South Dakota ELA 9-10.RI.1

ELAGrades 9–10Reading Informational Text

The Standard

Cite strong, relevant and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferentially.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify what an informational text states directly and what it suggests. They choose specific lines to support their claims and explain how those lines help.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can tell a stated fact from a reasonable inference. They select enough relevant evidence to support the whole claim and explain why each detail matters.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat a plausible guess as an inference even when the text does not support it. They may copy a long paragraph, choose a striking but unrelated line, or use one detail to support a claim with several parts.
How to Assess It: Give students a one-page article about later school start times. Ask: “Why do supporters want the change? Cite two details and explain how each supports your answer.”

Lesson moves

Give pairs a printed article on later school start times; have them highlight stated facts in yellow and underline evidence for one inference in blue.
Ask pairs: “What does the article suggest matters most to supporters, and which two details point to that?”
Give groups three excerpt cards from the article; have them rank which best supports a claim about sleep, then defend their choice.
Read a school board meeting summary about bell times, then write a comment citing two details that suggest what the board values.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 9-10.RI.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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