South Dakota ELA 9-10.L.3

ELAGrades 9–10Language

The Standard

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g., MLA Handbook, APA Handbook) appropriate for the discipline and writing type.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students read or listen for how word choice and sentence structure affect meaning and tone. They revise writing for a specific audience and use an assigned style guide to format their work and cite sources.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can point to a word choice that changes a passage’s tone and explain its effect. They can edit a draft so its wording fits the reader and its citations match the assigned guide.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think formal writing means replacing every short word with a longer one. They may mix MLA and APA citation rules or think a Works Cited page replaces in-text citations.
How to Assess It: On an exit ticket, ask students to revise “This poem is super sad (Lee, p. 4)” for a literary analysis using MLA, then explain one change.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a printed paragraph with slang and a faulty MLA citation; have them mark revisions using a one-page MLA guide.
Read two versions of a school announcement, one casual and one formal; ask which fits a principal’s email and which words change its tone.
Run a citation repair race with four source cards; students fix MLA in-text citations and match them to Works Cited entries.
Have students edit a job inquiry email to replace slang with polite, direct wording, then explain two changes to a partner.

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