CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1d
The Standard
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
What This Standard Means
Students need to write arguments that sound formal, fair, and suited to the subject. They should avoid slang, personal attacks, exaggerated claims, and chatty phrasing. They also need to follow the writing habits of the field, such as using evidence, precise terms, and citations when needed.
Mastery looks like a steady, academic voice from start to finish. Students can disagree without sounding emotional or biased. They often get stuck by using “I think,” loaded words, vague claims, or casual phrases that weaken credibility.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students a casual paragraph and have them revise it into a formal, objective argument using a checklist of banned phrases.
- Ask students to explain how a historian, scientist, and journalist would write about the same controversial event differently.
- Collect one claim and one evidence sentence, then mark whether the tone is formal, objective, and discipline-appropriate.
- Bring in a school board policy excerpt and have students write a formal argument supporting or challenging one part.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2e
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2e
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1d
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1d
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
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