South Dakota ELA 9-10.RST.2.a
The Standard
- 9-10.RST.2
- Determine the central ideas of a text.
Analyze the text’s development of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students track how a science or technical text builds an explanation, from an initial cause through later steps and added conditions. They point to sentences that connect or refine the ideas.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an article on algal blooms, a student can trace how the writer connects fertilizer runoff to fish deaths through algae growth and oxygen loss. They can show where the writer adds warm water as another factor and explain what that detail adds.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may retell what happens in the pond without explaining how the writer builds the account. They may treat warm water as a step caused by fertilizer or skip the bacteria that link dead algae to low oxygen.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Read, "Rain carries fertilizer into a pond. Extra nutrients feed algae, and warm water speeds their growth. When the algae die, bacteria break them down and use up oxygen. Fish then struggle to breathe." Underline the detail that adds a second cause, then explain how the writer connects runoff to fish struggling to breathe.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut a short algal bloom article into paragraph strips; have pairs restore the writer's order and label what each paragraph adds.
After reading a pond article, ask: "Why does the writer mention warm water after fertilizer runoff? What would change if that detail came first?"
Race to match "cause," "added condition," and "result" cards to sentences in an algal bloom article; explain each choice.
Show a photo of a fish kill; students annotate a pond article to trace how the writer connects runoff to the fish deaths.
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Printable 9-10.RST.2.a Worksheet
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