CCRA.SL.6: Adapting Speech to Context, Task and Formal English

Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Here is one piece of news: Saturday's soccer game was canceled because the field flooded. Say it three ways: to a teammate in the hallway, to a parent volunteer who drives the team and needs the details, and to the whole school over the morning announcements. Then list everything you changed besides the facts."

   Have a few pairs perform their versions. Students usually notice that the hallway version is short and relaxed and leaves out what the teammate already knows, the version for the driver adds times and next steps, and the announcement uses complete, careful sentences and a polite close. All three versions are correct for their setting. CCRA.SL.6 names this skill: adapting speech to the context and the task, and using formal English when the setting calls for it.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Terms for the lesson.

   • Context: the setting and the listeners: where you are, who is listening, and how well you know them.
   • Communicative task: what the speech must do, such as greet, explain, give instructions, report, request, answer a challenge or thank.
   • Register: a way of speaking suited to a kind of situation, from casual to formal. Everyone uses several registers every day.
   • Formal English: the register usually expected in presentations, interviews, meetings, official announcements and much academic speech. It is often called Standard English or academic English.
   • Dialect: a variety of a language shared by a region or community. Every dialect of English has its own consistent rules of grammar and pronunciation.
   • Code-switching: moving between registers, dialects or languages to suit the setting. It is a skill, not a weakness.

   One register among many. Formal English is not "better" English. It is the register that many school, work and public settings expect, so speakers need command of it, just as they need the casual register that fits a conversation with friends and the dialects and languages they share with family and community. The standard asks students to add formal English to their range and to choose it "when indicated or appropriate." Using a very formal register with a friend, or with a young child, is also a mismatch. Formal English does not require changing an accent: clear pronunciation is enough.

   What formal English sounds like in speech.

   • Complete sentences and clear signposts ("I have one report and one request")
   • The verb forms and agreement of edited American English, such as "we were" and "she doesn't"
   • Precise words in place of slang, vague words and fillers such as "stuff," "like" and "kind of"
   • Courtesy forms: thanking, addressing listeners by title, inviting questions

   How the anchor grows. The wording of SL.6 is the same in every band from grade 6 to grade 12. Each grade-level standard points to that grade's Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations, so what grows is the grammar and style students command and the range of settings they handle. The table lists every grade-level standard that carries CCRA.SL.6.

   Progression of CCRA.SL.6 in grades 6-12

   Grade-level standard	Band	What this band adds
   SL.6.6	Grade 6	Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when indicated or appropriate; the official text points to grade 6 Language standards 1 and 3, such as correct pronoun use and a consistent style and tone
   SL.7.6	Grade 7	The same wording; grade 7 Language standards 1 and 3 add, for example, choosing among sentence types for meaning and choosing precise, concise language
   SL.8.6	Grade 8	The same wording; grade 8 Language standards 1 and 3 add, for example, using active and passive voice and verb moods for particular effects
   SL.9-10.6	Grades 9-10	The same wording; grades 9-10 Language standards 1 and 3 add, for example, parallel structure and varied phrases and clauses, with language chosen for meaning and style
   SL.11-12.6	Grades 11-12	The same wording; grades 11-12 Language standards 1 and 3 add, for example, the idea that usage is a matter of convention that changes over time, and varying syntax for effect

   • Same speaker, two registers

     In Transcript Set A, compare Darius's line to Jo, "I'm kinda nervous, not gonna lie," with his opening at the meeting, "Thank you, Mr. Lindqvist. I have one report and one request." What changed, and why?

     Result: With a friend who shares the job, he uses relaxed forms ("kinda," "gonna") and a short, personal comment. At the meeting, the task is to report and to ask the committee for something, so he thanks the chair by name, uses complete sentences and announces his structure. Neither line is wrong; each fits its listener and task.

   • The task shapes the speech

     In Setting 2, Darius explains the engine to a visiting family. Find one choice that fits that task and those listeners.

     Result: He defines a term the family may not know: "That's the firebox, where the coal burned." He also turns a fact into a question ("Want to guess how fast it could go?") to involve a child. The tour is friendly and partly informal, but every sentence is clear to a newcomer, which the task requires.

   • Formal English under pressure

     In Transcript Set B, Task 2, how does Nadia answer a judge who doubts her argument while keeping a formal register?

     Result: She grants the point courteously ("That is a fair question, and homeowners certainly wanted protection"), turns with a formal transition ("However"), gives evidence with numbers and a quotation, and ends by stating exactly what she does and does not claim. The register shows respect for the judge and confidence in the evidence at the same time.

   • A dialect form and its formal English match

     A student practicing a formal report says, "We was waiting an hour for the bus." How should a teacher explain the formal English version?

     Result: Formal English: "We waited an hour for the bus" or "We were waiting an hour for the bus." Many dialects of English use "we was" by their own consistent rule; formal English uses "were" with "we." The teacher presents the formal form as the one a formal report expects, not as a correction of how the student speaks at home or with friends.

   Point students to Diagram 1. Ask them to name a setting from their school day that belongs near each end of the line, without naming anyone. Then read the transcripts in Guided Practice with the four questions in mind.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Two speakers, six moments. Both transcript sets were written for this lesson; the museum, the fair, the town, the 1911 flood and every person named are invented. In Set A, an eighth-grade volunteer at a railroad museum speaks in three settings in one day. In Set B, an eleventh grader presents a history fair project, answers a judge and explains the project to a sixth grader. Have pairs read the parts aloud.

   1Setting 1: Before opening, Darius and his friend Jo, also a volunteer, polish the engine's brass bell.

   2Jo: You're on tours today?

   3Darius: Yeah, the eleven o'clock. I'm kinda nervous, not gonna lie. Last time a kid asked me how fast Number 7 could go and I totally blanked.

   4Jo: It's on the sign, like sixty or something.

   5Darius: Sixty on a good track. Okay, I got this. Hand me that rag?

   6Setting 2: At eleven o'clock, Darius leads a visiting family, the Alvarez family, to the engine.

   7Darius: Welcome! This is Engine Number 7. It was built in 1893, and for almost forty years it pulled passenger trains between Fairmont and Cold Spring. See this big door at the back of the cab? That's the firebox, where the coal burned. A worker called the fireman shoveled coal in all day to keep the water in the boiler hot enough to make steam. Want to guess how fast it could go? On a good, straight track, about sixty miles an hour. And yes, you can ring the bell once on the way out.

   8Setting 3: That evening, Darius gives a short report at the volunteers' monthly meeting. Mr. Lindqvist chairs the meeting.

   9Darius: Thank you, Mr. Lindqvist. I have one report and one request. The report: last month I led twelve tours, and on every one of them, visitors asked to look inside the cab. Right now we have one step stool, so only one child can look in at a time, and the line backs up. The request: I would like the committee to approve a second step stool with a handrail. The museum supply catalog lists one for about eighty-five dollars. I am happy to answer any questions.

   1Task 1: Nadia opens her presentation to the judges.

   2Nadia: Good morning. My project asks why the town of Clearwater built its river wall in 1912. I studied three kinds of sources at the county historical society: the town council's minutes, two newspaper accounts of the flood of April 1911, and a letter from the engineer who designed the wall. My argument is that the wall was built less because of the flood's damage than because the council feared losing the railroad depot, which the flood had closed for nine days.

   3Task 2: A judge, Dr. Hale, asks a challenging question.

   4Dr. Hale: Isn't it more likely that people simply wanted to protect their homes?

   5Nadia: That is a fair question, and homeowners certainly wanted protection. However, the council minutes from May 1911 mention the depot four times and private homes once. The engineer's letter also says the wall's route was chosen to protect "the depot and the freight yard first." I would not claim that homes did not matter, only that the records point to the depot as the deciding concern.

   6Task 3: Later, a sixth grader named Eli stops at Nadia's booth with his class.

   7Eli: What's the big wall for?

   8Nadia: Good question! A long time ago, in 1911, the river here flooded. The water even closed the train station for more than a week. Back then, trains were how the town got food, mail and visitors. So the town built a strong wall along the river to keep the water out. Want to see the old newspaper picture of the flooded station? It's right here.

   Register chart (students fill in each empty cell with a short quotation and its paragraph number)

   Moment	Listener and task	One vocabulary choice	One sentence or grammar choice	One courtesy or tone choice
   Set A, Setting 1	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Set A, Setting 2	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Set A, Setting 3	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Set B, Task 1	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Set B, Task 2	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Set B, Task 3	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in

   1. Fill the chart. Grades 6-8 complete the three Set A rows; grades 9-12 complete all six rows.
   2. What stays the same. Ask: "Which facts does Darius keep in more than one setting?" Teacher note: the engine's top speed appears in Settings 1 and 2. The facts stay the same while the register changes.
   3. Swap test. Ask: "What would happen if Darius gave his meeting report, word for word, to the Alvarez family's youngest child?" Discuss what the child would and would not understand.
   4. Grades 9-12 discussion. Ask: "Task 3 is informal. Is Nadia's explanation to Eli less accurate than her presentation to the judges?" Steer the discussion toward the difference between simplifying and distorting.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Diagnose a mismatch. The rehearsal below was written for this lesson as a deliberately weak example. Nadia has the right facts, but in each part she uses a register that does not fit the listener. Neither register is wrong in itself; each is in the wrong setting.

   1Rehearsal of the opening for the judges (Task 1), practiced aloud to a classmate:

   2Nadia: Hey. So basically the river went totally wild in 1911 and, like, flooded everything? And the town was like, okay, we need a wall. I looked at a bunch of old stuff, the minutes and whatever, and honestly it's kind of about the train station. That's pretty much my project.

   3Rehearsal of the booth explanation for younger visitors (Task 3), practiced aloud to a classmate:

   4Nadia: The aforementioned inundation of April 1911 necessitated a municipal response. My analysis of the primary documentation indicates that the council's principal motivation was the preservation of the railroad depot, rather than residential property. Do you have any inquiries regarding my methodology?

   • Grades 6-8: Underline three words or phrases in paragraph 2 and three in paragraph 4 that do not fit the listener. Then write and practice aloud a new piece Nadia might need: a one-minute thank-you to the historical society librarian who helped her find the council minutes, in formal English.
   • Grades 9-12: For each sentence in paragraphs 2 and 4, name the feature that causes the mismatch (vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar form, tone). Then write two new pieces from the same facts: a one-minute formal thank-you to the librarian, and a short, casual explanation for a classmate who missed the fair. Deliver one of them to a partner.

   Teacher note: Set B already shows fitting versions of both rehearsed tasks, so students write for new listeners here. All speaking is done live with a partner; nothing is recorded.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: Choose one sentence from your thank-you to the librarian. Name one choice in it that makes it formal English and explain in one sentence why that choice fits the listener.

   Teacher note on dialect and home language: This lesson treats formal English as one register among many. Students' home dialects and languages are full, rule-governed ways of speaking. Correct toward formal English only in tasks that call for it, and frame it as a choice for the setting ("for the judges, use 'were'") rather than a fix to how a student talks. Never use a student's own speech as a class example of informal or dialect forms; use the invented transcripts instead.

   For homework: students use the situation notes below. They were written for this lesson; the society, the canal and the event are invented.

   1Event: The Lakeview Historical Society's Lantern Walk, Saturday from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Families walk 1.2 miles along the old canal towpath to the stone lock built in 1874, stopping at four signs that tell the canal's history.

   2Your role: You are a student volunteer. You have three speaking tasks.

   3Task A: At 7:15, give the other four volunteers a quick reminder of their posts. You all know each other from school.

   4Task B: At 7:30, welcome about 60 guests at the trailhead. The society's president, Mrs. Abernathy, will introduce you. You must thank the guests for coming, give the walk's route and length, and say when it ends.

   5Task C: Right after the welcome, give the safety instructions. The lanterns are battery-powered; no open flames are allowed. Stay on the towpath, because the canal edge has no railing. Children under 10 must hold an adult's hand near the lock. If anyone feels unwell, tell a volunteer in a yellow vest.

   6Facts for the welcome: The canal carried boats loaded with lumber and grain from 1874 until 1910, when the railroad replaced it. The society restored the lock gates in 2019 with money raised at earlier walks.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which description best fits what CCRA.SL.6 asks of a speaker?

   ASpeak formally in every setting, so that listeners always take the speaker seriously. BSpeak the same way in every setting, so that the speaker always sounds like himself or herself. CChoose a way of speaking that fits each setting and task, including formal English when needed. DAvoid casual speech at school, since every school setting calls for formal English.

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement about formal English matches this lesson?

   AIt is the register many meetings expect, and other dialects have their own rules. BIt is the only correct form of English, and other dialects are full of grammar mistakes. CIt is a register used only in writing, so speakers never need to use it aloud at all. DIt requires speakers to change their accent to sound like a newscaster.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   At the end of the tour stop in Setting 2 (paragraph 7), Darius says, "And yes, you can ring the bell once on the way out." Why does this line fit the family?

   AIt answers a wish the children are likely to have and sets a friendly limit. BIt reports to the committee how many visitors rang the bell that month. CIt tells Jo that the brass bell is now polished and ready for the tour. DIt replaces the facts about the engine, which the family did not need.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Darius tells Jo the engine could go "Sixty on a good track" (paragraph 5), but tells the family "about sixty miles an hour" (paragraph 7). Why does he say more to the family?

   AThe family asked a more difficult question than Jo did about the engine. BJo had never seen the sign, so she needed far fewer details than the family did then. CHe has forgotten the exact speed, so he says less to Jo to avoid a mistake. DJo shares his background knowledge, while the family needs the full phrase and unit.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In his meeting report (paragraph 9), why does Darius give the number of tours he led and the price of the step stool?

   AThe committee must decide on a request, so it needs evidence of the need and the cost. BThe chair asked every volunteer to give exactly the same numbers at each monthly meeting. CNumbers make any speech sound formal, whatever the task or the listener may be. DHe wants to show that he has led more tours than any other volunteer this month.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which line from Darius's meeting report (paragraph 9) is a courtesy form typical of formal English?

   ARight now we have one step stool, so only one child can look in at a time, and the line backs up. BI am happy to answer any questions. CThe museum supply catalog lists one for about eighty-five dollars. DI have one report and one request.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which feature of Nadia's opening to the judges (Transcript Set B, paragraph 2) is typical of formal English in a presentation?

   AShort phrases and questions that invite the judges to guess the answer BComplete sentences that state the question, the sources and the argument CEveryday words and an exclamation to make the judges feel relaxed and at ease DA personal story about the day Nadia first saw the river wall

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What evidence does Nadia give Dr. Hale in paragraph 5 to support her argument about the depot?

   AA photograph of the flooded station and a newspaper account of the damage to homes BThe number of homes the flood damaged and the cost of repairing each of them CCounts of mentions in the council minutes, and the engineer's letter DA survey of residents who remembered the flood and the building of the wall

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Task 3, why does Nadia tell Eli, "Back then, trains were how the town got food, mail and visitors"?

   ATo give a young listener the background he needs to see why the station mattered BTo change her argument so that it is about trains instead of about the river wall CTo show the judges that she can speak informally when it is her turn to present DTo avoid answering Eli's question about the purpose of the big wall at the river

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How does Nadia's explanation to Eli (paragraph 8) differ from her opening to the judges, while staying accurate?

    AIt changes the year of the flood to make the story easier for him to remember. BIt uses the same long sentences but speaks them more slowly for a younger listener. CIt drops the facts about the flood and talks only about the newspaper picture. DIt uses shorter sentences and everyday words, and keeps the facts the same.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In the weak example, paragraph 2 is meant for the judges. Which words most clearly mismatch that setting?

    A"in 1911," "the town" and "the train station" B"basically," "like" and "a bunch of old stuff" C"the minutes," "a wall" and "flooded" D"my project" and "we need a wall"

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What is the main problem with paragraph 4 of the weak example, the booth explanation for younger visitors?

    AIt uses informal words that would confuse a young visitor at the booth. BIt leaves out the year of the flood, which a young visitor would need. CIt uses formal, abstract words that a sixth grader is unlikely to know. DIt argues against the claim that Nadia makes in her opening to the judges.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 4 of the weak example begins, "The aforementioned inundation of April 1911 necessitated a municipal response." Which revision would best fit a sixth-grade visitor?

    AThe inundation of April 1911 required a response from the town's government. BIn April 1911 the river flooded the town, so the town had to find a way to stop it. CSo the river went totally wild in April 1911, and the town was like, we need a wall. DThe April 1911 inundation, aforementioned, caused a municipal response to occur.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student is giving a report to the student council. Which sentence is in formal English?

    AEverybody was real excited about how many students signed up. BWe were kinda surprised by how many kids signed up and stuff. CMe and Ana were surprised by how many students signed up. DWe were surprised by how many students signed up for the club.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which is the formal English version of "Me and him built the model" for a presentation to judges?

    AHim and I built the model. BMe and he built the model. CHe and I built the model. DHim and me built the model.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Compare Darius in Setting 2 (the tour) and Setting 3 (the meeting). Name two differences in how he speaks and explain how each fits the listener and the task.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite paragraph 2 of the weak example as a formal opening for the judges in three or four sentences, using your own words rather than copying Transcript Set B. Then name two formal English features you used.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    A classmate says, "Formal English is the only correct English. Everything else is just wrong." Respond in three or four sentences, using ideas from this lesson.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite this sentence in formal English for a science fair judge, and name each change you made: "The readings was kind of strange, and me and Leo didn't believe it."

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Give one example of a speaking task in which formal English would be a mismatch, and explain why. Then describe what a fitting register would sound like for that task.

    Show model answer

These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.SL.6 in grades 6-12, plus closely related anchors.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.