Pennsylvania Standards
Pennsylvania Grades 9–10 ELA Standards
All 54 Pennsylvania English language arts standards for grades 9–10, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Pennsylvania Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
54 standards
Reading Informational Text
12 standardsCC.1.2.9-10.A
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.
CC.1.2.9-10.B
Back an analysis of nonfiction with strong, thorough evidence for what it says directly and for inferences drawn from the author's stated assumptions and beliefs.
CC.1.2.9-10.C
Use fitting strategies to analyze, interpret and judge how an author develops a chain of ideas or events, including the order of the points and the links between them.
CC.1.2.9-10.D
Pin down an author's specific point of view and analyze how persuasive techniques, like repetition or appeals to emotion, push that view forward.
CC.1.2.9-10.E
Analyze closely how specific sentences, paragraphs or whole sections of a nonfiction text build and sharpen an author's ideas or claims.
CC.1.2.9-10.F
Analyze how an author's word choices in nonfiction shape its meaning and tone, like how calling a policy reckless instead of bold changes a speech.
CC.1.2.9-10.G
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.
CC.1.2.9-10.H
Trace an argument and its specific claims through a text, then judge whether the reasoning holds up and the evidence truly fits.
CC.1.2.9-10.I
Analyze landmark U.S. documents of historical and literary importance, like the Gettysburg Address, including how they handle related themes and ideas.
CC.1.2.9-10.J
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.
CC.1.2.9-10.K
Work out new or multiple-meaning words in grades 9-10 nonfiction with a fitting strategy, like context, word families such as analyze and analysis, or a dictionary.
CC.1.2.9-10.L
Read and understand nonfiction at the grades 9-10 level, like speeches, essays and historical documents, on your own and with skill.
Reading Literature
11 standardsCC.1.3.9-10.A
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.
CC.1.3.9-10.B
Back a reading of a novel, play or poem with strong, thorough evidence for what it says outright and for inferences drawn from the author's stated beliefs.
CC.1.3.9-10.C
Analyze how complicated characters change across a story, how they deal with other characters, and how they drive the plot or build the theme.
CC.1.3.9-10.D
Identify who is telling a story and from what angle, and analyze how that point of view affects what the work means.
CC.1.3.9-10.E
Analyze how an author's choices about structure, the order of events and the handling of time, like flashbacks, create effects such as suspense or surprise.
CC.1.3.9-10.F
Analyze how the words and phrases in a story, play or poem shape its meaning and tone, like how dark imagery makes a poem feel ominous.
CC.1.3.9-10.G
Analyze how a subject or key scene is portrayed in two art forms, like a poem and a painting, noting what each one stresses or leaves out.
CC.1.3.9-10.H
Analyze how an author borrows and reshapes themes, topics or character types from a source, like how Shakespeare reworks a myth from Ovid.
CC.1.3.9-10.I
Pin down unfamiliar or multiple-meaning words in a grades 9-10 novel, play or poem with the best tool for each, from context and word parts to a dictionary.
CC.1.3.9-10.J
Learn and use grade-level academic and subject words, and look up any word that matters to understanding or expressing an idea.
CC.1.3.9-10.K
Read fiction at the grades 9-10 level, like classic and modern novels and short stories, on your own and with strong understanding.
Writing
24 standardsCC.1.4.9-10.A
Write explanatory essays that examine complex ideas and present information clearly and accurately, like an analysis of how a law changed over time.
CC.1.4.9-10.B
Keep an explanatory essay tightly focused, making clear what the topic is, what the writing must do and who it is for.
CC.1.4.9-10.C
Develop a topic with enough well-chosen facts, extended definitions, details, quotations and examples for what readers already know, adding visuals or media when helpful.
CC.1.4.9-10.D
Organize an essay so key connections and differences between ideas stand out, link its main sections with varied transitions, use formatting where helpful, and conclude.
CC.1.4.9-10.E
Handle a complex topic with precise words and subject terms, keeping a formal style and neutral tone that fits the field, like the conventions of a lab report.
CC.1.4.9-10.F
Use correct grades 9-10 grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling in essays, like a semicolon joining two closely related sentences.
CC.1.4.9-10.G
Write arguments that analyze serious, meaningful topics and defend a claim about them, like whether social media helps or harms democracy.
CC.1.4.9-10.H
Keep an argument sharply focused on its topic, purpose and readers, and open by stating a precise claim.
CC.1.4.9-10.I
Separate your claim from opposing ones, develop each fairly with evidence, and weigh the strengths and limits of both with readers' knowledge and concerns in mind.
CC.1.4.9-10.J
Arrange claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence so their links are clear, tie sections together with transitions, and end with a conclusion that backs the case.
CC.1.4.9-10.K
Argue in a formal style with an objective tone suited to the subject, using exact words and field terms to handle a complex issue, like economic terms in a policy debate.
CC.1.4.9-10.L
Edit arguments to grades 9-10 standards for grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling, like using a colon to introduce a list or a quotation.
CC.1.4.9-10.M
Write narratives, real or imagined, that develop experiences or events with depth, like a short story about a difficult choice.
CC.1.4.9-10.N
Open a story by presenting a problem, situation or observation, setting up one or more points of view, and introducing the narrator or characters.
CC.1.4.9-10.O
Develop a story with dialogue, description, reflection, more than one plotline and pacing, plus telling details and sensory words that paint a vivid picture.
CC.1.4.9-10.P
Sequence a story's events so each builds on the last and the whole hangs together, then end with a conclusion that reflects on what was experienced or resolved.
CC.1.4.9-10.Q
Polish a story's style with parallel structure and a range of phrases and clauses that sharpen meaning and keep the writing lively.
CC.1.4.9-10.R
Proofread stories to grades 9-10 standards for grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling, like setting off an interrupting phrase with commas.
CC.1.4.9-10.S
Use evidence from literature and nonfiction to support written analysis, reflection and research with grades 9-10 reading skills, like quoting a novel in an essay.
CC.1.4.9-10.T
Plan, revise, edit and rewrite a history essay or lab report, or start over with a new approach, fixing first what matters most for its purpose and readers.
CC.1.4.9-10.U
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.
CC.1.4.9-10.V
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.
CC.1.4.9-10.W
Use advanced searches to find authoritative print and online sources, judge how useful each is to your question, and weave them in selectively with MLA or APA citations.
CC.1.4.9-10.X
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening
7 standardsCC.1.5.9-10.A
Start and take part in discussions on grades 9-10 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and stating your own clearly and convincingly.
CC.1.5.9-10.B
Judge a speaker's viewpoint, logic, evidence and persuasive techniques, and catch any faulty reasoning or evidence that is exaggerated or twisted.
CC.1.5.9-10.C
Pull together information from a chart, a podcast and an article on one topic, and judge how credible and accurate each source is.
CC.1.5.9-10.D
Present findings and evidence clearly, briefly and logically so listeners can follow the reasoning, fitting the talk to its purpose, audience and task.
CC.1.5.9-10.E
Adjust your speech to the occasion and task, like a measured, formal tone in a mock trial and a conversational one in a peer review.
CC.1.5.9-10.F
Choose digital media for a presentation with purpose, like a short video clip or interactive chart, so it holds interest and makes findings and reasoning clearer.
CC.1.5.9-10.G
Use correct grades 9-10 grammar when speaking in formal settings, like keeping a list of points in parallel form during a speech.
The official Pennsylvania documents
- Pennsylvania Core Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics · adopted February 2014 · since March 2014
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Pennsylvania's standards, not the official wording, which Pennsylvania Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.