South Dakota ELA 9-10.L.2.d

ELAGrades 9–10Language

The Standard

9-10.L.2: Demonstrate command of standard English mechanics and conventions; consult references as needed.

Use standard English spelling and capitalization.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students check their drafts for misspelled words and missing capitals. They use a dictionary for uncertain spellings and read each sentence to catch errors spell-check misses.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can change 'last monday, ava visited rapid city' to 'Last Monday, Ava visited Rapid City.' They can choose 'their' rather than 'there' when writing about something people own.
Common Misconceptions: Students may leave days and place names lowercase, or capitalize common nouns like 'school.' They may trust spell-check to catch a correctly spelled wrong word, such as 'there' for 'their.'
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Correct 'on monday, ava visited rapid city. they put there bags in the car' and circle each change.

Lesson moves

Give pairs word cards for 'Monday,' 'Rapid City,' and 'school'; have them sort names and common nouns, then write a sentence.
Ask students why 'their' fits 'They packed their coats' but 'there' does not, then have them write another example.
Run a two-minute editing race with five sentences containing lowercase names and spelling errors; partners compare fixes against a key.
Give students a sample email to a coach about Monday's game; have them fix names, days, and misspelled words before sending.

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