What does a student learn in StateMaryland,GradeGrade 9,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Students back up their claims about a story or poem by quoting or paraphrasing specific lines from the text. They also read between the lines to draw conclusions the author implies but never states outright.

Students identify the main idea or theme of a story or poem and trace how it builds across the text. They also summarize the key details that support it.

Students trace how characters, events, and ideas shift and connect as a story unfolds. They explain why those changes happen, not just that they happened.

Students figure out what words really mean in context, including slang, loaded language, and comparisons. Then they look at how an author's specific word choices make a passage feel tense, hopeful, ironic, or something else entirely.

Students look at how a story or argument is built, noticing how one paragraph sets up the next and how individual sentences shape the meaning of the whole piece.

Students figure out how the narrator's perspective or the author's goal shapes what the story includes and how it's told. A story narrated by a villain reads differently than one narrated by the hero.

Students compare how a story or idea comes across in different formats, like a film, a podcast, or a graph, and decide what each version adds or leaves out.

Students read a nonfiction or persuasive text and decide whether the argument holds up. They check if the reasoning makes sense and if the evidence actually supports the claim being made.

Students read two or more texts on the same theme and compare how each author handles it. The focus is on what's similar, what's different, and what each author's choices reveal.

Students read full-length novels, plays, and poems on their own, without heavy support. The focus is on tackling harder texts and actually understanding them.

Students read an article or other nonfiction piece carefully, then back up every conclusion with a direct quote or specific detail from the text. General impressions don't count; the words on the page do.

Students find the main point of a nonfiction piece and trace how it builds across paragraphs. Then they sum up the key details that back it up, in their own words.

Students read a nonfiction text and explain how a person, event, or idea changes and connects to others as the text unfolds. The focus is on the why, not just the what.

Students figure out what words mean in context, including when an author uses technical terms, loaded language, or figures of speech. Then students explain how those word choices shift the tone or meaning of the whole piece.

Students look at how a paragraph connects to the section around it, and how sections build toward the article's main point. The goal is to see how each piece shapes the whole.

Students figure out who wrote a piece, why they wrote it, and how that motive changes what gets included and how the writing sounds. A news article and an opinion column on the same topic can tell very different stories.

Students read the same information across different formats, such as a chart, a video, and a written article, then judge whether each version tells the story accurately and completely.

Students read an article or speech and judge whether the argument holds up. They ask if the reasoning makes sense and if the evidence actually supports the claim being made.

Students read two or more nonfiction pieces on the same topic and compare how each author frames the subject, what each one includes or leaves out, and what that reveals about their purpose or point of view.

Students read full-length articles, essays, and nonfiction books on their own, without stopping to look things up or ask for help. The texts are demanding, and students are expected to work through them.

Students write a formal argument that takes a clear position on a real topic or text, then back it up with solid reasoning and evidence from credible sources.

Students write essays or reports that explain a complex topic clearly, using well-organized evidence and accurate details. The goal is a reader who finishes the piece actually understanding something they didn't before.

Students write a story, real or imagined, where the events unfold in a clear order and the details make the scene feel lived-in. The techniques they choose, pacing, dialogue, description, serve the story rather than decorate it.

Writing fits the assignment. Students shape what they say, how they organize it, and how formal they sound based on who will read it and why.

Students plan, draft, revise, and edit their writing until it says what they mean. That might mean fixing a few sentences or scrapping a paragraph and starting over.

Students use word processors, websites, and online tools to write, publish, and share work with an audience or collaborate with classmates on a piece of writing.

Students pick a focused question and research it thoroughly, reading multiple sources to build real understanding of the topic. Short projects may take a few days; longer ones stretch over weeks.

Students pull information from several sources, print and online, then check whether each source is trustworthy and accurate. They weave that information into their writing in their own words, giving credit to the original authors.

Students pull direct quotes and specific details from what they read to back up their own writing. This applies to both stories and nonfiction sources.

Students write often, in short bursts and over longer projects, for different reasons and readers. The goal is to make writing feel like a normal part of the school day, not a special occasion.

Students come to discussions having read or thought through the material beforehand, then build on what classmates say rather than just waiting for their turn to talk.

Students pull together information from sources like news videos, charts, and speeches, then judge whether that information is reliable and how the pieces fit together.

Students listen to a speech or presentation and decide whether the speaker's argument holds up. They look at the reasons given, the evidence behind those reasons, and the persuasive language used to make the case.

Students organize a speech or presentation so listeners can follow the argument from start to finish, matching the level of detail and tone to who's in the room and why.

Students add charts, images, or video to a presentation to make their point clearer, choosing each visual because it does real work, not just for decoration.

Students shift how they speak depending on the situation, using formal English for a presentation or class discussion and a more casual tone when the context calls for it.

Students write and speak with correct grammar: complete sentences, proper verb tenses, and pronouns that match their nouns. This standard covers the mechanics that make writing clear and speech easy to follow.

Students write with correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. This standard covers the mechanical rules that make writing clear and readable at the high school level.

Students choose words and sentence structures on purpose, matching how formal or casual the writing needs to be. Reading with this awareness helps them see why an author's phrasing hits harder than another version would.

When students hit an unfamiliar word, they figure out its meaning by reading the surrounding sentences, breaking the word into roots and prefixes, or looking it up in a dictionary or glossary.

Students interpret figures of speech like metaphors, analogies, and irony, then explain how word choice shapes meaning. They also notice subtle differences between words that seem similar, like "angry" versus "furious."

Students learn and correctly use the kind of vocabulary that shows up in textbooks, workplace documents, and college coursework. The goal is words they can read, write, and speak with confidence across subjects.