Standards+&+Benchmarks

Standards and Benchmarks

**Acquisition of Voca**﻿**bulary Standard** Students acquire vocabulary through exposure to language-rich situations, such as reading books and other texts and conversing with adults and peers. They use context clues, as well as direct explanations provided by others, to gain new words. They learn to apply word analysis skills to build and extend their own vocabulary. As students progress through the grades, they become more proficient in applying their knowledge of words (origins, parts, relationships, meanings) to acquire specialized vocabulary that aids comprehension.

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Verify meanings of words by the author’s use of definition, restatement,example, comparison,contrast and cause and effect.
 * B. Distinguish the relationship of word meanings between pairs of words encountered in analogical statements.
 * C. Explain the influence of the English language on world literature, communications and popular culture.
 * D. Apply knowledge of roots, affixes and phrases to aid understanding of content area vocabulary.
 * E. Use multiple resources to enhance comprehension of vocabulary.

Students develop and learn to apply strategies that help them to comprehend and interpret informational and literary texts. Reading and learning to read are problem solving processes that require strategies for the reader to make sense of written language and remain engaged with texts. Beginners develop basic concepts about print (e.g., that print holds meaning) and how books work (e.g., text organization). As strategic readers, students learn to analyze and evaluate texts to demonstrate their understanding of text. Additionally, students learn to self-monitor their own comprehension by asking and answering questions about the text, self-correcting errors and assessing their own understanding. They apply these strategies effectively to assigned and self-selected texts read in and out of the classroom.
 * Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard **

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Apply reading comprehension strategies to understand grade appropriate texts.
 * B. Demonstrate comprehension of print and electronic text by responding to questions (e.g., literal, inferential,evaluative and synthesizing).
 * C. Use appropriate self-monitoring strategies for comprehension.

Students gain information from reading for purposes of learning about a subject, doing a job, making decisions and accomplishing a task. Students need to apply the reading process to various types of informational texts, including essays, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, consumer and workplace documents, reference materials, multimedia and electronic resources. They learn to attend to text features, such as titles, subtitles and visual aids, to make predictions and build text knowledge. They learn to read diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and displays in text as sources of additional information. Students use their knowledge of text structure to organize content information, analyze it and draw inferences from it. Strategic readers learn to recognize arguments, bias, stereotyping and propaganda in informational text sources.
 * Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Standard **

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Analyze the features and structures of documents and critique them for their effectiveness.
 * B. Identify and analyze examples of rhetorical devices and valid and invalid inferences.
 * C. Critique the effectiveness and validity of arguments in text and whether they achieve the author’s purpose.
 * D. Synthesize the content from several sources on a single issue or written by a single author, clarifying ideas and connecting them to other sources and related topics.
 * E. Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject.

Students enhance their understanding of the human story by reading literary texts that represent a variety of authors, cultures and eras. They learn to apply the reading process to the various genres of literature, including fables, folk tales, short stories, novels, poetry and drama. They demonstrate their comprehension by describing and discussing the elements of literature (e.g., setting, character and plot), analyzing the author’s use of language (e.g., word choice and figurative language), comparing and contrasting texts, inferring theme and meaning and responding to text in critical and creative ways. Strategic readers learn to explain, analyze and critique literary text to achieve deep understanding.
 * Literary Text Standard **

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Analyze and evaluate the five elements (e.g., plot, character, setting, point of view and theme) in literary text.
 * B. Explain ways characters confront similar situations and conflict.
 * C. Recognize and analyze characteristics of subgenres and literary periods.
 * D. Analyze how an author uses figurative language and literary techniques to shape plot and set meaning.
 * E. Critique an author’s style.

**Writing Process Standard** Students’ writing develops when they regularly engage in the major phases of the writing process. The writing process includes the phases of prewriting, drafting, revising and editing and publishing. They learn to plan their writing for different purposes and audiences. They learn to apply their writing skills in increasingly sophisticated ways to create and produce compositions that reflect effective word and grammatical choices. Students develop revision strategies to improve the content, organization and language of their writing. Students also develop editing skills to improve writing conventions.

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Formulate writing ideas, and identify a topic appropriate to the purpose and audience.
 * B. Select and use an appropriate organizational structure to refine and develop ideas for writing.
 * C. Use a variety of strategies to revise content, organization and style, and to improve word choice, sentence variety, clarity and consistency of writing.
 * D. Apply editing strategies to eliminate slang and improve conventions.
 * E. Apply tools to judge the quality of writing.
 * F. Prepare writing for publication that follows an appropriate format and uses a variety of techniques to enhance the final product.

**Writing Applications Standard** Students need to understand that various types of writing require different language, formatting and special vocabulary. Writing serves many purposes across the curriculum and takes various forms. Beginning writers learn about the various purposes of writing; they attempt and use a small range of familiar forms (e.g., letters). Developing writers are able to select text forms to suit purpose and audience. They can explain why some text forms are more suited to a purpose than others and begin to use content-specific vocabulary to achieve their communication goals. Proficient writers control effectively the language and structural features of a large repertoire of text forms. They deliberately choose vocabulary to enhance text and structure their writing according to audience and purpose

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Compose reflective writings that balance reflections by using specific personal experiences to draw conclusions about life.
 * B. Write responses to literature that provide an interpretation, recognize ambiguities, nuances and complexities and that understand the author’s use of stylistic devices and effects created.
 * C. Produce functional documents that report, organize and convey information and ideas accurately, foresee readers’ problems or misunderstandings and that include formatting techniques that are user friendly.
 * D. Produce informational essays or reports that establish a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject, include relevant perspectives, take into account the validity and reliability of sources and provide a clear sense of closure.
 * E. Use a range of strategies to elaborate and persuade when appropriate, including appeal to logic, use of personal anecdotes, examples, beliefs, expert opinions or cause-effect reasoning.

**Writing Conventions Standard** Students learn to master writing conventions through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. Writing conventions include spelling, punctuation, grammar and other conventions associated with forms of written text. They learn the purpose of punctuation: to clarify sentence meaning and help readers know how writing might sound aloud. They develop and extend their understanding of the spelling system, using a range of strategies for spelling words correctly and using newly learned vocabulary in their writing. They grow more skillful at using the grammatical structures of English to effectively communicate ideas in writing and to express themselves.

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Use correct spelling conventions.
 * B. Use correct punctuation and capitalization.
 * C. Demonstrate understanding of the grammatical conventions of the English language.

**Research Standard** Students define and investigate self-selected or assigned issues, topics and problems. They locate, select and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference and technological sources. Students use an appropriate form to communicate their findings.

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Formulate open-ended research questions suitable for inquiry and investigation and adjust questions as necessary while research is conducted.
 * B. Compile, organize and evaluate information, take notes and summarize findings.
 * C. Evaluate the usefulness and credibility of data and sources and synthesize information from multiple sources.
 * D. Use style guides to produce oral and written reports that give proper credit for sources (e.g., words, ideas, images and information) and include an acceptable format for source acknowledgement.
 * E. Communicate findings, reporting on the substance and processes orally, visually and in writing or through multimedia.

**Communications: Oral and Visual Standard** Students learn to communicate effectively through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. By speaking, listening and providing and interpreting visual images, they learn to apply their communication skills in increasingly sophisticated ways. Students learn to deliver presentations that effectively convey information and persuade or entertain audiences. Proficient speakers control language and deliberately choose vocabulary to clarify points and adjust presentations according to audience and purpose.

By the end of the 11–12 program:
 * A. Use a variety of strategies to enhance listening comprehension.
 * B. Evaluate the clarity, quality, effectiveness and overall coherence of a speaker’s key points, arguments, evidence, organization of ideas, delivery, diction and syntax.
 * C. Select and use effective speaking strategies for a variety of audiences, situations and purposes.
 * D. Give persuasive presentations that structure ideas and arguments in a logical fashion, clarify and defend positions with relevant evidence and anticipate and address the audience’s concerns.
 * E. Give informational presentations that contain a clear perspective, present ideas from multiple sources in logical sequence and include a consistent organizational structure.
 * F. Give presentations using a variety of delivery methods, visual displays and technology.