary sources, like interviews and articles, and credit them properly and legally.
Official wording
Students will synthesize relevant information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, following ethical and legal citation guidelines.
9.6.R.3
Judge whether gathered information is relevant, reliable, and valid, like checking who wrote a website and whether its facts hold up.
Official wording
Students will evaluate the relevance, reliability, and validity of the information gathered.

Research: Writing

4 standards
Students will synthesize information ethically through speaking and writing.
9.6.W.1
Write a research question that can actually be answered and sharpen it as you learn more, like narrowing climate change to local flooding.
Official wording
Students will formulate and refine a viable research question.
9.6.W.2
Write a thesis that is clear, brief, and can be backed with evidence, like a one-sentence claim to open a research paper.
Official wording
Students will develop a clear, concise, defensible thesis statement.
9.6.W.3
Work quotes, paraphrases, and summaries into research writing and cite them in one style such as MLA or APA so nothing is plagiarized.
Official wording
Students will integrate quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from research, following a consistent citation style (e.g., MLA, APA) to avoid plagiarism.
9.6.W.4
Share research in long forms like a multi-week project and short forms like a one-day report or class talk, for different audiences.
Official wording
Students will present research in longer formats (e.g., sustained research projects, process essays) and shorter, informal formats (e.g., single-day research projects, informal discussion) to a variety of audiences.

Multimodal Literacies: Reading

1 standard
Students will comprehend and evaluate multimodal content.
9.7.R
Analyze and judge how techniques in videos, websites, ads, and other mixed media build meaning, like music and camera angles in a short film.
Official wording
Students will analyze and evaluate the techniques used in a variety of multimodal content and how they contribute to meaning.

Multimodal Literacies: Writing

1 standard
Students will create multimodal content to communicate effectively.
9.7.W
Create engaging content that mixes text, images, audio, or video with a clear audience and goal in mind, like a slideshow or podcast.
Official wording
Students will create engaging multimodal content that intentionally addresses an audience and accomplishes a purpose.

Independent Reading and Writing: Reading

1 standard
Students will read self-selected texts independently, choosing genres to suit and expand their personal preferences and purposes.
9.8.R
Choose texts for a particular purpose and read on your own for long stretches, like a novel picked for pleasure or research.
Official wording
Students will select texts for specific purposes and read independently for extended periods of time.

Independent Reading and Writing: Writing

1 standard
Students will write independently, intentionally selecting modes, purposes, and audiences.
9.8.W
Write on your own by hand or keyboard for short and long sessions, choosing and mixing modes and genres to fit readers and purpose, like a journal or blog.
Official wording
Students will write independently using print, cursive, and/or typing for various lengths of time, intentionally selecting and combining modes and genres to suit their audiences and purposes.

The official Oklahoma documents

Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts, Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.