Page ELA _ Strands_ Stds_ Benchmarks

Discipline Standard Cluster Level Benchmark
Strand Benchmark
Standard 1 - MEANING AND COMMUNICATION
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication EE 1. Use reading for multiple purposes, such as enjoyment, gathering information, and learning new procedures.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication EE 2. Read with developing fluency a variety of texts, such as stories, poems, messages, menus, and directions.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication EE 3. Employ multiple strategies to construct meaning, including word recognition skills, context clues, retelling, predicting, and generating questions. 
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication EE 4. Employ multiple strategies to decode words as they construct meaning, including the use of phonemic awareness, letter-sound associations, picture cues, context clues, and other word recognition aids.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication EE 5. Respond to the ideas and feelings generated by oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, and share with peers.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication LE 1. Use reading for multiple purposes, such as enjoyment, gathering information, learning new procedures, and increasing conceptual understanding.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication LE 2. Read with developing fluency a variety of texts, such as short stories, novels, poetry, textbooks, menus, periodicals, and reference materials.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication LE 3. Employ multiple strategies to construct meaning, including the use of sentence structure, vocabulary skills, context clues, text structure, mapping, predicting, retelling, and generating questions.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication LE 4. Employ multiple strategies to recognize words as they construct meaning, including the use of phonics, syllabication, spelling patterns, and context clues. 
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication LE 5. Respond to oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, and compare their responses to those of their peers.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication MS 1. Use reading for multiple purposes, such as enjoyment, clarifying information, and learning complex procedures.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication MS 2. Read with developing fluency a variety of texts, such as short stories, novels, poetry, plays, textbooks, manuals, and periodicals.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication MS 3. Employ multiple strategies to construct meaning, such as generating questions, studying vocabulary, analyzing mood and tone, recognizing how authors use information, generalizing ideas, matching form to content, and developing reference skills.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication MS 4. Employ multiple strategies to recognize words as they construct meaning, including the use of context clues, word roots and affixes, and syntax.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication MS 5. Respond to a variety of oral, visual, written, and electronic texts by making connections to their personal lives and the lives of others.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication HS 1. Use reading for multiple purposes, such as enjoyment, learning complex procedures, completing technical tasks, making workplace decisions, evaluating and analyzing information, and pursuing in-depth studies.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication HS 2. Read with developing fluency a variety of texts, such as novels, poetry, drama, essays, research texts, technical manuals, and documents.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication HS 3. Selectively employ the most effective strategies to construct meaning, such as generating questions, scanning, analyzing, and evaluating for specific information related to a research question, and deciding how to represent content through summarizing, clustering, and mapping.
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication HS 4. Selectively employ the most effective strategies to recognize words as they construct meaning, including the use of context clues, etymological study, and reference materials. 
ELA 1. Meaning and Communication HS 5. Respond personally, analytically, and critically to a variety of oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, providing examples of how texts influence their lives and their role in society.
Standard 2 - MEANING AND COMMUNICATION
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication EE 1. Write with developing fluency for multiple purposes to produce a variety of texts, such as stories, journals, learning logs, directions, and letters.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication EE 2. Recognize that authors make choices as they write to convey meaning and influence an audience. Examples include word selection, sentence variety, and genre.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication EE 3. Begin to plan and draft texts, and revise and edit in response to the feelings and ideas expressed by others.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication EE 4. Begin to edit text and discuss language conventions using appropriate terms. Examples include action words, naming words, capital letters, and periods.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication LE 1. Write fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, reports, letters, plays, and explanations of processes.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication LE 2. Recognize and use authors' techniques in composing their own texts. Examples include effective introductions and conclusions, different points of view, grammatical structure, and appropriate organization.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication LE 3. Plan and draft texts, and revise and edit in response to suggestions expressed by others about such aspects as ideas, organization, style, and word choice.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication LE 4. Identify multiple language conventions and use them when editing text. Examples include recognition of nouns, verbs, and modifiers, capitalization rules, punctuation marks, and spelling.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication MS 1. Write fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as personal narratives, persuasive essays, lab reports, and poetry.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication MS 2. Recognize and use authors' techniques that convey meaning and build empathy with readers when composing their own texts. Examples include appeals to reason and emotion, use of figurative language, and grammatical conventions which assist audience comprehension.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication MS 3. Plan and draft texts, and revise and edit their own writing, and help others revise and edit their texts in such areas as content, perspective, and effect.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication MS 4. Select and use appropriate language conventions when editing text. Examples include various grammatical constructions, subject-verb agreement, punctuation, and spelling.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication HS 1. Write fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, poetry, personal narratives, editorials, research reports, persuasive essays, resumes, and memos. 
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication HS 2. Recognize and approximate authors' innovative techniques to convey meaning and influence an audience when composing their own texts. Examples include experimentation with time, stream of consciousness, multiple perspectives, and use of complex grammatical conventions.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication HS 3. Plan, draft, revise, and edit their texts, and analyze and critique the texts of others in such areas as purpose, effectiveness, cohesion, and creativity.
ELA 2. Meaning and Communication HS 4. Demonstrate precision in selecting appropriate language conventions when editing text. Examples include complex grammatical constructions, sentence structures, punctuation, and spelling.
Standard 3 - MEANING AND COMMUNICATION
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 1. Integrate listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. Examples include using more than one of the language arts to create a story, write a poem or letter, or to prepare and present a unit project on their community.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 2. Explore the relationships among various components of the communication process such as sender, message, and receiver. An example is understanding how the source of the message affects the receiver’ poem or letter, or to prepare and present a unit project on their community.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 3. Read and write with developing fluency, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view strategically, and represent creatively. Examples include sharing texts in groups and using an author’em or letter, or to prepare and present a unit project on their community.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 4. Describe and use effective listening and speaking behaviors that enhance verbal communication and facilitate the construction of meaning. Examples include use of gestures and appropriate group behavior.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 5. Employ strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing, or creating texts. Examples include retelling, predicting, generating questions, examining picture cues, discussing with peers, using context clues, and creating mental pictures.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 6. Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in oral, visual, and written texts by using a variety of resources, such as prior knowledge, context, other people, dictionaries, pictures, and electronic sources.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 7. Recognize that creators of texts make choices when constructing text to convey meaning, express feelings, and influence an audience. Examples include word selection, sentence length, and use of illustrations.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication EE 8. Respond to the ideas or feelings generated by texts and listen to the responses of others.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 1. Integrate listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. An example is using all the language arts to prepare and present a unit project on a selected state or country.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 2. Analyze the impact of variables on components of the communication process. Examples include the impact of background noise on an oral message and the effect of text errors, such as spelling or grammar, on the receiver.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 3. Read and write fluently, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view knowledgeably, and represent creatively. Examples include exploring ideas in a group, interviewing family and friends, and explaining ideas represented in pictures. 
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 4. Distinguish between verbal and nonverbal communication, and identify and practice elements of effective listening and speaking. Examples include recognizing the impact of variations of facial expression, posture, and volume on oral communication.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 5. Employ multiple strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing, or creating texts. Examples include summarizing, predicting, generating questions, mapping, examining picture cues, analyzing word structure and sentence structure, discussing with peers, and using context and text structure.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 6. Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in oral, visual, and written texts by using a variety of resources, such as prior knowledge, context, glossaries, and electronic sources.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 7. Recognize and use texts as models and employ varied techniques to construct text, convey meaning, and express feelings to influence an audience. Examples include effective introductions and conclusions, different points of view, and rich descriptions.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication LE 8. Express their responses to oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, and compare their responses to those of others. 
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 1. Integrate listening, viewing, speaking, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. An example is using all the language arts to prepare and present a unit project on career exploration.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 2. Begin to implement strategies to regulate effects of variables of the communication process. An example is selecting a format for the message to influence the receiver’nd present a unit project on career exploration.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 3. Read and write fluently, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view critically, and represent creatively. Examples include reporting formally to an audience, debating issues, and interviewing members of the public 
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 4. Practice verbal and nonverbal strategies that enhance understanding of spoken messages and promote effective listening behaviors. Examples include altering inflection, volume, and rate, using evidence, and reasoning.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 5. Select appropriate strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing, or creating texts. Examples include generating relevant questions, studying vocabulary, analyzing mood and tone, recognizing how authors and speakers use information, and matching form to content.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 6. Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in oral, visual, and written texts by using a variety of resources, such as semantic and structural features, prior knowledge, reference materials, and electronic sources.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 7. Recognize and use varied techniques to construct text, convey meaning, and express feelings to influence an audience. Examples include identification with characters and multiple points of view.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication MS 8. Express their responses and make connections between oral, visual, written, and electronic texts and their own lives. 
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 1. Integrate listening, viewing, speaking, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. An example is using all the language arts to complete and present a multi-media project on a national or international issue.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 2. Consistently use strategies to regulate the effects of variables on the communication process. An example is designing a communication environment for maximum impact on the receiver.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 3. Read and write fluently, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view critically, and represent creatively. Examples include speaking publicly, demonstrating teamwork skills, debating formally, performing literature, and interviewing for employment.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 4. Consistently use effective listening strategies (e.g., discriminating, assigning meaning, evaluating, and remembering) and elements of effective speaking (e.g., message content, language choices, and audience analysis).
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 5. Employ the most effective strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing, or creating texts. Examples include generating focus questions; deciding how to represent content through analyzing, clustering, and mapping; and withholding personal bias while listening.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 6. Determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and concepts in oral, visual, and written texts by using a variety of resources, such as context, research, reference materials, and electronic sources.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 7. Recognize and use varied innovative techniques to construct text, convey meaning, and express feelings to influence an audience. Examples include experimentation with time, order, stream of consciousness, and multiple points of view.
ELA 3. Meaning & Communication HS 8. Analyze their responses to oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, providing examples of how texts affect their lives, connect them with the contemporary world, and transmit issues across time.
Standard 4 - LANGUAGE
ELA 4. Language EE 1. Demonstrate awareness of differences in language patterns used in their spoken, written, and visual communication contexts, such as the home, playground, classroom, and storybooks.
ELA 4. Language EE 2. Explore and discuss how languages and language patterns vary from place to place and how these languages and dialects are used to convey ideas and feelings. An example is comparing a television toy ad to a print toy ad. 
ELA 4. Language EE 3. Demonstrate awareness of words that have entered the English language from many cultures.
ELA 4. Language EE 4. Become aware of and begin to experiment with different ways to express the same idea.
ELA 4. Language EE 5. Explore and begin to use language appropriate for different contexts and purposes. Examples include community building, story discussions, casual conversations, writing workshops, science lessons, playground games, thank-you letters, and daily conversations.
ELA 4. Language LE 1. Describe language patterns used in their spoken, written, and visual communication contexts, such as school, neighborhood, sports, children’asual conversations, writing workshops, science lessons, playground games, thank-you letters, and daily conversations.
ELA 4. Language LE 2. Describe how features of English, such as language patterns and spelling, vary over time and from place to place and how they affect meaning in formal and informal situations. An example is exploring regional language variations in the United States.
ELA 4. Language LE 3. Begin to recognize how words and phrases relate to their origin. Examples include surnames and names of bodies of water or landmarks.
ELA 4. Language LE 4. Explore how words normally considered synonyms can carry different connotations when used in a variety of spoken and written texts.
ELA 4. Language LE 5. Recognize and use language appropriate for varied contexts and purposes. Examples include community building, mathematics class, team sports, friendly and formal letters or invitations, requests for information, interviews with adults, and significant discussions.
ELA 4. Language MS 1. Compare and contrast spoken, written, and visual language patterns used in their communication contexts, such as community activities, discussions, mathematics and science classes, and the workplace.
ELA 4. Language MS 2. Investigate the origins of language patterns and vocabularies and their impact on meaning in formal and informal situations. An example is comparing language in a business letter to language in a friendly letter.
ELA 4. Language MS 3. Investigate idiomatic phrases and word origins and how they have contributed to contemporary meaning.
ELA 4. Language MS 4. Demonstrate how communication is affected by connotation and denotation and why one particular word is more effective or appropriate than others in a given context.
ELA 4. Language MS 5. Recognize and use levels of discourse appropriate for varied contexts, purposes, and audiences, including terminology specific to a particular field. Examples include community building, an explanation of a biological concept, comparison of computer programs, commentary on an artistic work, analysis of a fitness program, and classroom debates on political issues.
ELA 4. Language HS 1. Demonstrate how language usage is related to successful communication in their different spoken, written, and visual communication contexts, such as job interviews, public speeches, debates, and advertising.
ELA 4. Language HS 2. Use an understanding of how language patterns and vocabularies transmit culture and affect meaning in formal and informal situations. An example is identifying distinctions in the verbal and non-verbal communication behaviors of national or world leaders.
ELA 4. Language HS 3. Explore and explain how the same words can have different usages and meanings in different contexts, cultures, and communities.
ELA 4. Language HS 4. Demonstrate ways in which communication can be influenced through word usage. Examples include propaganda, irony, parody, and satire.
ELA 4. Language HS 5. Recognize and use levels of discourse appropriate for varied contexts, purposes, and audiences, including terminology specific to particular fields. Examples include community building, presentations integrating different disciplines, lessons comparing fields of study, promotional material created for an interdisciplinary project, and videos designed to inform or entertain diverse audiences.
Standard 5 - LITERATURE
ELA 5. Literature EE 1. Select, read, listen to, view, and respond thoughtfully to both classic and contemporary texts recognized for quality and literary merit.
ELA 5. Literature EE 2. Describe and discuss the similarities of plot and character in literature and other texts from around the world.
ELA 5. Literature EE 3. Describe how characters in literature and other texts can represent members of several different communities.
ELA 5. Literature EE 4. Recognize the representation of various cultures as well as our common heritage in literature and other texts.
ELA 5. Literature EE 5. Explain how characters in literature and other texts express attitudes about one another.
ELA 5. Literature LE 1. Select, read, listen to, view, and respond thoughtfully to both classic and contemporary texts recognized for quality and literary merit.
ELA 5. Literature LE 2. Describe and discuss the shared human experiences depicted in literature and other texts from around the world. Examples include birth, death, heroism, and love.
ELA 5. Literature LE 3. Demonstrate awareness that characters and communities in literature and other texts reflect life by portraying both positive and negative images.
ELA 5. Literature LE 4. Describe how various cultures and our common heritage are represented in literature and other texts.
ELA 5. Literature LE 5. Describe how characters in literature and other texts form opinions about one another in ways that can be fair and unfair. 
ELA 5. Literature MS 1. Select, read, listen to, view, and respond thoughtfully to both classic and contemporary texts recognized for quality and literary merit.
ELA 5. Literature MS 2. Describe and discuss shared issues in the human experience that appear in literature and other texts from around the world. Examples include quests for happiness and service to others.
ELA 5. Literature MS 3. Identify and discuss how the tensions among characters, communities, themes, and issues in literature and other texts are related to one’ude quests for happiness and service to others.
ELA 5. Literature MS 4. Investigate and demonstrate understanding of the cultural and historical contexts of the themes, issues, and our common heritage as depicted in literature and other texts.
ELA 5. Literature MS 5. Investigate through literature and other texts various examples of distortion and stereotypes. Examples include those associated with gender, race, culture, age, class, religion, and handicapping conditions.
ELA 5. Literature HS 1. Select, read, listen to, view, and respond thoughtfully to both classic and contemporary texts recognized for quality and literary merit.
ELA 5. Literature HS 2. Describe and discuss archetypal human experiences that appear in literature and other texts from around the world.
ELA 5. Literature HS 3. Analyze how the tensions among characters, communities, themes, and issues in literature and other texts reflect the substance of the human experience.
ELA 5. Literature HS 4. Analyze how cultures interact with one another in literature and other texts, and describe the consequences of the interaction as it relates to our common heritage.
ELA 5. Literature HS 5. Analyze and evaluate the authenticity of the portrayal of various societies and cultures in literature and other texts. An example is critiquing print and non-print accounts of historical and contemporary social issues. 
Standard 6 - VOICE
ELA 6. Voice EE 1. Identify elements of effective communication that influence the quality of their interactions with others. Examples include use of facial expression, word choice, and articulation.
ELA 6. Voice EE 2. Experiment with the various voices they use when they speak and write for different purposes and audiences.
ELA 6. Voice EE 3. Explore works of different authors, speakers, and illustrators to determine how they present ideas and feelings to evoke different responses.
ELA 6. Voice EE 4. Develop a sense of personal voice by explaining their selection of materials for different purposes and audiences. Examples include portfolios, displays, and literacy interviews.
ELA 6. Voice LE 1. Practice using elements of effective communication to enhance their relationships in their school and communities. Examples include enunciation of terms, use of humor, and use of emphasis.
ELA 6. Voice LE 2. Explain the importance of developing confidence and a unique presence or voice in their own oral and written communication.
ELA 6. Voice LE 3. Identify the style and characteristics of individual authors, speakers, and illustrators and how they shape text and influence their audiences’ of terms, use of humor, and use of emphasis.
ELA 6. Voice LE 4. Reveal personal voice by explaining growth in learning and accomplishment through their selection of materials for different purposes and audiences. Examples include portfolios, displays, literacy interviews, and submissions for publications.
ELA 6. Voice MS 1. Analyze their use of elements of effective communication that impact their relationships in their schools, families, and communities. Examples include use of pauses, suspense, and elaboration.
ELA 6. Voice MS 2. Demonstrate their ability to use different voices in oral and written communication to persuade, inform, entertain, and inspire their audiences.
ELA 6. Voice MS 3. Compare and contrast the style and characteristics of individual authors, speakers, and illustrators and how they shape text and influence their audiences’of pauses, suspense, and elaboration.
ELA 6. Voice MS 4. Document and enhance a developing voice through multiple media. Examples include reflections for their portfolios, audio and video tapes, and submissions for publications.
ELA 6. Voice HS 1. Assess their use of elements of effective communication in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts. Examples include use of pacing, repetition, and emotion.
ELA 6. Voice HS 2. Evaluate the power of using multiple voices in their oral and written communication to persuade, inform, entertain, and inspire their audiences.
ELA 6. Voice HS 3. Analyze the style and characteristics of authors, actors, and artists of classics and masterpieces to determine why these voices endure.
ELA 6. Voice HS 4. Document and enhance a developing voice with authentic writings for different audiences and purposes. Examples include portfolios, video productions, submissions for competitions or publications, individual introspections, and applications for employment and higher education.
Standard 7 - SKILLS & PROCESSES
ELA 7. Skills & Processes EE 1. Use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning. Examples include retelling, predicting, generating questions, examining picture cues, analyzing phonetically, discussing with peers, and using text cues.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes EE 2. Monitor their progress while beginning to use a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes EE 3. Reflect on their emerging literacy, set goals, and make appropriate choices throughout the learning process as they develop the ability to regulate their learning.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes EE 4. Begin to develop and use strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing a variety of text forms. Examples include identifying characteristics of their audience, mapping, and proofreading.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes LE 1. Use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning. Examples include retelling, predicting, generating questions, mapping, examining picture cues, analyzing word structure, discussing with peers, analyzing phonetically, and using context and text structure.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes LE 2. Monitor their progress while using a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes LE 3. Apply new learning by forming questions and setting learning goals that will aid in self-regulation and reflection on their developing literacy.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes LE 4. Develop and use a variety of strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing different forms of texts for specific purposes. Examples include brainstorming, revising with peers, sensitivity to audience, and strategies appropriate for purposes, such as informing, persuading, entertaining, and inspiring.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes MS 1. Use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning. Examples include generating questions, studying vocabulary, analyzing mood and tone, recognizing how creators of text use and represent information, and matching form to content.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes MS 2. Monitor their progress while using a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning, and develop strategies to deal with new communication needs.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes MS 3. Reflect on their own developing literacy, set learning goals, and evaluate their progress.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes MS 4. Demonstrate a variety of strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing several different forms of texts for specific purposes. Examples include persuading a particular audience to take action and capturing feelings through poetry.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes HS 1. Use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning. Examples include generating questions; scanning for specific information related to research questions; analyzing tone and voice; and representing content through summarizing, clustering, and mapping.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes HS 2. Monitor their progress while using a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning, and demonstrate flexible use of strategies across a wide range of situations.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes HS 3. Reflect on their understanding of literacy, assess their developing ability, set personal learning goals, create strategies for attaining those goals, and take responsibility for their literacy development.
ELA 7. Skills & Processes HS 4. Demonstrate flexibility in using strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing complex texts in a variety of genre, and describe the relationship between form and meaning. Examples include preparing text for publication and presentation and using strategies appropriate for purposes, such as editorializing an opinion, and developing and justifying a personal perspective on a controversial issue.
Standard 8 - GENRE & CRAFT OF LANGUAGE
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language EE 1. Identify and use mechanics that enhance and clarify understanding. Examples include using conventional punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, as well as approximations of conventional spelling, and restating key ideas in oral messages.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language EE 2. Explore how the characteristics of various narrative genre and story elements can be used to convey ideas and perspectives. Examples include character, setting, and problem in poetry, drama, and folktales.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language EE 3. Explore how the characteristics of various informational genre (e.g., show-and-tell, trade books, textbooks, and dictionaries) and elements of expository text structure (e.g., organizational patterns, major ideas, and details) can be used to convey ideas.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language EE 4. Identify and use aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator to formulate and express their ideas artistically. Examples include dialogue, characterization, conflict, organization, diction, color, and shape.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language EE 5. Explore how the characteristics of various oral, visual, and written texts (e.g., videos, CD-ROM stories, books on tape, and trade books) and the textual aids they employ (e.g., illustrations, tables of contents, and headings/titles) are used to convey meaning.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language LE 1. Identify and use mechanics that enhance and clarify understanding. Examples include sentence structure, paragraphing, appropriate punctuation, grammatical constructions, conventional spelling, and relating in sequence an account of an oral or visual experience.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language LE 2. Identify and use elements of various narrative genre and story elements to convey ideas and perspectives. Examples include theme, plot, conflict, and characterization in poetry, drama, story telling, historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language LE 3. Identify and use characteristics of various informational genre (e.g., periodicals, public television programs, textbooks, and encyclopedias) and elements of expository text structure (e.g., organizational patterns, supporting details, and major ideas) to convey ideas.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language LE 4. Identify and use aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator to formulate and express their ideas artistically. Examples include intonation, hues, design, perspective, dialogue, characterization, metaphor, simile, and points of view. 
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language LE 5. Describe and use the characteristics of various oral, visual, and written texts (e.g., films, library databases, atlases, and speeches) and the textual aids they employ (e.g., footnotes, menus, addresses, graphs, and figures) to convey meaning.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language MS 1. Select and use mechanics that enhance and clarify understanding. Examples include paragraphing, organizational patterns, variety in sentence structure, appropriate punctuation, grammatical constructions, conventional spelling, and the use of connective devices, such as previews and reviews.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language MS 2. Describe and use characteristics of various narrative genre and elements of narrative technique to convey ideas and perspectives. Examples include foreshadowing and flashback in poetry, science fiction, short stories, and novels.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language MS 3. Describe and use characteristics of various informational genre (e.g., biographies, newspapers, brochures, and persuasive arguments and essays) and elements of expository text structure (e.g., multiple patterns of organization, relational links, and central purposes) to convey ideas. 
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language MS 4. Identify and use aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator to formulate and express their ideas artistically. Examples include color and composition, flashback, multi-dimensional characters, pacing, appropriate use of details, strong verbs, language that inspires, and effective leads.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language MS 5. Explain how the characteristics of various oral, visual, and written texts (e.g., videos, hypertext, glossaries, textbooks, and speeches) and the textual aids they employ (e.g., subheadings/titles, charts, and indexes) are used to convey meaning.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language HS 1. Identify and use selectively mechanics that facilitate understanding. Examples include organizational patterns, documentation of sources, appropriate punctuation, grammatical constructions, conventional spelling, and the use of connective devices, such as transitions and paraphrasing an oral message completely and accurately.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language HS 2. Describe and use characteristics of various narrative genre and complex elements of narrative technique to convey ideas and perspectives. Examples include use of symbol, motifs, and function of minor characters in epics, satire, and drama.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language HS 3. Describe and use characteristics of informational genre (e.g., manuals, briefings, documentaries, and research presentations) and complex elements of expository texts (e.g., thesis statement, supporting ideas, and authoritative and/or statistical evidence) to convey ideas.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language HS 4. Identify and use aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator to formulate and express their ideas artistically. Examples include imagery, irony, multiple points of view, complex dialogue, aesthetics, and persuasive techniques.
ELA 8. Genre & Craft of Language HS 5. Describe and use the characteristics of various oral, visual, and written texts (e.g., debate, drama, primary documents, and documentaries) and the textual aids they employ (e.g., prefaces, appendices, lighting effects, and microfiche headings) to convey meaning and inspire audiences.
Standard 9 - DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding EE 1. Explore and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts. Examples include new friendships and life in the neighborhood.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding EE 2. Identify and categorize key ideas, concepts, and perspectives found in texts.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding EE 3. Draw conclusions based on their understanding of differing views presented in text.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding LE 1. Explore and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts. Examples include exploration, discovery, and formation of personal relationships.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding LE 2. Draw parallels and contrasts among key ideas, concepts, and varied perspectives found in multiple texts.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding LE 3. Use conclusions based on their understanding of differing views presented in text to support a position.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding MS 1. Explore and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts. Examples include coming of age, rights and responsibilities, group and individual roles, conflict and cooperation, creativity, and resourcefulness.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding MS 2. Synthesize content from multiple texts representing varied perspectives in order to formulate principles and generalizations.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding MS 3. Develop a thesis using key concepts, supporting evidence, and logical argument.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding HS 1. Analyze and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts. Examples include human interaction with the environment, conflict and change, relationships with others, and self-discovery.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding HS 2. Synthesize from multiple texts representing varied perspectives, and apply the principles and generalizations needed to investigate and confront complex issues and problems.
ELA 9. Depth of Understanding HS 3. Develop and extend a thesis by analyzing differing perspectives and resolving inconsistencies in logic in order to support a position.
Standard 10 - IDEAS IN ACTION
ELA 10. Ideas in Action EE 1. Make connections between key ideas in literature and other texts and their own lives.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action EE 2. Demonstrate their developing literacy by using text to enhance their daily lives. Examples include reading with a parent, discussing a favorite text, writing to a friend or relative about an experience, and creating a visual representation of an important idea.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action EE 3. Use oral, written, and visual texts to identify and explore school and community issues and problems, and discuss how one individual or group can make a difference. Examples include responding orally, artistically, or in writing about an issue or problem they have studied and/or experienced.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action LE 1. Identify how their own experiences influence their understanding of key ideas in literature and other texts.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action LE 2. Combine skills to reveal their strengthening literacy. Examples include writing and illustrating a text, reading and then orally analyzing a text, and listening to and then summarizing a presentation.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action LE 3. Use oral, written, and visual texts to research how individuals have had an impact on people in their community and their nation. Examples include creating texts to inform others about school or community issues and problems.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action MS 1. Analyze themes and central ideas in literature and other texts in relation to issues in their own lives.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action MS 2. Perform the daily functions of a literate individual. Examples include acquiring information from multiple sources and then evaluating, organizing, and communicating it in various contexts.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action MS 3. Use oral, written, and visual texts to identify and research issues of importance that confront adolescents, their community, their nation, and the world. Examples include using research findings to organize and create texts to persuade others to take a particular position or to alter their course of action with regard to a particular school/ community issue or problem. 
ELA 10. Ideas in Action HS 1. Use themes and central ideas in literature and other texts to generate solutions to problems and formulate perspectives on issues in their own lives.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action HS 2. Function as literate individuals in varied contexts within their lives in and beyond the classroom. Examples include using text resources while thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, and reasoning in complex situations.
ELA 10. Ideas in Action HS 3. Utilize the persuasive power of text as an instrument of change in their community, their nation, and the world. Examples include identifying a community issue and designing an authentic project using oral, written, and visual texts to promote social action.
Standard 11 - INQUIRY AND RESEARCH
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research EE 1. Generate questions about important issues that affect them or topics about which they are curious, and use discussion to narrow questions for further exploration.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research EE 2. Identify and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, library classification systems, encyclopedias, atlases, word processing programs, and electronic media.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research EE 3. Organize and interpret information to draw conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research EE 4. Develop and present conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem. Examples include skits, plays, songs, and personal or creative stories.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research LE 1. Generate questions about important issues that affect them or topics about which they are curious, and use discussion to narrow questions for research.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research LE 2. Identify and use the kinds of resources that are most useful and most readily available for the particular questions or topics they wish to investigate. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, icons/ headings, hypertext, storage addresses, CD-ROM/laser disks, electronic mail, and library catalogue databases.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research LE 3. Organize and analyze information to draw conclusions and implications based on their investigation of an issue or problem.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research LE 4. Using multiple media, develop and present a short presentation to communicate conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem. Examples include charts, posters, transparencies, audio tapes, videos, and diagrams.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research MS 1. Generate questions about important issues that affect them or topics about which they are curious; narrow the questions to a clear focus; and create a thesis or a hypothesis.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research MS 2. Explain and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, icons/headings, hypertext, storage addresses, CD-ROM/laser disks, electronic mail, and library catalogue databases.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research MS 3. Organize, analyze, and synthesize information to draw conclusions and implications based on their investigation of an issue or problem.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research MS 4. Use different means of developing and presenting conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem to an identified audience. Examples include election ballots, hypertext, and magazines and booklets including graphics.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research HS 1. Generate questions about important issues that affect them or society, or topics about which they are curious; narrow the questions to a clear focus; and create a thesis or a hypothesis.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research HS 2. Determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, prefaces, appendices, icons/headings, hypertext, menus and addresses, Internet and electronic mail, CD-ROM/laser disks, microfiche, and library and interlibrary catalogue databases.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research HS 3. Synthesize and evaluate information to draw conclusions and implications based on their investigation of an issue or problem.
ELA 11. Inquiry and Research HS 4. Research and select the medium and format to be used to present conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem. Examples include satire, parody, multimedia presentations, plays, and mock trials.
Standard 12 - CRITICAL STANDARDS
ELA 12. Critical Standards EE 1. Identify the qualities of their own oral, visual, and written texts that help them communicate effectively for different purposes. Examples include content, styles, and organizational devices, such as the use of a chronological sequence in the telling of a story.
ELA 12. Critical Standards EE 2. Discuss individual and shared standards used for different purposes.
ELA 12. Critical Standards EE 3. Discuss choices in reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing that reflect aesthetic qualities, such as rhyme, rhythm of the language, or repetition.
ELA 12. Critical Standards EE 4. Create a collection of personal work selected according to both individual and shared criteria, reflecting on the merit of each selection.
ELA 12. Critical Standards EE 5. Recognize that the style and substance of a message reflect the values of a communicator.
ELA 12. Critical Standards LE 1. Develop individual standards for effective communication for different purposes, and compare them to their own oral, visual, and written texts. An example is evaluating a project report in terms of personal standards for content, style, and organization.
ELA 12. Critical Standards LE 2. Develop and apply both individual and shared standards based on exemplary works created for varied purposes and contexts.
ELA 12. Critical Standards LE 3. Demonstrate preferences in reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing based on aesthetic qualities, and explain their choices.
ELA 12. Critical Standards LE 4. Create a collection of personal work selected according to both individual and shared criteria, judging the merit of each selection.
ELA 12. Critical Standards LE 5. Develop standards to analyze how the style and substance of personal messages reflect the values of a communicator.
ELA 12. Critical Standards MS 1. Differentiate sets of standards for individual use according to the purpose of the communication context. An example is maintaining different sets of individual standards when creating texts for formal and informal situations.
ELA 12. Critical Standards MS 2. Demonstrate understanding of individual, shared, and academic standards used for different purposes and contexts.
ELA 12. Critical Standards MS 3. Develop critical standards based on aesthetic qualities, and use them to explain choices in reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing. 
ELA 12. Critical Standards MS 4. Create a collection of personal work based on individual, shared, and academic standards, reflecting on the merit of each selection.
ELA 12. Critical Standards MS 5. Refine their own standards to evaluate personal and public communications within a responsible and ethical system for the expression of ideas.
ELA 12. Critical Standards HS 1. Apply sets of standards for individual use according to the purpose of the communication context. An example is comparing and contrasting standards in the evaluation of a popular movie, television program, article, or presentation on the same topic.
ELA 12. Critical Standards HS 2. Analyze and apply individual, shared, and academic standards in various contexts.
ELA 12. Critical Standards HS 3. Use literary history, tradition, theory, terminology, and other critical standards to develop and justify judgments about the craft and significance of oral, visual, and written texts.
ELA 12. Critical Standards HS 4. Create a collection of personal work based on individual, shared, and academic standards, justifying judgments about the craft and significance of each selection.
ELA 12. Critical Standards HS 5. Apply diverse standards (e.g. rhetorical and societal) to evaluate whether a communication is truthful, responsible, and ethical for a specific context.