Maryland ELA RI.2.9
The Standard
Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read two short nonfiction pieces about one subject. They tell what each piece mainly teaches, then use facts from both to explain what matches and what differs.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain that both bee passages show bees visiting flowers, while one focuses on moving pollen and the other on making honey. They point to a detail in each passage that supports the comparison.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat a small fact, such as a bee's color, as the main point. They may say the passages are the same just because both mention bees, or list facts without saying which passage they came from.
How to Assess It
- Read two cards: A, 'Bees visit flowers for nectar. Pollen sticks to their legs and moves to other flowers.' B, 'Bees visit flowers for nectar. At the hive, bees turn nectar into honey.' Ask students to write what both cards say about flowers, what each card mainly explains, and one supporting detail from each.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs two printed bee passages and sticky notes; have them mark shared points in one color and points unique to each passage in another.
Ask, 'What do both bee passages teach about flowers, and which detail in each passage tells you something different?'
Play Fact Match: give groups main-point cards and detail cards from two bee passages, then have them pair each point with its proof.
Compare two sunflower seed packets; have students find a shared planting tip and a different instruction on each packet.
Free download
Printable RI.2.9 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RI.2.9, 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 worksheetTurn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson