9th grade English Language Arts
14 units matched to the New York State Learning Standards. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Focus areas
- Reading: inference, theme, literary elements and the author's craft
- Writing: research, conflicting sources and citing
- Speaking and listening: analyzing media messages and their appeals
- Language: grammar and style, word parts and editing
Units
Unit 1
Close Reading
Reading original short passages and answering questions about theme, tone, word choice, structure and the author's purpose, using evidence from the text.
Learning standard: 9-10R1; 9-10R2; 9-10R3 · inference, theme and the author's craft
Unit 2
Literary Elements
Recognizing devices such as irony, symbolism, motif, allusion and foils in short excerpts, and describing tone and mood.
Learning standard: 9-10R4; 9-10R5 · irony, motif, tone and mood
Unit 3
Grammar & Style
Semicolons, colons, dashes, commas and apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, pronoun case, misplaced modifiers, run-ons and fragments, and choosing a formal or informal register.
Learning standard: 9-10L1; 9-10L2; 9-10L3 · punctuation, agreement and register
Unit 4
Word Detective
Using prefixes, suffixes and Latin and Greek bases to work out new words, choosing a meaning from the sentence around a word, and subject words like product, mass and scale.
Learning standard: 9-10L4; 9-10L6 · roots, prefixes and meaning in context
Unit 5
Literary Devices
Spotting allusion (a reference to something well known), analogy, juxtaposition (contrasts side by side) and flashback in short original excerpts, and explaining why a writer chooses them.
Learning standard: 9-10R5; 9-10L5 · allusion, analogy, juxtaposition and flashback
Unit 6
Digital Smarts
Telling misinformation from disinformation, checking sources before trusting them, managing passwords and privacy, spotting phishing, and citing and using other people's work respectfully.
Learning standard: 9-10W7; 9-10SL2 · credible sources, technology-made content and privacy
Unit 7
Forms & Features
Knowing what each text form does, how features such as an index, footnote or caption help readers, how signal words show a text's pattern, and how images, color and design shape meaning.
Learning standard: 9-10R5; 9-10R7 · text patterns, visuals and media features
Unit 8
Summarizing Texts
Practices summarizing: grouping related ideas, separating important from less important information, paraphrasing and keeping the author's message.
Learning standard: 9-10R2 · finding central ideas and summarizing in your own words
Unit 9
Form & Composing
Practices choosing a form for purpose and audience, tone, organization, transitions, text features and design choices when composing and publishing.
Learning standard: 9-10W2; 9-10L3 · choosing a form and tone for the audience
Unit 10
Research & Credibility
Students practice effective research questions, peer review, conflicting sources, sampling, lateral reading, checking AI output for invented sources, and citing and synthesizing evidence honestly.
Learning standard: 9-10W6; 9-10W7; 9-10R8 · research questions, conflicting sources, credibility and citing
Unit 11
Proofreading
Students practice proofreading in US spelling: commonly misspelled words and confusing pairs such as affect and effect, accept and except, principle and principal.
Learning standard: 9-10L2; 9-10L3 · editing writing for correct spelling and word choice
Unit 12
Media Analysis
Students analyze the purposes and techniques of media messages (rhetorical appeals, framing, propaganda, sponsored content, deepfakes) and how beliefs and algorithms shape interpretation.
Learning standard: 9-10R6; 9-10R7; 9-10SL2 · analyzing how media messages use appeals, framing and other techniques
Unit 13
Evaluating Arguments and Texts
Your child traces an argument's claim, reasons and evidence, judges whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient, spots fallacies such as false dilemmas and slippery slopes, and chooses criteria to judge texts and connect them across eras and cultures.
Learning standard: 9-10R8; 9-10R9 · evaluating an argument's reasoning and evidence, and judging and connecting texts with criteria
Unit 14
Arguments, Stories and Evidence
Your child chooses precise claims, fair counterclaims, valid reasoning and sufficient evidence; narrative techniques such as multiple perspectives, time shifts and reflective endings; creative responses that use an original's techniques; and evidence for analysis and research.
Learning standard: 9-10W1; 9-10W3; 9-10W4; 9-10W5 · arguments with valid reasoning and sufficient evidence, narrative technique, creative responses and drawing evidence from texts
Ready to try Gradelings?
Curriculum-matched practice for Kindergarten to Grade 9 in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut, and in Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Texas, Maine, Minnesota, Alaska, Alabama, Arizona and Arkansas, with kind hints, learning games and no ads. Subscribe now, or try everything free for 30 days with no card.