CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5

ELAGrades 9–10Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

The Standard

Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Speaking and Listening Standards

What This Standard Means

Students need to choose digital media that helps an audience understand their point, not just decorate slides. They should match the media to the claim, evidence, and reasoning, such as a chart for data, an image for context, or audio for tone.

Mastery looks like a clear presentation where each media choice has a job and the speaker explains it smoothly. Students often get stuck using too much text, flashy effects, random images, or videos that replace their own thinking instead of supporting it.

Ways to Teach It

Have students revise a cluttered slide deck by cutting text, adding one useful visual, and writing a speaker note explaining its purpose.
Ask students to explain which media choice best supports their strongest piece of evidence and why it helps the audience understand.
Give students three slides and ask them to label each media element as helpful, distracting, or missing a clear purpose.
Show a news explainer video and have students identify how maps, captions, photos, or graphs make the information easier to follow.

Before This Standard

If students are struggling here, check these first.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5
Students move from integrating visuals to strategic digital media choices that clarify and enhance findings, reasoning, and evidence in presentations.

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What This Unlocks

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
The same presentation skill carries over: choosing digital media to clarify evidence and reasoning while engaging an audience.