In plain English: W.9-10.4 is the Common Core ELA standard that asks students to produce clear and coherent writing whose development, organization and style fit its task, purpose and audience. Students decide which details a reader needs, what order serves the reader's purpose and how formal to sound, and they check that every sentence is easy to follow. It applies to all writing in grades 9 and 10.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Writing Standards · Cluster: Production and Distribution of Writing · Official standard
Students learn that good writing is good for someone. One invented set of facts about a school's weekend laptop loans is written three ways: a newsletter notice for students (Model A), a letter to families (Model B) and a funding request to a parent association board (Model C). Because the facts stay the same, every difference among the three comes from the writing situation. Students name each text's task, purpose and audience and trace how those shaped its development, organization and style.
The lesson then turns to the first half of the standard, clear and coherent writing. Students diagnose a weak draft that has the right facts but the wrong style, a confusing order and vague sentences, and they practice linking sentences from known to new information. They finish by writing for a new reader, and for homework they write one event for three different readers.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify the task, purpose and audience of a piece of writing and support each with evidence from the text
Choose the details a specific reader needs and leave out the ones that reader does not
Organize a piece so that the reader's next step or key point is easy to find
Adjust word choice, sentence length and formality to fit the reader
Revise sentences for clarity and link them for coherence
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Producing clear, coherent writing suited to task, purpose and audience at grade 8 W.8.4
Revising a draft with guidance from peers and adults W.8.5
Recognizing the difference between formal and informal English
"Your ride home fell through. Write the message you would send a close friend, then the one you would send a grandparent or a coach. What did you change, and why?"
Give students three minutes, then collect a few pairs of messages on the board. Ask what changed: which details were added or dropped, what came first, and which words shifted. Name the three things that changed as development, organization and style, and the three reasons they changed as task, purpose and audience. Then hand out the fact sheet below. The school, the librarian and every detail are invented for this lesson. Tell students that all three model texts in the lesson are built from these same facts.
Fact sheet: weekend laptop loans at Ridgeway High School (a fictional school; all details invented)
Topic
Fact
What
Free weekend loans of laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots from the school library
Start
Friday, October 16
Devices
30 laptops and 10 hotspots
Pick up and return
Fridays 2:45-3:30 p.m. at the library desk; back by 8:15 a.m. Monday
Permission
A parent or guardian signs one form for the whole school year
Late return
No fine; the student waits two weeks before borrowing again
Loss or damage
No charge for normal wear; loss or damage handled with the librarian, no automatic charge
Why
A fall survey: 41 of 380 ninth graders have no reliable home internet
Use Diagram 1 to explain the standard. W.9-10.4 does not name a kind of essay; it applies to everything students write. Before drafting, a writer asks three questions about the situation (task, purpose, audience) and lets the answers drive three choices (development, organization, style). Whatever the situation, the result must be clear (each sentence understood the first time) and coherent (each sentence connected to the one before). Read Model A, then Model B, then Model C aloud. Like the fact sheet, the three models are invented; the prices in Model C ($95 per hotspot, $20 per month for data) are invented figures chosen to sit within the range of typical school hotspot plans, not quotes from a real provider. After each one, ask: Who is this for, and what should that reader do next?
1Need a Laptop This Weekend? Borrow One Free.
2Starting Friday, October 16, you can take a school laptop or a Wi-Fi hotspot home for the weekend at no cost. Here is how it works.
3Pick up: any Friday from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. at the library desk.
4Return: the next Monday by 8:15 a.m.
5Before your first loan: bring back the permission form signed by a parent or guardian. You only need to do this once.
6The library has 30 laptops and 10 hotspots, so reserve yours by Thursday at lunch. If you return a device late, you won't pay a fine, but you can't borrow again for two weeks.
7Questions? Stop by Room 114 and ask Ms. Okafor.
SVHS lesson authors, Model A: Student newsletter notice. Original passage written for this page.
1Dear Ridgeway Families,
2Beginning Friday, October 16, the Ridgeway High School library will lend laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots to students for the weekend, free of charge. We are starting this program because many assignments now require a computer and internet access at home, and a survey this fall showed that 41 of our 380 ninth graders do not have a reliable connection.
3Here is what taking part involves. Students pick up a device on Friday afternoon and return it by 8:15 a.m. the following Monday. Each laptop uses the same content filter as the computers at school, and students sign in with their school accounts.
4Before the first loan, we need one signature from you. The enclosed permission form confirms that you understand the loan terms, and you sign it only once for the whole school year. Families are not charged for normal wear. If a device is lost or damaged, the librarian will work with you on a solution; there is no automatic charge. If a device comes back late, your student will not be fined but will wait two weeks before borrowing again.
5Please return the signed form with your student or leave it at the front office. If you have questions, call the library at extension 2140, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
6Sincerely, Grace Okafor, Library Media Specialist
SVHS lesson authors, Model B: Letter to families. Original passage written for this page.
1Request to the Ridgeway Parent Association Board: Ten More Hotspots
2The weekend laptop program has a problem it cannot solve on its own: it has run out of hotspots. In the first three weekends, students borrowed 71 laptops but only 30 hotspots, because 10 hotspots were all the library owned. Twenty-three students are now on a waiting list for a hotspot, and some of them took home a laptop they could not connect to the internet.
3The solution is modest. Ten more hotspots would let ten more students get online every weekend, which would serve everyone on the current waiting list within three weekends. The devices cost $95 each, or $950, and a school data plan costs $20 per device each month. Plans for ten devices over the eight months left in the school year come to $1,600, so the full request is $2,550.
4This amount is small compared with the value of the laptops the district has already provided, and it makes those laptops useful to the students who need them most. In January, the library will report to the board how many students borrowed hotspots and how the waiting list changed.
5We ask the board to approve $2,550 for ten hotspots at its November meeting.
SVHS lesson authors, Model C: Funding request to the Parent Association board. Original passage written for this page.
Work through the five examples. Each one shows a single choice a writer made, and why.
Development: choosing details for the reader
Fact: lost or damaged devices are handled with the librarian, with no automatic charge. Model A leaves it out; Model B keeps it and adds that normal wear is free.
Result: Parents sign the form and are the ones who would pay, so Model B answers their worry in paragraph 4. A student needs only the steps for borrowing, so the detail would clutter Model A.
Organization: putting the reader's next step where it is easy to find
Model A gives the pick-up time, the return time and the permission form in three short labeled paragraphs (paragraphs 3-5).
Result: Students skim a newsletter and need to act, so each step gets its own label, in the order it happens: pick up, return, and the form that comes before the first loan.
Style: the same fact for two audiences
Model A: "If you return a device late, you won't pay a fine, but you can't borrow again for two weeks." Model B: "If a device comes back late, your student will not be fined but will wait two weeks before borrowing again."
Result: Model A speaks to the borrower as "you" and uses contractions. Model B speaks to a parent, so "your student" replaces "you," the contractions go, and the tone is courteous rather than chatty.
Clarity: replacing a vague sentence
Weak draft: "Something about if it breaks you talk to the librarian."
Result: Revision: "If a device is lost or damaged, please contact Ms. Okafor in the library to arrange a solution." The revision names the device, says who acts, and removes the guess ("Something about").
Coherence: starting with what the reader already knows
Weak draft: "You have to sign a form. The form is for the whole year."
Result: Revision: "A parent or guardian signs the permission form before a student's first loan. That one signature covers the whole school year." The second sentence opens with "That one signature," which the first sentence just introduced, so the two sentences read as one idea.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Pairs complete the comparison chart below for Models A, B and C, using short phrases and a paragraph number for each entry. Circulate and ask pairs to point to the words that show each choice. When pairs finish, compare charts as a class and use Diagram 2 to show how Model C links its sentences.
Comparison chart (students fill in)
Question
Model A: notice
Model B: letter
Model C: request
Task
Purpose
Audience
Development: one detail only this text includes
Organization: what comes first
Style: one word or sentence that fits the reader
Next, read the weak draft below. A student wrote it as a first attempt at Model B. Pairs number its paragraphs and list its problems under five headings: development, organization, style, clarity and coherence. They will diagnose it fully in Activity 2.
1hey parents!! so the library is doing this thing where kids can borrow laptops, which is honestly awesome. There are 30 laptops. Also hotspots. If it's late there's no fine but you get banned for like two weeks lol. You have to sign a form. The form is for the whole year.
2It starts October 16. The laptops go home on Friday. Oh and they come back monday morning. Something about if it breaks you talk to the librarian.
3Anyway sign the form!!! Its really important for kids who dont have internet which is a lot of kids probably.
SVHS lesson authors, Weak draft of the letter to families. Original passage written for this page.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Each student writes a new piece of 100-150 words from the fact sheet for one of two situations: (1) a short article for the town newspaper, whose readers include neighbors with no children at the school; or (2) a note to the school's custodial and front-office staff, who will see students carrying devices on Fridays and Mondays. Before drafting, students write one sentence each for task, purpose and audience. After drafting, they underline one choice of development, one of organization and one of style, and label each in the margin. The quiz and homework use Models A-C and the weak draft; point students back to this phase when they work on them.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: (1) Name one fact from the sheet that belongs in only one of the three models, and say why. (2) Copy one sentence from your Independent Practice draft and explain what makes it fit your reader. (3) Write one question you still have about choosing a style.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a three-column organizer with the prompts "Who reads it?", "What should they do?" and "What do they need to know?" before any drafting
Provide the Guided Practice chart with the Task row already filled in
Let students write for one audience at a time and compare with a partner before starting the next
For Advanced Students
Ask students to write one message that must serve two audiences at once, such as a letter read by both students and parents, and explain the compromises
Have students find a real public notice from their town and rewrite it for a reader it does not serve well
Ask students to cut Model B to 120 words without losing any detail a parent needs, and justify each cut
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Check that students can explain a choice by naming the reader, not only by saying it "sounds better." In their drafts, look for details chosen for the reader, an order that puts the reader's key point or next step where it is easy to find, and a style that stays consistent from start to finish. For clarity, circle any word or sentence a reader would have to guess at. For coherence, check that each sentence connects to the one before it, either with a transition or by picking up a word or idea from the previous sentence.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Audience Cards
15 minGroups of 3
Groups turn one short piece of news into openings for three different readers. The activity practices the whole standard in miniature: the facts stay the same, while development, organization and style change with the reader.
The News Card (invented)
The school's north parking lot will be closed for repaving from March 2 to March 20. Student drivers must park in the east lot, and the morning drop-off lane moves to Birch Avenue. Buses are not affected.
Audience Cards
Card 1: Juniors and seniors who drive to school
Card 2: Parents and guardians who drop students off each morning
Card 3: Neighbors who live on Birch Avenue
Procedure
Each group member takes one audience card and writes the first two sentences of a message to that reader (4 minutes)
Group members read their openings aloud and name one fact each included and one fact each left out
The group chooses the opening that best fits its reader and labels one development, one organization and one style choice in it
Groups post their best opening, and the class sorts the posted openings by audience
Discussion Questions
Which fact did the neighbors' opening need that the drivers' opening did not?
Which opening put the action first, and why did that fit its reader?
Did any group use the same sentence for two readers? Did it work for both?
2
Draft Doctor
20 minPairs
Pairs diagnose the weak draft from Guided Practice with a five-part checklist, then rewrite its first paragraph as a letter to families. The activity separates the choices that make writing fit its reader from the qualities that make it clear and coherent.
Checklist
Development: Which facts that families need are missing? Which guesses should be facts?
Organization: Does the reader learn what the program is before the rules?
Style: Which words would a parent find too casual?
Clarity: Which sentences would make a parent stop and reread?
Coherence: Where does a sentence jump to a new idea without a link?
Procedure
Pairs mark each problem in the draft with the checklist heading and the paragraph number
Each pair ranks its three most serious problems and explains the ranking in one sentence
Pairs rewrite paragraph 1 of the draft for families, using the fact sheet but not copying Model B
Two pairs swap rewrites and check them against the checklist
Discussion Questions
Which problem would bother a parent most, and why?
Could a draft be clear sentence by sentence and still be poorly organized? Find an example in the draft.
Which problems could spell-check fix, and which need a writer's judgment?
Modification for Distance Learning
Share the draft in a document with comments turned on. Pairs work in a breakout room and add one comment per problem, starting each comment with its checklist heading.
3
Genre Switch
20 minPairs
Pairs move the laptop news into two new forms with strict limits: a hallway poster and a 30-second spoken announcement. Changing the task forces new decisions about development and organization even when the audience stays the same.
Task Cards
Poster: no more than 30 words, readable from across the hallway, for students walking past
Morning announcement: read aloud in 30 seconds (about 75 words), for students who cannot reread what they missed
Procedure
Pairs choose the three facts from the fact sheet that each form must keep, and cross out the rest
Pairs draft both pieces, then time the announcement aloud and count the poster's words
Pairs write three sentences explaining one change of development, one of organization and one of style between the poster and the announcement
Discussion Questions
Why might a spoken announcement repeat the key time, when a poster does not need to?
Which fact did every pair keep in the poster? What does that say about its purpose?
What did the word limit force you to cut that you missed?
Thank-You Note Variation
Advanced pairs write a third piece: a thank-you note from the library to the Parent Association after the board approves the hotspots. Its purpose is different (to thank and to report), so pairs explain which facts from the fact sheet and from Model C it needs.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: How the Situation Shapes the Writing
The three questions on the left describe the writing situation; the three on the right are the choices W.9-10.4 names. The bottom box holds for every situation: the writing must be clear sentence by sentence and coherent as a whole.
Diagram 2: Linking Sentences from Known to New
A coherence strategy: each sentence begins with information the reader already has and ends with something new, and that new information becomes the known start of the next sentence. The bus example is invented for the diagram.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
W.9-10.4 Homework: One Event, Three Readers
Directions: Use this invented fact sheet. The Environmental Club is holding a cleanup at Mill Creek Park on Saturday, April 17, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Volunteers meet at the park's south parking lot. The club provides gloves, trash grabbers and bags; volunteers bring water and wear closed-toe shoes. Students earn 3 service hours. Volunteers under 14 must come with an adult. If it rains, the cleanup moves to Saturday, April 24. Last year, 38 volunteers removed 410 pounds of trash. You will write three short pieces from these facts. Models A-C from the lesson plan (Direct Instruction) show one way to handle a similar set of facts; do not copy their sentences.
Part 1: Plan for Three Situations (Problems 1-2)
For each of the three pieces, write one sentence each for task, purpose and audience: (a) a notice for the student newsletter; (b) an email to parents and guardians; (c) a letter to the city Parks Department asking it to pick up the filled trash bags on Saturday afternoon.
Make a chart with one row per fact and one column per piece. Mark which facts each piece needs, and explain in one sentence why the Parks Department letter leaves out at least two facts that the student notice keeps.
Part 2: Draft for Each Reader (Problems 3-5)
Write the student newsletter notice (80-120 words). Put the facts a student needs to act where they are easy to find, and label your organization choice in the margin.
Write the email to parents and guardians (150-200 words). Include at least one detail that answers a concern parents are likely to have, and underline it.
Write the letter to the Parks Department (120-180 words). State your request clearly, give the facts that help the department plan (time, place, how much trash to expect), and use a formal, concise style.
Part 3: Revise and Reflect (Problem 6)
Revise one of your three pieces for clarity and coherence: replace any vague sentence, fix any word whose meaning the reader would have to guess, and link at least two sentences from known to new information (Diagram 2). Then write 3-4 sentences comparing one development, one organization and one style choice across your three pieces.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Development
Each piece includes the facts its reader needs and leaves out the rest
Some needed facts missing or some unneeded facts kept
The same details in every piece
Organization
Each piece is ordered for its reader's purpose, with the action easy to find
Order works for one or two pieces only
No clear order
Style
Word choice and formality fit each reader; the three pieces sound different
Style fits some readers but not others
One style for all three readers, or slang throughout
Clarity and Coherence
Every sentence is clear; sentences link from known to new; revision explained
A few vague sentences or jumps
Hard to follow
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
The questions use Models A, B and C and the weak draft from the lesson plan (Direct Instruction and Guided Practice). Paragraph numbers match the numbers shown beside each text. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence in Model C states its purpose most directly?
Answer: B
The last sentence, "We ask the board to approve $2,550 for ten hotspots at its November meeting." (paragraph 5), names the action the board should take, the amount and the date, and every paragraph before it builds toward that vote. A states the problem that gives the request its context. C only introduces the solution. D is a reason that supports the request, not the request itself.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Model B tells families that 41 of 380 ninth graders lack a reliable connection. Why does Model A leave this number out?
Answer: A
Model B gives the reason in paragraph 2 because a parent who signs the form is judging whether the program is worthwhile. Model A's readers act on steps, so it develops the how, not the why. B underestimates the audience. C is false: Model A keeps numbers, such as "30 laptops and 10 hotspots" (paragraph 6). D invents a timeline the texts never give.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which detail in Model B answers a concern that parents are more likely than students to have?
Answer: C
A parent letting a school laptop into the home may worry about what a student can reach online, and "Each laptop uses the same content filter as the computers at school" (paragraph 3) answers that worry. Model A leaves it out because students do not need it to borrow a device. A, B and D are basic facts that both audiences need, and Model A gives the pick-up day and the start date too.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
How is the body of Model B (paragraphs 2-5) organized?
Answer: A
Paragraph 2 explains the reason ("We are starting this program because"), paragraph 3 how a loan works, paragraph 4 the form and the costs, and paragraph 5 how to return the form and whom to call. B fits only one sentence of paragraph 3. C describes a funding request, not a letter asking for a signature. D reverses the letter: the start date opens paragraph 2.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A board member asks, "How will we know the money made a difference?" Which sentence in Model C already answers the question?
Answer: D
The January report, in paragraph 4, promises the evidence the board member wants: "how many students borrowed hotspots and how the waiting list changed." A compares costs, B gives part of the cost, and C describes the problem before the money is spent; none says how results will be measured.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence would best fit the style of Model C if it were added to paragraph 3?
Answer: B
B is formal, concise and adds a fact a careful board would want: the new devices fit the existing rules. A uses slang ("no-brainer") and a casual intensifier. C addresses the board as "you guys" and repeats "really." D exaggerates, which weakens the request for readers who vote on many budgets.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which revision of the weak draft's "Anyway sign the form!!!" best fits a letter to families?
Answer: A
A is courteous, complete and tells the reader exactly what to do. B keeps the shouting capitals and double exclamation points. C keeps the filler ("Anyway," "or whatever") and is vague about the action. D is too harsh for families and inaccurate: borrowing is a choice, and Model B asks for the signature only as a step before borrowing: "Before the first loan, we need one signature from you."
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In the weak draft, why is "If it's late there's no fine but you get banned for like two weeks lol" unclear to a parent?
Answer: C
In "If it's late there's no fine but you get banned for like two weeks lol" (paragraph 1), the draft never says what "it" refers to, and "you get banned" addresses the parent even though the student is the one who waits; "lol" and "like" add slang. A is wrong: length is not the problem, the unclear words are. B misreads the facts, since two weeks matches the rule. D is an organization question, not a clarity problem, and a penalty is not the right opening for families.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which order makes these sentences most coherent? (1) That waiting list grew to 23 students in three weekends. (2) The library owns only 10 hotspots. (3) Because of the shortage, students who need a hotspot join a waiting list.
Answer: C
In 2, 3, 1, each sentence starts with something the reader already knows: sentence 3 picks up "the shortage" from sentence 2, and sentence 1 picks up "That waiting list" from sentence 3. A opens with "That waiting list" before any list is mentioned. B opens with "the shortage" before any shortage is described. D puts "That waiting list" right after sentence 2, which names no list.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Choose the transition that best links these two sentences: The library has only 10 hotspots. ____, students who need one should reserve it by Thursday at lunch.
Answer: D
The second sentence is a result of the first: few hotspots, so reserve early. "Therefore" names that cause-and-effect relationship. "However" signals a contrast, "For example" introduces an instance of the first idea, and "Meanwhile" signals something happening at the same time.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The librarian sends a text message to students who reserved a laptop. Which message best fits this task?
Answer: B
A text message is read in seconds, so B gives only the action, the time and the place, in the order the student needs them. A uses the form of a letter, which is too slow for a text. C announces the program to students who have already reserved, so it misreads the purpose. D is short but unclear: it names no device, place or time.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The same news goes into the weekly bulletin for teachers. Which opening sentence best fits that audience and purpose?
Answer: C
Teachers need to know what the program means for their assignments, and C tells them what they can now do. A is written for students, B for families, and D for the board; each misreads who is reading the bulletin.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Read this paragraph: The library lends laptops on weekends. Soccer tryouts are on Tuesday after school. Each laptop uses the school's content filter. Each sentence is easy to understand. What is the main problem?
Answer: D
Each sentence is clear on its own, but the tryouts sentence has nothing to do with laptops, so the paragraph does not hold together; the third sentence cannot connect to the one before it. A contradicts the question, which says each sentence is easy to understand. B finds a problem that is not there: no word is informal. C would develop the wrong topic and make the jump worse.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which change would make Model C less appropriate for the board?
Answer: A
Board members vote on money, so they need to see how the total was reached (ten devices plus eight months of data plans); a bare total would leave them unable to judge the request. B, C and D add precise details that a board would welcome, so none of them weakens the fit between the text and its readers.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Name the task, purpose and audience of Model A. Support each one with a detail from the text and give its paragraph number.
Model answer: The task is a short newsletter notice with a headline, "Need a Laptop This Weekend?" (paragraph 1). The purpose is to get students to borrow and to reserve early: "so reserve yours by Thursday at lunch" (paragraph 6). The audience is students, who are addressed as "you" and told to "bring back the permission form signed by a parent or guardian" (paragraph 5). Rubric line: 2 points for all three named correctly, each with a cited detail; 1 point for two of the three or details without paragraph numbers.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Rewrite this sentence from Model A for the teachers' weekly bulletin: "Questions? Stop by Room 114 and ask Ms. Okafor." Then explain one change you made and why.
Model answer: "Teachers can send students with questions about weekend loans to Ms. Okafor in the library, Room 114." I replaced the one-word question with a full sentence that names who is reading (teachers) and what they will do (send students), because the original sentence "Stop by Room 114 and ask Ms. Okafor" (paragraph 7) speaks to students. Rubric line: 2 points for a rewrite suited to teachers plus a reason tied to audience or purpose; 1 point for a rewrite without a reason.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Rewrite the last sentence of the weak draft so that it is clear, accurate and suited to families. Replace "a lot of kids probably" with a fact from Model B.
Model answer: "This program matters because many assignments require internet access at home, and a survey this fall found that 41 of our 380 ninth graders do not have a reliable connection." The fact comes from Model B, paragraph 2 ("a survey this fall showed that 41 of our 380 ninth graders do not have a reliable connection"), and it replaces the guess with evidence; the revision also fixes "Its" and "dont" and drops the slang. Rubric line: 2 points for a clear, formal sentence that uses the survey fact accurately; 1 point if the sentence is clear but still vague or informal.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Board members read a one-line agenda item before each meeting. Write the agenda line for Model C so that it states the request, the amount and the reason in one clear sentence.
Model answer: "Approve $2,550 for ten Wi-Fi hotspots so that students on the library's hotspot waiting list (23 now) can get online on weekends." It keeps the amount from paragraph 5 and the need from paragraph 2 ("Twenty-three students are now on a waiting list for a hotspot") and drops everything else, because the task is a single line. Rubric line: 2 points for one clear sentence with the request, the exact amount and a reason; 1 point if one of the three is missing.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Model A gives the pick-up and return times in paragraphs 3 and 4, but Model C leaves them out. Explain why, using the ideas of purpose and audience.
Model answer: Model A's readers are students who must act, so the times are the most important details they need. Model C's readers are board members deciding whether to spend money, so the writer develops the need and the cost instead, such as "The devices cost $95 each, or $950" (paragraph 3). Pick-up times would not help them vote and would make the request longer. Rubric line: 2 points for an explanation that names both audiences and both purposes; 1 point for one audience or purpose only.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
The weak draft gives the start date in paragraph 2, after the late-return rule. Using your answer to question 4 as a guide, write a four-point outline, in order, for a revised letter to families, and explain why your first point comes first.
Model answer: (1) What the program is and when it starts; (2) why the school is offering it; (3) how a loan works, including the late-return rule; (4) the form, where to return it and whom to call. The start date and what the program is come first because a reader cannot make sense of a rule like "no fine but you get banned for like two weeks" before knowing what is being lent. This outline follows Model B's body (question 4) and adds an opening point. Other orders that move from what and why to how and then to the action are acceptable. Rubric line: 2 points for a logical four-point order and a reason for the opening; 1 point for a workable order without a reason.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does W.9-10.4 mean?
W.9-10.4 means that students in grades 9 and 10 can write clearly and coherently, and can shape the development, organization and style of a piece to fit its task, purpose and audience.
In practice, a student writing to a principal, a younger student and a newspaper should make different choices about which details to include, how to order them and how formal to sound, while every version stays easy to follow.
What do "task, purpose, and audience" mean?
They are the three questions that define a writing situation.
The task is the kind of writing (a letter, a notice, an essay, a request). The purpose is what the writing should accomplish (inform, persuade, explain, thank). The audience is who reads it, including what those readers already know and what they care about.
What is the difference between W.9-10.4 and W.11-12.4?
The two standards have the same wording; the difference lies in the tasks students take on.
In the official Common Core document, each standard ends with the same note: "(Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)" Those expectations, in W.11-12.1 to W.11-12.3, ask more of juniors and seniors than W.9-10.1 to W.9-10.3 ask of students in grades 9 and 10. Juniors and seniors typically handle more complex situations, such as mixed or skeptical audiences and the conventions of different disciplines.
Is W.9-10.4 a type of essay?
No: W.9-10.4 applies to all writing, from arguments and research papers to emails and notices.
Standards W.9-10.1 to W.9-10.3 name the types of writing (argument, informative, narrative). W.9-10.4 describes a quality every type needs: fitting the writing to its situation.
What is the difference between clear writing and coherent writing?
Clear writing is easy to understand one sentence at a time; coherent writing holds together as a whole.
A sentence is clear when the reader knows exactly what each word refers to. A paragraph is coherent when each sentence connects to the one before, for example by starting with information the reader already has.
Is formal writing always better?
No: the right level of formality depends on the reader and the task.
A notice for students can use "you" and contractions and still be excellent writing, while the same style would be wrong in a funding request to a board. W.9-10.4 asks students to choose the style that fits, not to write formally every time.
How is W.9-10.4 assessed?
W.9-10.4 is usually assessed within other writing tasks, through rubric criteria such as organization, purpose, style and clarity.
Many state writing tests score whether a response suits its stated audience and purpose. Check your state's released scoring guides to see how organization and style are weighted. In class, a strong assessment gives students one set of facts and two different readers.
How does W.9-10.4 connect to W.9-10.5?
W.9-10.4 describes the goal, and W.9-10.5 describes the process that reaches it.
W.9-10.5 asks students to plan, revise, edit and rewrite, focusing on what matters most for a specific purpose and audience. Students use the questions in W.9-10.4 as their revision checklist.
Why does this lesson use invented model texts instead of published writing?
Writing the same facts three ways lets students see each choice in isolation.
Because the facts never change, every difference between the student notice, the family letter and the board request comes from task, purpose and audience. Published examples on a real topic work well as a follow-up once students know what to look for.
How can parents help with this standard at home?
Ask your student to explain the same news to two different people, such as a younger sibling and a grandparent.
Then ask what changed and why. When your student writes an email to a teacher or an employer, ask, "Who is reading this, and what do you want them to do?"
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to W.9-10.4: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
W.8.4Prerequisite
Produce clear, coherent grade 8 writing suited to task, purpose and audience
Lesson coming soon
Alongside
W.9-10.5Parallel
Plan, revise, edit and rewrite, focusing on what matters for purpose and audience
Lesson coming soon
SL.9-10.6Parallel
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate
Lesson coming soon
WHST.9-10.4Parallel
Produce clear, coherent writing suited to task, purpose and audience in history, science and technical subjects
Lesson coming soon
After this lesson
W.11-12.4Next step
Produce clear, coherent writing suited to task, purpose and audience in grades 11-12
