What does a student learn in StateTexas,GradeGrade 10,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Before reading, students decide why they are reading a piece, whether to find information, follow an argument, or enjoy a story. That simple decision shapes what they notice and remember.

Before, during, and after reading, students ask their own questions about the text to push their thinking further and find answers the author doesn't hand them.

Students read ahead or look back in a text to check whether their predictions held up, using the story's structure or a nonfiction piece's organization as their guide.

Reading a text, students link what it says to their own life, to ideas from other books or subjects, and to what they see in the world around them.

Reading between the lines, not just the words on the page. Students use details from the text to figure out what the author implies and back up their thinking with specific passages or examples.

Students restate what a passage says in their own words, keeping the main ideas in the right order without changing the author's meaning.

Students pull ideas from several texts or sources together and form a conclusion or insight that none of those sources stated on its own.

When a passage stops making sense, students know how to slow down and fix it. They reread tricky sections, connect the text to what they already know, and jot notes in the margins until the meaning clicks.

Students explain how a book, article, or other text connects to something in their own life. They choose some of those texts themselves.

Students read two or more texts and write a response that explains what the texts share and where they differ. The writing shows real understanding of what each source actually says.

Students find specific lines or passages from the text to back up what they say about it. The evidence has to fit the point, not just appear nearby.

Students restate what a text says in their own words without losing the original meaning. They might shorten a passage or paraphrase a section, but the core idea stays intact.

Students mark up a text, jot notes in the margins, or write freely to think through what they're reading. The goal is to stay active with a source, not just read past it.

Students identify and examine the building blocks of literature, such as plot, character, and theme, across different kinds of texts. They explain how those elements work together to shape the meaning of a story, poem, or play.

Students look at how a text is built and ask why it's built that way. A poem, a speech, and a news article each follow different rules, and those rules change what the text means and how it lands on a reader.

Reading nonfiction articles, persuasive essays, and literary works, students identify what makes each type of text distinct, from how an argument is built to how a story is structured.

Authors make deliberate choices about what to include, how to organize ideas, and what words to use. Students analyze those choices and explain how they shape what a reader understands or feels.

Students look at how an author uses tools like headings, bold text, charts, or photos to make a point land. The question is always the same: why did the author put that here, and what does it do for the reader?

Students look at specific words an author chose and ask why. They consider what a word suggests beyond its dictionary meaning, and how images or comparisons shape the feeling of a passage.

Literary devices are tools like metaphor, irony, or imagery that authors use on purpose. Students examine how those choices pull readers in, create tension, or shift the meaning of a scene.

Students draft, revise, and edit multiple pieces of writing, moving back and forth between steps as needed until each piece is clear and follows standard writing conventions.

Students choose a writing form (personal essay, argument, story, and so on) that fits the topic and the reason for writing. The choice shapes everything that comes after.

Students take an early draft and shape it into a finished piece with a clear focus, a logical order, and sentences that hold together from start to finish.

Students revisit their writing drafts and make real changes: sharpening sentences, adding detail where ideas are thin, reordering paragraphs, and swapping weak word choices for more precise ones.

Students review their writing and fix grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling before turning it in. This is the editing stage, after the ideas are in place.

Students take a finished piece of writing and share it with a real audience, choosing a format and presentation that fits the purpose of the work.

Students write personal narratives and poems that use the real moves of each form: structure, voice, and the specific details that make a piece feel finished rather than just filled out.

Students write nonfiction pieces (reports, articles, explanations) using the specific structure and techniques that make that type of writing clear and credible. The focus is on organizing facts well and choosing words that fit the format.

Students write essays or speeches that take a clear position on an issue and back it up with evidence. They learn to structure an argument so a reader finds it convincing, not just forceful.

Students write letters, emails, or other messages with a clear purpose and the right tone for whoever is reading. The format and language shift depending on whether the audience is a friend, a teacher, or a future employer.

Students come up with their own questions about a topic, then sharpen those questions into something worth researching. This applies to quick, informal investigations and to longer, formal research projects.

Students make a plan for researching a topic, then find sources that actually relate to what they're trying to answer. In grades 9-10, a teacher helps guide that process.

Students find sources that actually answer their research question, pulling from more than one type, such as articles, books, or data. The goal is relevance: not just any source, but the right one for the topic.

Students sort sources into two groups: firsthand accounts (a diary, a speech, a photograph) and secondhand summaries written about those accounts. Then they judge how trustworthy each source is before using it as evidence.

Students pull together information from multiple sources into one clear explanation or argument, then credit each source so readers know where the ideas came from.