English/Language Arts Scope and Sequence

Kindergarten
Reading
Recognizes and understands the conventions of print and books (capitalization, end
punctuation, left-to-right and top-to-bottom tracking, letter recognition and formation,
picture/text relationship); Recognizes words/word parts, initial and ending consonants,
short vowel sounds, and rhymes; Knows upper and lower case letters and letter sounds;
Associates sounds and spellings to read words; Demonstrates comprehension of text and
story sequence; Predicts story outcomes; Compares and contrasts stories and details;
Answers questions about the main idea in text; Differentiates between reality and fantasy;
Identifies characters, setting, problem and solution in stories; Recognizes and names
opposites; Reads high frequency and common sight words; Knows and demonstrates
understanding of position words.
Writing
Writes consonant-vowel-consonant words; Brainstorms ideas and participates in group
writing; Uses letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences,
observations, data and stories; Writes about the Who, Where, What and How of a story;
Uses beginning writing conventions such as capitalization, spacing, and punctuation;
Writes from left to right and top to bottom; Writes upper and lower case letters of the
alphabet attending to proper formation and penmanship.
Listening and Speaking
Listens and responds to oral communication; Speaks in complete, coherent sentences;
Understands and follows one- and two-step oral directions; Asks and answers questions;
Describes people, places, things, locations, and actions; Recites short poems, rhymes and
songs; Retells stories in own words in proper sequence; Attends to and participates in
class discussions; Uses appropriate vocabulary, expression and phrasing to share ideas
and information.

Grade 1
Reading
Understands the basic features of reading, including selecting letter patterns and
translating them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication, and word parts,
and applies this knowledge to achieve fluent oral and silent reading; Matches oral words
to printed words; Identifies the title and author of a reading selection; Identifies letters,
words, and sentences; Distinguishes initial, medial, and final sounds in single-syllable
words; Breaks words down into individual phonemes; Identifies syllables in words and
represents initial, medial, and final sounds in each syllable; Creates and states a series of
rhyming words, including consonant blends; Adds, deletes, or changes target sounds to
change words; Blends two to four phonemes into recognizable words; Segments single
syllable words into their components; Generates the sounds from all the letters and letter
patterns, including consonant blends and long- and short-vowel patterns (i.e.
phonograms), and blend those sounds into recognizable words; Reads common, irregular
sight words; Uses knowledge of vowel digraphs and r-controlled letter-sound associations
to read words; Reads compound words and contractions; Reads inflectional forms (e.g., s, -ed, -ing) and root words (e.g., look, looked, looking); Reads common word families;
Reads aloud with fluency in a manner that sounds like natural speech; Classifies gradeappropriate categories of words.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level-appropriate material; draws upon a variety of
comprehension strategies as needed; Identifies text that uses sequence or other logical
order; Responds to who, what, when, where, and how questions; Recognizes quotation
marks and their meaning; Follows one-step written instructions; Uses context to resolve
ambiguities about word and sentence meanings; Confirms predictions about what will
happen next in a text by identifying key words; Relates prior knowledge to textual
information; Retells the central ideas of simple expository or narrative passages;
Identifies and describes the elements of plot, setting and character(s) in a story, as well as
the storys beginning, middle, and ending; Describes the roles of authors and illustrators
and their contributions to print materials; Recollects, talks, and writes about books read
during the school year; Visualizes while reading; Distinguishes between fiction and nonfiction; Identifies the elements of fiction; Recognizes and uses table of contents.
Writing
Writes clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea;
Progresses through the stages of the writing process; Selects a focus when writing; Uses
descriptive words when writing; Prints legibly and spaces letters, words, and sentences
appropriately; Writes brief narratives describing an experience; Writes brief expository
descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details; Writes and
speaks with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to first grade;
Writes and speaks in complete, coherent sentences; Identifies and correctly uses singular

and plural nouns; Identifies and correctly uses contractions and singular possessive
pronouns in writing and speaking; Distinguishes between declarative, exclamatory, and
interrogative sentences; Uses period, exclamation point, or question mark at the end of
sentences; Uses knowledge of the basic rules of punctuation and capitalization when
writing; Capitalizes the first word of a sentence, names of people, names of months, days
of the week, states and cities, and the pronoun I; Spells three-and four-letter short-vowel
words and grade-level-appropriate sight words correctly; Represents all of the sounds in a
multi-syllabic word, including a vowel for each syllable.
Listening and Speaking
Listens critically and responds appropriately to oral communication; Speaks in a manner
that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch, and
modulation; Listens attentively; Asks questions for clarification and understanding;
Gives, restates, and follows simple two-step directions; Stays on the topic when speaking;
Uses descriptive words when speaking about people, places, things, and events; Recites
poems, rhymes, songs, and stories; Retells stories using basic story grammar and relating
the sequence of story events by answering who, what, when , where, why, and how
questions; Relates an important life event or personal experience in a simple sequence;
Provides descriptions with careful attention to sensory detail.

Grade 2
Vocabulary
Understands the basic features of reading; Selects letter patterns and knows how to
translate them into spoken language; Applies knowledge to achieve fluent oral and silent
reading; Recognizes and uses knowledge of spelling patterns; Applies knowledge of
basic syllabication rules; Decodes two-syllable nonsense words and regular multi-syllable
words; Recognizes common abbreviations; identifies and correctly uses regular plurals;
Reads aloud fluently and accurately with appropriate intonation and expression;
Understands and explains common antonyms and synonyms; Uses knowledge of
individual words in unknown compound words to predict meaning; Knows the meaning
of simple prefixes and suffixes; Identifies simple multiple-meaning words.
Reading
Reads and understands grade-levelappropriate material; Draws upon a variety of
comprehension strategies, generating and responding to essential questions, making
predictions, and comparing information from several sources; Uses titles, tables of
contents, and chapter headings to locate information; State the purpose in reading; Uses
knowledge of the authors purpose; Asks clarifying questions about textual elements;
Restates facts and details; Recognizes cause and effect relationships; Interprets
information from diagrams, charts, and graphs; Follows two-step written instructions;
Reads and responds to a wide variety of significant works of literature; Compares and
contrasts plots, settings, and characters presented by different authors; Generates
alternative endings to plots; Identifies the reason or reasons for the alternatives;
Compares and contrasts different versions of the same stories; Identifies the use of
rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration in poetry.
Writing
Writes clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs; Progresses through the stages of the
writing process; Groups related ideas and maintains a consistent focus; Creates readable
documents with legible handwriting; Understands the purposes of various references;
Revises original drafts to improve sequence and provide more descriptive detail; Writes
compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences;
Demonstrates a command of standard American English; Writes brief narratives based on
experiences; Moves through a logical sequence of events; Describes the setting,
characters, objects, and events in detail; Writes a friendly letter complete with date,
salutation, body, closing and signature; Writes and speaks with a command of standard
English conventions appropriate to grade level; Distinguishes between complete and
incomplete sentences; Recognizes and uses the correct word order in written sentences.

English Grammar
Identifies and correctly uses various parts of speech in writing and speaking; Uses
commas in the greeting and closure of a letter with dates and items in a series; Uses
quotations marks correctly; Capitalizes all proper nouns, words at the beginning of
sentences and greetings, months and days of the week, and titles and initials of people;
Spells frequently used irregular words correctly; Spells basic short vowels, long vowel,
r-controlled and consonant-blend patterns correctly.
Listening and Speaking
Listens critically and respond appropriately to oral communication; Speaks using proper
phrasing, pitch, and modulation; Determines the purpose of listening; Asks for
clarification and explanation of stories and ideas: Paraphrases information that has been
shared orally by others; Gives and follows three-step and four-step oral directions;
Organizes presentations to maintain a clear focus; Speaks clearly and at an appropriate
pace for the type of communication; Recounts experiences in a logical sequence; Retells
stories, including characters, setting and plot; Reports on a topic with supportive facts
and details; Delivers brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences
speaking; Demonstrates a command of standard American English; Recounts experiences
or presents stories; Moves through a logical sequence of events; Describes story
elements; Reports on a topic with facts and details, drawing on several sources of
information.

Grade 3
Reading
Uses phonics, patterns, syllabication, and word parts to achieve fluency in oral and silent
reading; Uses word families when decoding unfamiliar words; Reads aloud text
(narrative and expository) fluently with appropriate pacing, intonation and expression;
Uses knowledge of antonyms, synonyms, homophones, homographs, synonyms, and
antonyms to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words; Is able to use a dictionary to
find a definition of unknown words; Uses knowledge of prefix and suffix to determine
the meaning of words.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade appropriate material while drawing upon comprehension
strategies such as making predictions, comparing information, and making connections
from one piece of literature to another; Understands grade-level appropriate narrative and
expository text (magazines, literature, newspapers, online materials);Uses titles, table of
contents, headings of chapters, glossaries, and indexes to locate information in text; Asks
questions by connecting prior knowledge and experiences with information found in, and
inferred from, the text; Follows simple written instructions that are listed in step format.
Reads and responds to a variety of literature; Understands the structural features of text
(theme, plot, setting, main characters); Distinguishes common forms of literature (poetry,
fiction, nonfiction, drama); Understands plots of classic fairy tales, folktales, legends, and
fables from around the world; Understands the authors purpose (entertainment,
informative, persuasive) when reading text; Identifies the speaker or narrator in a literary
selection.
Writing
Writes clear and descriptive sentences and paragraphs that have a main idea; Considers
the audience and purpose in their writing; Understands the stages of the writing process
(prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, final copy).
Creates paragraphs that have a topic sentence and supporting details; Writes in cursive
writing that has correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence; Uses
and understands the organization of various reference materials (dictionary, atlas,
thesaurus, encyclopedia); Is familiar with the use of a rubric.
Writes detailed narratives that provide a context in which an action takes place; Provides
insight to the reader why the incident is memorable; Incorporates sensory details of
people, places, experiences used in their writing; Writes personal and formal letters
including thank you notes and invitations; Is aware of their audience and establishes a
clear purpose and context; Includes the date, salutation, body, closing and signature.

English Grammar
Is able to use complete and correct declarative, interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in both writing and speaking; Identifies subjects and verbs and
has knowledge of pronouns, adjectives, compound words, and articles in speaking and
writing; Can identify the verb tenses (past, present, future) and use them properly in
speech and writing; Capitalizes names, holidays, historical periods, and special events
correctly; Spells one-syllable words that have contractions, blends, consonant doubling,
patterns such as changing the _y to _ies, and homophones; Arranges words in
alphabetical order.
Listening and Speaking
Listens carefully and responds appropriately to oral communication; Speaks in a manner
that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using appropriate phrasing and
pitch; Paraphrases and explains what has been said orally; Connects and is able to relate
prior experiences to those of a speaker and can identify repeated sounds, rhymes,
onomatopoeia; Is able to distinguish between a speakers opinion and fact.
Organizes ideas in order or around major points of information when delivering a
narrative presentation; Provides a beginning, middle, and end including details that
develop a main idea; Includes details that develop setting, character, and plot; Uses clear
and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas; Enhances oral presentations by using
props (charts, pictures, artifacts); Reads poetry with fluency, rhythm, pace and
appropriate intonation.

Grade 4
Vocabulary
Applies knowledge of word origins, derivations, synonyms, antonyms, and idioms to
determine the meaning of words and phrases; Reads narrative and expository text aloud
with grade-appropriate fluency and accuracy and with appropriate pacing, intonation, and
expression; Uses knowledge of root words to determine the meaning of unknown words
within a passage; Knows common roots and affixes and use this knowledge to analyze
the meaning of complex words; Uses a thesaurus to determine related words and
concepts; Distinguishes and interprets words with multiple meanings.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level appropriate material; Identifies structural patterns
found in informational text (e.g. compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequential or
chronological order, proposition and support) to strengthen comprehension; Uses
appropriate strategies when reading for different purposes (e.g. full comprehension,
location of information, personal enjoyment); Makes and confirms predictions about text
by using prior knowledge and ideas presented in the text itself, including illustrations,
titles, topic sentences, important words, and foreshadowing clues; Evaluates new
information and hypotheses by testing them against known information and ideas;
Compares and contrasts information on the same topic; Distinguishes between cause and
effect and between fact and opinion in expository text; Follows multiple-step written
directions for a variety of uses.
Reads and responds to a wide variety significant works of childrens literature; Describes
the structural differences of various imaginative forms of literature, including fantasies,
fables, myths, legends, and fairy tales; Identifies the main events of the plot, their causes,
and the influence of each event on future actions; Uses knowledge of the situation and
setting and of a characters traits and motivations to determine the causes for that
characters actions; Compares and contrasts tales from different cultures by tracing the
exploits of one character type and develop theories to account for similar tales in diverse
cultures; Defines figurative language and identifies its use in literary works.
Writing
Writes clear, coherent, sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea; Exhibits
awareness of the audience and purpose; Progresses through the stages of the writing
process; Selects a focus, organizational structure, and a point of view based upon
purpose, audience, length, and format requirements; Creates multiple-paragraph
compositions; Provides an introductory paragraph; Establishes and supports a central idea
with a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the first paragraph; Includes supporting
paragraphs with simple facts, details, and explanations; Concludes with a paragraph that
summarizes the points; Uses correct indention; Uses traditional structures for conveying

information (e.g. chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and
posing and answering a question); Writes fluidly and legibly in cursive.
Writes compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences;
Writes narratives; Relates ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience;
Provides a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience;
Uses concrete sensory details; Provides insight into why the selected event or experience
is memorable.
Writes responses to literature; Demonstrates an understanding of the literary work;
Supports judgments through references to both the text and prior knowledge.
Writes information reports; Frames a central question about an issue or situation, includes
facts and details for focus; Draws from more than one source of information (e.g.
speakers, books, newspapers, other media sources; Writes summaries that contain the
main ideas of the reading selection and the most significant details.
English Grammar
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to
this grade level; Uses simple and compound sentences in writing and speaking;
Combines short, related sentences with appositives, participial phrases, adjectives,
adverbs, and prepositional phrases; Identifies and uses regular and irregular verbs,
adverbs, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions in writing and speaking; Uses
parentheses, commas in direct quotations, and apostrophes in the possessive case of
nouns and in contractions; Uses underlining, quotation marks, or italics to identify titles
of documents; Capitalizes names of magazines, newspapers, works of art, musical
compositions, organizations, and the first word in quotations when appropriate; Spells
correctly roots, inflections, suffixes and prefixes, and syllable constructions.
Research and Technology
Quotes or paraphrases information sources, citing them appropriately; Locates
information in reference texts by using organizational features (e.g. prefaces,
appendixes); Uses various reference materials as an aid to writing; Understand the
organization of almanacs, newspaper, and periodicals and how to use those print
materials; Demonstrates basic keyboarding skills and familiarity with computer
terminology; Edits and revises selected drafts to improve coherence and progression by
adding, deleting, consolidating, and rearranging text.
Listening and Speaking
Listens critically and responds appropriately to oral communication; Speaks in a manner
that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch, and
modulation; asks thoughtful questions and responds to relevant questions with
appropriate elaboration in oral settings; Summarizes major ideas and supporting evidence

presented in spoken messages and formal presentations; Identifies how language usages
(e.g.. sayings, expressions) reflect regions and cultures, gives precise directions and
instructions; Presents effective introductions and conclusions that guide and inform the
listeners understanding of important ideas and evidence; Uses traditional structures for
conveying information; Emphasizes points in a way that help the listener or viewer to
follow important ideas and concepts; Uses details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to
explain or clarify information; Uses volume, pitch, phrasing, pace, modulation, and
gestures appropriately to enhance meaning; Evaluates the role of the media in focusing
attention on events and in forming opinions on issues.
Delivers brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests
that are organized around a coherent thesis statement; Demonstrates a command of
standard American English; Makes narrative presentations; Relates ideas, observations,
or recollections about an event or experience; Provides a context that enables the listener
to imagine the circumstances of the event or experience; Provides insight into why the
selected event or experience is memorable; Makes informational presentations; Frames a
key question, includes facts and details that help listeners to focus; Incorporates more
than one source of information (e.g. speakers, books, newspapers, television or radio
reports); Delivers oral summaries of articles and books that contain the main ideas of the
event or article and the most significant ideas; Recites brief poems (i.e., two or three
stanzas), soliloquies, or dramatic dialogues, using clear diction, tempo, volume, and
phrasing.

Grade 5
Vocabulary
Uses knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary
context clues, to determine the meaning of vocabulary and understand the meaning of
appropriate grade-level words; Reads aloud narrative and expository text fluently and
accurately with appropriate pacing, intonation, and expression; uses word origins to
determine the meaning of unknown words; understands and explains frequently used
synonyms, antonyms and homographs; Knows roots and affixes from Greek and Latin
and uses knowledge to analyze meaning of complex words; understands and explains the
figurative and metaphorical use of words in context.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level appropriate material; Describes and connects essential
ideas, arguments, and perspectives of text by using their knowledge of text structure,
organization, and purpose; Students make progress toward goal of reading a good
representation of grade-levelappropriate narrative and expository text (e.g., classic and
contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, online information); Understands how
text features (e.g., graphics sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts, and maps) make
information accessible and usable; Analyzes text that is organized in sequential or
chronological order; Discerns main ideas and identifies evidence that supports those
ideas; Draws inferences, conclusions, or generalizations about text and supports them
with textual evidence and prior knowledge; Distinguishes facts, supported inferences, and
opinions in text.
Reads and responds to historically or culturally significant works of literature; Begins to
find ways to clarify the ideas and make connections between literary works; Identifies
and analyzes the characteristics of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and explains
appropriateness of the literary forms chosen by an author for a specific purpose;
Identifies the main problem of the plot and explains how it is resolved, contrasts the
actions, motives (e.g., loyalty, selfishness, consciousness), and appearances of characters
in a work of fiction, and discusses the importance of the contrasts to the plot or theme;
Understands that theme refers to the meaning or moral of a selection; describes the
function and effect of common literary devices (e.g., imagery, metaphor, symbolism).
Writing
Writes clear, coherent, and focused essays; exhibits awareness of the audience and
purpose; Essays contain introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions; Creates
multiple-paragraph narrative compositions; establishes and develops a situation or plot,
describes the setting, point of view, conflict and presents an ending; Shows, rather than
tells, the events of the story; Creates multiple-paragraph expository compositions;
Establishes a topic, important ideas, or events in sequence or chronological order;
Provides details and transitional expressions that link one paragraph to another in a clear

line of thought; Offers a concluding paragraph that summarizes important ideas and
details; Writes responses to literature; demonstrates an understanding of a literary work;
Supports judgments through references to the text and to prior knowledge; Develops
interpretations that exhibit careful reading and understanding; Writes persuasive letters or
compositions; States a clear position in support of a proposal; Supports a position with
relevant evidence; Follows a simple organizational pattern; Addresses reader concerns;
Writes research reports about important ideas, issues, people, or events by using the
following guidelines: Frames questions that direct the investigation, establishes a
controlling idea or topic, develops the topic with simple facts, details, examples, and
explanations.
English Grammar
Writes and speaks with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this
grade level; Identifies and correctly uses prepositional phrases, appositives, and
independent and dependent clauses; Uses transitions and conjunctions to connect ideas;
Identifies and correctly uses verbs that are often misuses (e.g., lie/lay, sit/set, rise/raise),
modifiers, and pronouns; Uses a colon to separate hours and minutes and to introduce a
list; Uses quotation marks around the exact words of a speaker and titles of poems, songs,
short stories, and so forth; Uses correct capitalization and spells roots, suffixes, prefixes,
contractions, and syllable constructions correctly.
Research and Technology
Uses technology to create simple documents and employs organizational features (e.g.,
passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, the thesaurus, spell checks); Uses
organizational features of printed text (e.g. citations, bibliographic references) to locate
relevant information; Edits and revises manuscripts to improve the meaning and focus of
writing by adding, deleting, consolidating clarifying, and rearranging words and
sentences.
Listening and Speaking
Delivers focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the
background and interest of the audience; Evaluates the content of oral communication;
Asks questions that seek information not already discussed; Interprets a speakers verbal
and nonverbal messages, purposes and perspectives; Makes inferences or draws
conclusions based on an oral report; Selects a focus, organizational structure, and point of
view for an oral presentation; Clarifies and supports spoken ideas with evidence and
examples; Engages the audience with appropriate verbal cues, facial expressions, and
gestures; Analyzes and evaluates oral and media communication; identifies and critiques
persuasive techniques (promises, flattery, and glittering generalities); Analyzes media as
sources for information, entertainment, persuasion, and transmission of culture.
Delivers narrative presentations; Establishes a situation, plot, point of view, and setting
with descriptive words and phrases; Shows, rather than tells, the listener what happens;

Delivers informative presentations about an important idea, issue, or event; Frames

questions to direct the investigation, establishes a controlling idea or topic, develops the
topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations; Delivers oral responses to
literature; Summarizes significant events and details; Articulates an understanding of
several ideas or images communicated by the literary work; Uses examples of textual
evidence from the work to support conclusions.

Grade 6
Vocabulary
Uses knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary
context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the
precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words; Reads aloud narrative and expository
text fluently and accurately and with appropriate pacing, intonation, and expression;
Identifies and interprets figurative language and words with multiple meanings.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level-appropriate material; Describes and connects the
essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text
structure, organization, and purpose; Reads a variety of different genres including classic
and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, online information; Analyzes text
that uses the compare-and-contrast organizational pattern; Connects and clarifies main
ideas by identifying their relationships to other sources and related topics; Clarifies an
understanding of texts by creating outlines, logical notes, summaries, or reports;
Determines the adequacy and appropriateness of the evidence for an author's conclusions;
Makes reasonable assertions about a text through accurate, supporting citations; Notes
instances of unsupported inferences, fallacious reasoning, persuasion, and propaganda in
text.
Reads and responds to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect
and enhance their studies of history and social science; Clarifies the ideas and connects
them to other literary works; Analyzes the effect of the qualities of the character (e.g.,
courage or cowardice, ambition or laziness) on the plot and the resolution of the conflict;
Analyzes the influence of setting on the problem and its resolution; Defines how tone or
meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence
structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme; Identifies the speaker
and recognizes the difference between first-and third-person narration; Identifies and
analyzes features of themes conveyed through characters, actions, and images; Explains
the effects of common literary devices (e.g., symbolism, imagery, metaphor) in a variety
of fictional and nonfictional texts.
Writing
Writes clear, coherent, and focused essays; Exhibits awareness of the audience and
purpose; Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions;
Progresses through the stages of the writing process; Chooses the form of writing (e.g.,
personal letter, letter to the editor, review, poem, report, narrative) that best suits the
intended purpose; Creates multiple-paragraph expository compositions; Engages the
interests of the reader and states a clear purpose; Develops the topic with supporting
details and precise verbs, nouns, and adjectives to paint a visual image in the mind of the

reader; Concludes with a detailed summary linked to the purpose of the composition;
Uses a variety of effective and coherent organizational patterns, including comparison
and contrast; and arrangement by spatial order, order of importance, or climactic order.
Writes narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500 to 700 words
in each genre; Demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research,
organizational, and drafting strategies.
Establishes and develops a plot and setting and presents a point of view that is
appropriate to the stories; Includes sensory details and concrete language to develop plot
and character; Writes expository compositions; States the thesis or purpose; Explains the
situation; Follows an organizational pattern appropriate to the type of composition;
Offers persuasive evidence to validate arguments and conclusions as needed; Writes
research reports; Poses relevant questions with a scope narrow enough to be thoroughly
covered; Supports the main idea or ideas with facts, details, examples; Writes responses
to literature.
Research and Technology
Uses technology to locate information; Composes documents with appropriate formatting
by using word-processing skills and principles of design; Revises writing to improve the
organization and consistency of ideas within and between paragraphs.
English Grammar
Writes and speaks with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to 6th
Grade; Uses simple, compound, and compound-complex sentences; Uses effective
coordination and subordination of ideas to express complete thoughts; Identifies and
properly uses indefinite pronouns and present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect
verb tenses; Ensures that verbs agree with compound subjects; Uses colons after the
salutation in business letters, semicolons to connect independent clauses, and commas
when linking two clauses with a conjunction in compound sentences; Uses correct
capitalization; Spells frequently misspelled words correctly (e.g., their, they're, there).
Listening and Speaking
Delivers focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the
background and interests of the audience; Evaluates the content of oral communication;
Relates the speaker's verbal communication (e.g., word choice, pitch, feeling, tone) to the
nonverbal message (e.g., posture, gesture); Identifies the tone, mood, and emotion
conveyed in the oral communication; Restates and executes multiple-step oral
instructions and directions; Selects a focus, an organizational structure, and a point of
view, matching the purpose, message, occasion, and vocal modulation to the audience;
Emphasizes salient points to assist the listener in following the main ideas and concepts;
Supports opinions with detailed evidence; Uses effective rate, volume, pitch, and tone.

Delivers narrative presentations; Establishes a context, plot, and point of view; Includes
sensory details and concrete language to develop the plot and character; Uses a range of
narrative devices (e.g., dialogue, tension, or suspense); Delivers informative
presentations; Develops the topic with facts, details, examples, and explanations;
Delivers oral responses to literature; Develops an interpretation exhibiting careful
reading, understanding, and insight; Develops and justifies the selected interpretation
through sustained use of examples and textual evidence; Delivers persuasive
presentations; Provides a clear statement of the position; Includes relevant evidence;
Offers a logical sequence of information; Engages the listener and foster acceptance of
the proposition or proposal.

Grade 7
Vocabulary
Uses their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and
literary context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to
understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words; Identifies idioms,
analogies, metaphors, and similes in prose and poetry; Uses knowledge of Greek, Latin,
and Anglo-Saxon roots and affixes to understand content-area vocabulary; Clarifies word
meanings through the use of definition, example, restatement, or contrast.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level-appropriate material; Describes and connects the
essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text
structure, organization, and purpose; Understands and analyzes the differences in
structure and purpose between various categories of informational materials (e.g.,
textbooks, newspapers, instructional manuals, signs); Locates information; Analyzes text
that uses the cause-and-effect organizational pattern; Identifies and traces the
development of an author's argument, point of view, or perspective in text; Understands
and explains the use of a simple mechanical device by following technical directions;
Assesses the adequacy, accuracy, and appropriateness of the author's evidence to support
claims and assertions, noting instances of bias and stereotyping.
Reads and responds to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect
and enhance their studies of history and social science; Clarifies the ideas and connects
them to other literary works; Articulates the expressed purposes and characteristics of
different forms of prose (e.g., short story, novel, novella, essay); Identifies events that
advance the plot and determine how each event explains past or present action(s) or
foreshadows future action(s); Analyzes characterization as delineated through a
character's thoughts, words, speech patterns, and actions; the narrator's description; and
the thoughts, words, and actions of other characters; Identifies and analyzes recurring
themes across works (e.g., the value of bravery, loyalty, and friendship; the effects of
loneliness); Contrasts points of view (e.g., first and third person, limited and omniscient,
subjective and objective) in narrative text and explains how they affect the overall theme
of the work; Analyzes a range of responses to a literary work and determines the extent to
which the literary elements in the work shaped those responses.
Writing
Writes clear, coherent, and focused essays; The writing exhibits students' awareness of
the audience and purpose; Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and
conclusions; Progresses through the stages of the writing process; Creates an
organizational structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective
transitions between sentences to unify important ideas; Supports all statements and
claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples; Uses

strategies of note taking, outlining, and summarizing to impose structure on composition

drafts.
Revises writing to improve organization and word choice after checking the logic of the
ideas and the precision of the vocabulary; Writes narrative, expository, persuasive, and
descriptive texts; Demonstrates a command of standard American English; Writes
fictional or autobiographical narratives; Develops a standard plot line (having a
beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement) and point of view; Develops
complex major and minor characters and a definite setting; Uses a range of appropriate
strategies (e.g., dialogue; suspense; naming of specific narrative action, including
movement, gestures, and expressions).
Writes responses to literature; Develops interpretations exhibiting careful reading,
understanding, and insight; Organizes interpretations around several clear ideas,
premises, or images from the literary work; Justifies interpretations through sustained use
of examples and textual evidence.
Writes research reports; Poses relevant and tightly drawn questions about the topic;
Conveys clear and accurate perspectives on the subject; Includes evidence compiled
through the formal research process; Writes persuasive compositions; States a clear
position or perspective in support of a proposition or proposal; Describes the points in
support of the proposition, employing well-articulated evidence; Anticipates and address
reader concerns and counterarguments; Writes summaries of reading materials; Includes
the main ideas and most significant details; Uses the student's own words, except for
quotations; Reflects underlying meaning, not just the superficial details.
Research and Technology
Identifies topics; Asks and evaluates questions; Develops ideas leading to inquiry,
investigation, and research; Correctly cites quoted and paraphrased information in a
bibliography; Creates documents by using word-processing skills and publishing
programs; Develops simple databases and spreadsheets to manage information and
prepare reports; Revises writing to improve organization and word choice after checking
the logic of the ideas and the precision of the vocabulary.
English Grammar
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to
the grade level; Places modifiers properly and use the active voice; Identifies and uses
infinitives and participles and makes clear references between pronouns and antecedents;
Identifies all parts of speech and types and structure of sentences; Demonstrates the
mechanics of writing (e.g., quotation marks, commas at end of dependent clauses) and
appropriate English usage (e.g., pronoun reference); Identifies hyphens, dashes, brackets,
and semicolons and use them correctly; Uses correct capitalization; Spells derivatives
correctly by applying the spellings of bases and affixes.

Listening and Speaking

Delivers focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relates to the
background and interests of the audience; Evaluates the content of oral communication;
Asks probing questions to elicit information, including evidence to support the speaker's
claims and conclusions; Determines the speaker's attitude toward the subject; Responds
to persuasive messages with questions, challenges, or affirmations; Organizes
information to achieve particular purposes and to appeal to the background and interests
of the audience; Arranges supporting details, reasons, descriptions, and examples
effectively and persuasively in relation to the audience; Uses speaking techniques,
including voice modulation, inflection, tempo, enunciation, and eye contact, for effective
presentations; Provides constructive feedback to speakers concerning the coherence and
logic of a speech's content and delivery and its overall impact upon the listener;
Analyzes the effect on the viewer of images, text, and sound in electronic journalism;
identifies the techniques used to achieve the effects in each instance studied.
Delivers well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies
(e.g., narration, exposition, persuasion, description); Demonstrates a command of
standard American English; Delivers narrative presentations; Establish a context,
standard plot line (having a beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement),
and point of view; Describes complex major and minor characters and a definite setting;
Uses a range of appropriate strategies, including dialogue, suspense, and naming of
specific narrative action (e.g., movement, gestures, expressions); Delivers oral
summaries of articles and books; Includes the main ideas of the event or article and the
most significant details; Uses the student's own words, except for material quoted from
sources; Conveys a comprehensive understanding of sources.

Grade 8
Vocabulary
Uses their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and
literary context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to
understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words; Analyzes idioms,
analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer the literal and figurative meanings of phrases;
Understands the most important points in the history of English language and use
common word origins to determine the historical influences on English word meanings;
Uses word meanings within the appropriate context and show ability to verify those
meanings by definition, restatement, example, comparison, or contrast.
Reading Comprehension
Reads and understands grade-level-appropriate material; Describes and connects the
essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text
structure, organization, and purpose; Compares and contrasts the features and elements of
consumer materials to gain meaning from documents (e.g., warranties, contracts, product
information, instruction manuals); Analyzes text that uses proposition and support
patterns; Finds similarities and differences between texts in the treatment, scope, or
organization of ideas; Compares the original text to a summary to determine whether the
summary accurately captures the main ideas, includes critical details, and conveys the
underlying meaning; Understands and explains the use of a complex mechanical device
by following technical directions; Uses information from a variety of consumer,
workplace, and public documents to explain a situation or decision and to solve a
problem; Evaluates the unity, coherence, logic, internal consistency, and structural
patterns of text.
Reads and responds to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect
and enhance their studies of history and social science; Clarifies the ideas and connects
them to other literary works; Determines and articulates the relationship between the
purposes and characteristics of different forms of poetry (e.g., ballad, lyric, couplet, epic,
elegy, ode, sonnet); Evaluates the structural elements of the plot (e.g., subplots, parallel
episodes, climax), the plot's development, and the way in which conflicts are (or are not)
addressed and resolved; Compares and contrasts motivations and reactions of literary
characters from different historical eras confronting similar situations or conflicts;
Analyzes the relevance of the setting (e.g., place, time, customs) to the mood, tone, and
meaning of the text; Identifies and analyzes recurring themes (e.g., good versus evil)
across traditional and contemporary works; Identifies significant literary devices (e.g.,
metaphor, symbolism, dialect, irony) that define a writer's style and use those elements to
interpret the work.; Analyzes a work of literature, showing how it reflects the heritage,
traditions, attitudes, and beliefs of its author.

Writing
Writes clear, coherent, and focused essays; Exhibits students' awareness of audience and
purpose; Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions;
Progresses through the stages of the writing process; Creates compositions that establish
a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and well-supported
conclusion; Establishes coherence within and among paragraphs through effective
transitions, parallel structures, and similar writing techniques; Supports theses or
conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities,
comparisons, and similar devices.
Writes narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive essays; Demonstrates a
command of standard American English and research, organizational, and drafting
strategies; Writes biographies, autobiographies, short stories, or narratives; Relates a
clear, coherent incident, event, or situation by using well-chosen details; Reveals the
significance of, or the writer's attitude about, the subject; Employs narrative and
descriptive strategies (e.g., relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description,
background description, comparison or contrast of characters).
Writes responses to literature; Exhibits careful reading and insight in their
interpretations; Connects the student's own responses to the writer's techniques and to
specific textual references; Draws supported inferences about the effects of a literary
work on its audience; Supports judgments through references to the text, other works,
other authors, or to personal knowledge.
Write research reports; Defines a thesis; Records important ideas, concepts, and direct
quotations from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize all
perspectives on the topic, as appropriate; Uses a variety of primary and secondary sources
and distinguish the nature and value of each; Organizes and displays information on
charts, maps, and graphs; Writes persuasive compositions; Includes a well-defined thesis
(i.e., one that makes a clear and knowledgeable judgment); Presents detailed evidence,
examples, and reasoning to support arguments, differentiating between facts and opinion;
Provides details, reasons, and examples, arranging them effectively by anticipating and
answering reader concerns and counterarguments; Writes documents related to career
development, including simple business letters and job applications; Presents information
purposefully and succinctly and meets the needs of the intended audience; Follows the
conventional format for the type of document (e.g., letter of inquiry, memorandum);
Writes technical documents; Identifies the sequence of activities needed to design a
system, operate a tool, or explain the bylaws of an organization; Includes all the factors
and variables that need to be considered; Uses formatting techniques (e.g., headings,
differing fonts) to aid comprehension.
Research and Technology
Plans and conducts multiple-step information searches by using computer networks and
modems; Achieve an effective balance between researched information and original

ideas; Revises writing for word choice; appropriate organization; consistent point of
view; and transitions between paragraphs, passages, and ideas.
English Grammar
Writes and speaks with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this
grade level; Uses correct and varied sentence types and sentence openings to present a
lively and effective personal style; Identifies and uses parallelism, including similar
grammatical forms, in all written discourse to present items in a series and items
juxtaposed for emphasis; Uses subordination, coordination, apposition, and other devices
to indicate clearly the relationship between ideas; Edit written manuscripts to ensure that
correct grammar is used; Uses correct punctuation and capitalization; Uses correct
spelling conventions.
Listening and Speaking
Delivers focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the
background and interests of the audience; Evaluates the content of oral communication;
Analyzes oral interpretations of literature, including language choice and delivery, and
the effect of the interpretations on the listener; Paraphrases a speaker's purpose and point
of view and asks relevant questions concerning the speaker's content, delivery, and
purpose; Organizes information to achieve particular purposes by matching the message,
vocabulary, voice modulation, expression, and tone to the audience and purpose; Prepares
a speech outline based upon a chosen pattern of organization, which generally includes an
introduction, transitions, previews, and summaries, a logically developed body, and an
effective conclusion; Uses precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate
and colorful modifiers, and the active rather than the passive voice in ways that enliven
oral presentations; Uses appropriate grammar, word choice, enunciation, and pace during
formal presentations; Uses audience feedback (e.g., verbal and nonverbal cues);
Reconsiders and modifies the organizational structure or plan; Rearranges words and
sentences to clarify the meaning; Evaluates the credibility of a speaker (e.g., hidden
agendas, slanted or biased material); Interprets and evaluates the various ways in which
visual image makers (e.g., graphic artists, illustrators, news photographers) communicate
information and affect impressions and opinions.
Delivers well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies
(e.g., narration, exposition, persuasion, description).; Demonstrates a command of
standard American English and organizational and delivery strategies; Delivers narrative
presentations (e.g., biographical, autobiographical); Relates a clear, coherent incident,
event, or situation by using well-chosen details; Reveals the significance of, and the
subject's attitude about, the incident, event, or situation; Employs narrative and
descriptive strategies (e.g., relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description,
background description, comparison or contrast of characters).
Delivers oral responses to literature; Interprets a reading and provides insight; Connects
the students' own responses to the writer's techniques and to specific textual references;

Draws supported inferences about the effects of a literary work on its audience; Supports
judgments through references to the text, other works, other authors, or personal
knowledge.
Delivers research presentations; Defines a thesis; Records important ideas, concepts, and
direct quotations from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize all
relevant perspectives on the topic, as appropriate; Uses a variety of primary and
secondary sources and distinguish the nature and value of each; Organizes and records
information on charts, maps, and graphs; Delivers persuasive presentations; Includes a
well-defined thesis (i.e., one that makes a clear and knowledgeable judgment);
Differentiates fact from opinion and support arguments with detailed evidence, examples,
and reasoning; Anticipates and answers listener concerns and counterarguments
effectively through the inclusion and arrangement of details, reasons, examples, and other
elements; Maintains a reasonable tone; Recites poems (of four to six stanzas), sections of
speeches, or dramatic soliloquies, using voice modulation, tone, and gestures
expressively to enhance the meaning.