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9th-10th-Grade ELA Assignment

This assignment is weakly aligned to the standards.

Overview

Ninth-grade students work in small groups to create a poster about what makes an effective leader. The poster includes a picture and some descriptive words for a leader, which groups of students present to the class. There is no associated text, so students create this poster based on their personal experiences and opinions rather than grounding their work in information learned from reading.

Related Standards

We looked at how well the assignment aligned to the following standards:

W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned to this standard?

Students are asked to make a claim of sorts in depicting “what makes a leader.” But there is no expectation of writing an argument, drawing on texts, or including relevant supporting evidence for the claim.

SL.9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned to this standard?

Students work with peers but given the absence of grade-level content from the task, they have no opportunity to meet this standard.

SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned to this standard?

Students present their work, but they have no opportunity to share meaningful learning on 9th grade-level topics or texts.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned?

Students don’t need to read anything. They use their personal ideas and experiences to create a poster on the broad topic of “what makes a leader.”

Students don’t need to write to complete the assignment. Students draw a picture of a leader and write down words that describe a leader, but they don’t engage in the more substantive, analytical writing required by ninth-grade standards.

It doesn’t build students’ knowledge and doesn’t let them practice ninth-grade reading or writing skills. There’s no connection between the assignment and the grade-level standards.

Additional ELA Resources

Common Core ELA Standards
Read the standards and find out what they require of students.
Instructional Shifts in Literacy
Understand the key instructional shifts the ELA standards call for.
Student Work Review Tool – ELA
Use this tool to understand if an assignment is worthwhile for students.