South Dakota ELA 7.SL.6
The Standard
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audiences, and tasks, using self-reflection and feedback to and from others and demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grade 7 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students change their word choice and tone to fit who is listening and why they are speaking. They use feedback and their own reflection to improve, and use formal English when the situation calls for it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain the same idea to a friend and to a principal without sounding the same in both. After a classmate points out an unclear phrase, the student revises it and explains why the change helps.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think formal English is required every time they speak, or that speaking to a friend means clarity does not matter. They may accept feedback without changing anything, or give feedback as a vague comment like “Good job.”
How to Assess It
- Ask students to give a 20-second request for a new lunch option to a friend, then to the principal. Have a partner name one useful change, then ask each speaker to revise one sentence and say why.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs friend and principal audience cards, then have them deliver the same 30-second lunch proposal twice with different wording.
Ask students to write which words they would change when explaining an absence to a friend versus a teacher, and why.
Play audience switch: draw an audience card, speak for 20 seconds, hear one specific suggestion, and try again.
Have students rehearse a request to a coach about missing practice, then explain the same situation to a teammate.
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Printable 7.SL.6 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 7.W.5.c
Use guidance and support from peers, adults, and digital tools. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and includin...
- 8.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audiences, and tasks, using self-reflection and feedback to and from others and demonstrating command of formal English w...
- 6.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audience, and tasks, using feedback from self and others and demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or ap...
- 5.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audience, and tasks, using feedback from self and others and demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or ap...
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