Georgia 9.T.SS.2.c
The Standard
Use formal or informal style, as appropriate to audience, purpose, and context. (C)
Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Texts (T) · Structure & Style
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose language and tone based on who will read a text, why it is written, and where it will appear. They adjust word choice, sentence structure, greetings, contractions, slang, and level of detail.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can write the same message differently for a principal, classmate, employer, or social media audience. They can explain how specific words, greetings, contractions, and sentence patterns fit each situation.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think formal writing requires long words and stiff sentences. They may also confuse informal writing with careless grammar, slang in every sentence, or texting abbreviations in any digital message.
How to Assess It
- Give students a request for a deadline extension. Have them write one version to a teacher and one to a close friend, then underline three choices that changed.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Sort printed emails, texts, announcements, and letters by likely audience, then highlight words that reveal each writer’s relationship with the reader.
Write two versions of a school event announcement, one for students and one for families, then explain three style changes.
Play Audience Switch by drawing random audience and purpose cards, then revising one sentence to match the combination.
Compare a company’s social media post with its customer policy page, and list how vocabulary, tone, and sentence structure change.
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Related Standards
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Use formal or informal style characteristics as indicated by a text’s purpose, audience, and disciplinary context. (C)
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Compare and contrast characteristics of formal style (e.g., jargon, complete sentences) with those of informal style (e.g., contractions, slang, sentence fragme...
- 7.T.SS.2.c
Determine situational use for formal or informal style and apply that determination to choices when writing or speaking. (C)
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