features such as introduction, foreword, preface, references, or acknowledgements to gain background information; and
organizational patterns such as definition, classification, advantage, and disadvantage;
analyze characteristics and structures of argumentative text by:
identifying the claim;
explaining how the author uses various types of evidence to support the argument;
identifying the intended audience or reader; and
analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.
explain the author's purpose and message within a text;
analyze how the use of text structure contributes to the author's purpose;
analyze the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes;
describe how the author's use of figurative language such as metaphor and personification achieves specific purposes;
identify the use of literary devices, including omniscient and limited point of view, to achieve a specific purpose;
analyze how the author's use of language contributes to mood and voice; and
explain the differences between rhetorical devices and logical fallacies.
plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as discussion, background reading, and personal interests;
develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing by:
organizing with purposeful structure, including an introduction, transitions, coherence within and across paragraphs, and a conclusion; and
developing an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with specific facts and details;
revise drafts for clarity, development, organization, style, word choice, and sentence variety;
edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
complete complex sentences with subject-verb agreement and avoidance of splices, run-ons, and fragments;
consistent, appropriate use of verb tenses;
conjunctive adverbs;
prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement;
pronouns, including relative;
subordinating conjunctions to form complex sentences and correlative conjunctions such as either/or and neither/nor;
capitalization of proper nouns, including abbreviations, initials, acronyms, and organizations;
punctuation marks, including commas in complex sentences, transitions, and introductory elements; and
correct spelling, including commonly confused terms such as its/it's, affect/effect, there/their/they're, and to/two/too; and
publish written work for appropriate audiences.
compose literary texts such as personal narratives, fiction, and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;
compose informational texts, including multi-paragraph essays that convey information about a topic, using a clear controlling idea or thesis statement and genre characteristics and craft;
compose multi-paragraph argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft; and
compose correspondence that reflects an opinion, registers a complaint, or requests information in a business or friendly structure.
generate student-selected and teacher-guided questions for formal and informal inquiry;
develop and revise a plan;
refine the major research question, if necessary, guided by the answers to a secondary set of questions;
identify and gather relevant information from a variety of sources;
differentiate between primary and secondary sources;
synthesize information from a variety of sources;
differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials;
examine sources for:
reliability, credibility, and bias; and
faulty reasoning such as hyperbole, emotional appeals, and stereotype;
display academic citations and use source materials ethically; and
use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.
listen actively to interpret a message and ask clarifying questions that build on others' ideas;
follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems;
present a critique of a literary work, film, or dramatic production, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, a variety of natural gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively; and
engage in meaningful discourse and provide and accept constructive feedback from others.
use print or digital resources to determine the meaning, syllabication, pronunciation, word origin, and part of speech;
use context such as contrast or cause and effect to clarify the meaning of words; and
determine the meaning and usage of grade-level academic English words derived from Greek and Latin roots such as omni, log/logue, gen, vid/vis, phil, luc, and sens/sent.
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to adjust fluency when reading grade-level text based on the reading purpose.
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.
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;