South Dakota ELA 9-10.SL.4.a

ELAGrades 9–10Speaking & Listening

The Standard

9-10.SL.4: Present content appropriate to the audience, task, and purpose while respecting intellectual property.

Demonstrate organization, development, substance, and style.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Plan and deliver a short presentation with a clear opening, ordered points, and a closing. Support each point with a relevant fact or example. Choose words that fit the audience.
What Mastery Looks Like: A listener can name the speaker’s main point and follow the reasons. The speaker explains how each example supports the point and uses a tone that fits the audience.
Common Misconceptions: Students may list facts without explaining what those facts prove. They may mistake a long presentation for a well-supported one, or think formal language means using big words.
How to Assess It: Ask students to give a 60-second pitch for one change to the school day. Listen for a clear claim, two reasons, a specific example, and wording suited to the principal.

Lesson moves

Give pairs mixed-up sentence strips from a sample speech and have them arrange an opening, two supported points, and a closing.
Put “School starts too early” and “I propose an 8:30 start” on the board, then ask which opening fits a school board.
Play Evidence Swap: teams replace vague claims on cards, such as “Lunch is bad,” with a specific example and an explanation.
Record a 90-second mock voicemail to the principal asking for a longer lunch period, with two supported reasons and a respectful closing.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 9-10.SL.4.a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Keep exploring

Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.