CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1
The Standard
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6—12
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read science and technical passages closely, then make claims or reasonable inferences about the ideas, processes, or results. They use exact details and explain how those details support their thinking.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students make a clear claim or inference about a science or technical passage. They select the strongest relevant detail and explain the link between that detail and their reasoning.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may copy a sentence without explaining how it supports their analysis. They may choose a related fact but overlook precise words, measurements, conditions, or steps that directly prove the point.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short lab procedure and ask: “What caused the result? Use one exact detail from the procedure and explain how it supports your answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed experiment description, highlighters, and claim cards, then have them mark the strongest supporting detail for each claim.
Ask students to write: “Which detail best explains the process, and why is it stronger than another detail?”
Play Evidence Match by having teams pair analysis cards with supporting quotations, then defend each match in one sentence.
Compare two appliance instruction sheets and identify which specific warning details best explain how to avoid damage or injury.
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Printable RST.9-10.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Science & Technical Subjects progression map.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
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