A. PROCESS OF READING
Students will use the skills and strategies of the reading process to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate what they have read. Readers apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on prior experience, interactions with others, knowledge of word meaning and knowledge of other texts, word identification strategies, and understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics). Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Demonstrate an understanding that reading is a gradual process of constructing meaning and revising initial understandings.
2. Demonstrate an understanding that a single text will elicit a wide variety of responses, each of which may be the point of view of the individual reader or listener.
3. Identify the author's purpose and analyze the effects of that purpose on the text.
4. Identify the author's point of view and analyze the effects of that point of view on the text.
5. Identify the devices an author uses to persuade readers and critique the effectiveness of the use of those devices.
6. Use the context of a work to determine the figurative, idiomatic, and technical meanings of terms.
7. Use the context of a work to determine the meanings of abbreviations and acronyms.
8. Find the meaning of relatively uncommon technical terms used in informational texts.
9. Identify the philosophical assumptions and basic beliefs underlying a particular text.
10. Analyze how the cultural context of a literary work is evident in the text.
11. Represent key ideas and supporting details in various written forms (e.g., outline, paraphrase, concise summary).
B. LITERATURE AND CULTURE
Students will use reading, listening, and viewing strategies to experience, understand, and appreciate literature and culture. Literary texts that are rich in quality, add to the understanding of history and various cultures and build an appreciation of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Distinguish between the purpose of a literary work and the personal response of an individual reader.
2. Identify the simple and complex actions and interactions involving main and subordinate characters in a work.
3. Make abstract connections (e.g., connections about thoughts, ideas, values) between their own lives and the characters, events, and circumstances represented in various works.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the stylistic effect of dialogues on the style of a work.
5. Identify and analyze the details and effects of complex literary devices on the overall quality of a work (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks, timeframes in the future or past).
6. Identify and analyze how complex elements of plot (e.g., setting, major events, problems, conflicts, resolutions) affect the overall quality of a work.
7. Apply mature strategies to the reading and interpretation of lengthy adult level fiction (e.g., satires, parodies, plays, poems, novels), using texts that are complex in terms of character, plot, theme, structure, and dialogue and sophisticated in style, point of view, and use of literary devices.
8. Apply mature strategies to the reading and interpretation of lengthy adult level nonfiction texts with appropriate complexity of content and sophistication of style.
9. Demonstrate an understanding of the defining features and structure of literary texts encountered at this level.
10. Draw from a broad base of knowledge about literature of the United States and the world to examine and critique how print and visual texts explore the human experience and condition.
11. Examine, evaluate, and elaborate on universal themes in literature, using reading and viewing to explain how themes are developed and achieved.
C. LANGUAGE AND IMAGES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of how words and images communicate. Language and images enable people to get things done, to take charge of their lives, to express opinions and feelings, to experience emotions, and to function as productive citizens. Students will consider such things as the relationship between thought and language, the ways people use language and other symbol systems to communicate, the history and structure of English, and the similarities and differences in the ways various social, occupational, and cultural groups use language. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship among perception, thought, and language.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of how language considerations and representations involving gender affect communication.
3. Compare the ways various social, occupational, and cultural groups use language, and comment on the impact of language use on the way people are viewed and treated.
4. Compare form, meaning, and value of different kinds of symbol systems (e.g., religious symbols, holiday symbols, the symbolism of particular types of architecture).
5. Demonstrate understanding of the history of and changes in the English language by explaining examples.
6. Use dictionaries, handbooks, and other language-related resources to evaluate the accuracy of their use of English.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the political implications of different forms of language.
8. Identify propaganda techniques used by writers and speakers.
D. INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
Students will apply reading, listening, and viewing strategies to informational texts across all areas of curriculum. When reading, listening, and viewing critically, students will ask pertinent questions, recognize assumptions and implications, and evaluate information and ideas. In a world that surrounds them with information, they have to be able to connect with this information and make sense of it. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Scan a passage to determine whether a text contains relevant information.
2. Distinguish between apparent fact and opinion in nonfiction texts.
3. Use discussions with peers as a way of understanding information.
4. Identify complex structures in informational texts and the relationships between the concepts and details in those structures using texts from various disciplines.
5. Analyze and synthesize the concepts and details in informational texts.
6. Explain how new information from a text changes personal knowledge.
E. PROCESSES OF WRITING AND SPEAKING
Students will demonstrate the ability to use the skills and strategies of the writing process. Effective communication can improve the work of writers and speakers. Students will use a wide range of strategies to address different audiences for a variety of purposes. Students will write or speak for reflective, creative and informational purposes. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Ask pertinent questions during writing conferences and when working alone, using knowledge of personal writing strategies, strengths, and weaknesses to improve one's own writing.
2. Reflect on, evaluate, revise, and edit a sequence of drafts to improve and polish the content of their finished work.
3. Use planning, drafting, and revising to produce, on demand, a well-developed, organized piece that demonstrates effective language use, voice, and command of mechanics.
4. Evaluate the remarks and oral presentations of others to find the key ideas, and explain the ways in which these ideas were developed.
F. STANDARD ENGLISH CONVENTIONS
Students will write and speak correctly, using conventions of standard written and spoken English. Knowledge of language structure and conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation, level of formality) is used to create, critique, discuss, and present print and nonprint texts. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Edit written work for standard English spelling and usage, evidenced by pieces that show and contain:
no significant errors in the use of pronouns, nouns, adjectival and adverbial forms
coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
no significant errors in the spelling of frequently used words and the correct use of commonly confused terms.
no significant errors in the common conventions of capitalization and ending punctuation marks and common uses of the comma.
few significant errors in the spelling of commonly misspelled and rare words, the less common capitalization conventions, the colon, semicolon, hyphen, dash, apostrophe, quotation marks, italics, marginal notes, and footnotes.
2. Demonstrate how language usage may depend on the situation.
3. Demonstrate command of the conventions involved in a formal speech, effectively engaging peers during presentation and fielding responses afterwards
G. STYLISTIC AND RHETORICAL ASPECTS OF WRITING AND SPEAKING
Students will use stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing and speaking to explore ideas, to present lines of thought, to represent and reflect on human experience, and to communicate feelings, knowledge, and opinions. Spoken, written, and non-verbal visual language (e.g., facial expressions, styles of clothing) accomplish many purposes (e.g., enjoyment, learning, persuasion, and the exchange of information). Writing and speaking for various purposes and for different audiences requires rhetorical skill and stylistic competence. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Write stories that effectively develop such elements as setting, major events, problems and solutions.
2. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations that effectively use descriptive language to clarify, enhance, and develop ideas.
3. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations that include a variety of sentence structures and lengths.
4. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations that are targeted for various audiences (e.g., informed or uninformed, sympathetic or hostile).
5. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations that achieve distinct purposes (e.g., to persuade, evaluate, analyze, defend).
6. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations that effectively employ explicit transitional devices in order to change a situation or to move the reader/listener through the piece.
7. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations in which the organization of the work flows from the purpose.
8. Write pieces and deliver oral presentations in a personal style, with a discernible voice and effective wording.
9. Write essays and deliver oral presentations that reliably support and provide details for the explicitly stated generalizations.
10. Make effective use of a variety of techniques to provide supporting detail (e.g., analogies, anecdotes, illustrations, detailed descriptions, restatements, paraphrases, examples, comparisons) in written work and oral presentations.
11. Make effective use of a variety of techniques for introducing and representing ideas and insights in written work and oral presentations.
H. RESEARCH-RELATED WRITING AND SPEAKING
Students will work, write, and speak effectively in connection with research in all content areas. Research involves generating ideas and posing questions. It includes gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing data from a variety of sources (e.g., print, nonprint, and electronic texts, examination of artifacts, interviews with people). Researching and reporting use a variety of informational and technological resources to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Develop an appropriate strategy for finding information on a particular topic.
2. Use referencing while doing research.
3. Record significant information from events attended and interviews conducted.
4. Identify and use library information services.
5. Use government publications, in-depth field studies, and almanacs for research.
6. Use CD-ROM, microfiche, and similar resource media for research.
7. Identify and use a variety of news sources (e.g., newspapers, magazines, broadcast and recorded media, artifacts), informants, and other likely sources for research purposes.
8. Use search engines and other Internet resources to do research.
9. Make extensive use of primary sources when researching a topic and carefully evaluate the motives and perspectives of the authors.
10. Analyze the validity and weigh the reliability of primary information sources and make appropriate use of such information for research purposes.
11. Evaluate information for accuracy, currency, and possible bias.
12. Report orally, using a variety of technological resources to present the results of a research project.