CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9a
The Standard
Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]").
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students write about literature using accurate details from the text. They compare characters, settings, or events and explain how quoted or paraphrased evidence supports their ideas.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can make a clear claim about a character, setting, or event. They choose accurate quotations or paraphrased details and explain how each supports the claim. When comparing, they address both subjects and use clear linking words.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often retell the plot instead of making a claim about characters, settings, or events. They may list similarities and differences without supporting them with text details. Some copy a quotation but do not explain how it proves the point.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: “Compare how two characters respond to the same problem. State one similarity, one difference, and support each with a text detail.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed evidence strips from a story; students sort them into a Venn diagram, then write one supported comparison.
Ask, “How do two characters react differently to the same event?” Students discuss, then write a claim with two details.
Play Evidence Match: teams pair claim cards with text-detail cards and explain why each detail supports the claim.
Compare two story settings with maps or photographs, then explain how each place shapes what the characters do.
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Printable W.5.9a Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9a, 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
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.9a
Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, t...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.9a
Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the ...
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