developing an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with specific details, examples, and commentary;

revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence effectiveness, including use of parallel constructions and placement of phrases and dependent clauses;

edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:

a variety of complete, controlled sentences and avoidance of unintentional splices, run-ons, and fragments;

consistent, appropriate use of verb tense and active and passive voice;

pronoun-antecedent agreement;

correct capitalization;

punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes to set off phrases and clauses as appropriate; and

correct spelling; and

publish written work for appropriate audiences.

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful. The student is expected to:

compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;

compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, and personal essays using genre characteristics and craft;

compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft; and

compose correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.

Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes. The student is expected to:

develop questions for formal and informal inquiry;

critique the research process at each step to implement changes as needs occur and are identified;

develop and revise a plan;

modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan;

locate relevant sources;

synthesize information from a variety of sources;

examine sources for:

credibility and bias, including omission; and

faulty reasoning such as ad hominem, loaded language, and slippery slope;

display academic citations, including for paraphrased and quoted text, and use source materials ethically to avoid plagiarism; and

use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language. The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion. The student is expected to:

engage in meaningful and respectful discourse by listening actively, responding appropriately, and adjusting communication to audiences and purposes;

follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems and complex processes;

give a formal presentation that incorporates a clear thesis and a logical progression of valid evidence from reliable sources and that employs eye contact, speaking rate such as pauses for effect, volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively; and

participate collaboratively, building on the ideas of others, contributing relevant information, developing a plan for consensus building, and setting ground rules for decision making.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--vocabulary. The student uses newly acquired vocabulary expressively. The student is expected to:

use print or digital resources such as glossaries or technical dictionaries to clarify and validate understanding of the precise and appropriate meaning of technical or discipline-based vocabulary;

analyze context to distinguish among denotative, connotative, and figurative meanings of words; and

determine the meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in English such as pas de deux, status quo, déjà vu, avant-garde, and coup d'état.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading. The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.

Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts. The student is expected to:

establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts;

generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information;

make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures;

create mental images to deepen understanding;

make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society;

make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;

evaluate details read to determine key ideas;

synthesize information from multiple texts to create new understanding; and

monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed. The student is expected to:

describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts;

write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres;