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Framework Standards
Reading
Reading is a process that includes demonstrating comprehension and showing evidence of a warranted and responsible interpretation of the text. "Comprehension" means getting the gist of a text. It is most frequently illustrated by demonstrating an understanding of the text as a whole; identifying complexities presented in the structure of the text; and extracting salient information from the text. In providing evidence of a responsible interpretation, students may make connections between parts of a text, among several texts, and between texts and other experiences; make extensions and applications of a text; and examine texts critically and evaluatively.
The student reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents each year. The quality and complexity of the materials to be read are illustrated in the sample reading list. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and online materials. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.
The students reads and comprehends at least four books (or book equivalents) about one issue or subject, or four books by a single writer, or four books in one genre, and produces evidence of reading that:
- makes and supports warranted and responsible assertions about the texts;
- supports assertions with elaborated and convincing evidence;
- draws the texts together to compare and contrast themes, characters, and ideas;
- makes perceptive and well developed connections;
- evaluates writing strategies and elements of the author’s craft.
- The student reads and comprehends informational materials to develop understanding and expertise and produces written or oral work that:
Writing
Writing is a process through which a writer shapes language to communicate effectively. Writing often develops through a series of initial plans and multiple drafts and through access to informed feedback and response. Purpose, audience, and context contribute to the form and substance of writing as well as to its style, tone, and stance.
The student produces a response to literature that:
The student produces a narrative account (fictional or autobiographical that:
The student produces a narrative procedure that:
The student produces a persuasive essay that:
The student produces a reflective essay that:
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing
Speaking, listening, and viewing are fundamental processes which people use to express, explore, and learn about ideas. The functions of speaking, listening, and viewing include gathering and sharing information; persuading others; expressing and understanding ideas; coordinating activities with others; and selecting and critically analyzing messages. The contexts of these communication functions include one-to-one conferences, small group interactions, large audiences and meetings, and interactions with broadcast media.
The student participates in one-to-one conferences with a teacher, paraprofessional, or adult volunteer, in which the student:
The student participates in group meetings, in which the student:
The student prepares and delivers an individual presentation, in which the student:
The student makes informed judgments about television, radio, and film productions; that is, the student:
The student listens to and analyzes a public speaking performance; that is, the student:
Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language
Having control of the conventions and grammar of the English language means having the ability to represent oneself appropriately with regard to current standards of correctness (e.g., spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, capitalization, subject-verb agreement). Usage involves the appropriate application of conventions and grammar in both written and spoken formats.
The student independently and habitually demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work.
Literature
Literature consists of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and essays as distinguished from instructional, expository, or journalistic writing.
The student responds to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes; that is, the student:
- makes thematic connections among literary texts, public discourse, and media;
- evaluates the impact of author’s decisions regarding word choice, style, content, and literary elements;
- analyzes literary merit;
- explains the effect of point of view;
- makes inferences and draws conclusions about fictional and non-fictional contexts, events, characters, settings, themes, and styles;
- interprets the effect of literary devices, such as figurative language, allusion, diction, dialogue, description, symbolism;
- evaluates the stance of a writer in shaping the presentation of a subject;
- interprets ambiguities, subtleties, contradictions, ironies, and nuances;
- understands the role of tone in presenting literature (both fictional and non-fictional);
- demonstrates how literary works (both fictional and non-fictional) reflect the culture that shaped them.
- The student produces work in a least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.
Public Documents
A public document is a document that focuses on civic issues or matters of public policy at the community level or beyond. These documents, ranging from speeches to editorials to radio and television spots to pamphlets, do at least one of the following: take issue with a controversial public policy; suggest an alternative course of action; analyze and defend a contemporary public policy; define a public problem and suggest policy.
The student critiques public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse, including:
- effective use of argument;
- use of the power of anecdotes;
- appeal to audiences both friendly and hostile to the position presented;
- use of emotionally laden words and imagery;
- citing of appropriate references or authorities.
- The student produces public documents, in which the student:
- exhibits an awareness of the importance of precise word choice and the power of imagery and/or anecdotes;
- utilizes and recognizes the power of logical arguments, arguments based on appealing to a reader’s emotions, and arguments dependent upon the writer’s persona;
- uses arguments that are appropriate in terms of the knowledge, values, and degree of understanding of the intended audience;
- uses a range of strategies to appeal to readers.
Functional Documents
A functional document is a document that exists in order to get things done, usually within a relatively limited setting such as a social club, a business, an office, a church, o r an agency. These often take the form of memoranda, letters, instructions, and statements of organizational policies. Functional documents require that particular attention be paid to issues of layout, presentation, and particularly to audience and the way different audiences will interact with the documents.
The student critiques functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents, including:
- visual appeal, e.g., format, graphics, white space, headers;
- logic of the sequence in which the directions are given;
- logic of the sequence in which the directions are given;
- awareness of possible reader misunderstandings.
- The student produces functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose, in which the student:
- reports, organizes, and conveys information and ideas accurately;
- includes relevant narrative details, such as scenarios, definitions, and examples;
- anticipates readers’ problems, mistakes, and misunderstandings;
- uses a variety of formatting techniques, such as headings, subordinate terms, foregrounding of main ideas, hierarchical structures, graphics, and color;
- establishes a persona that is consistent with the document’s purpose;
- employs word choices that are consistent with the persona and appropriate for purpose;
- employs word choices that are consistent with the persona and appropriate for the intended audience.
Additional Standards
E 1 d
The student demonstrates familiarity with a variety of public documents (i.e. documents that focus on civic issues or matters of public policy at the community level and beyond) and produces written or oral work that does one or more of the following:
- Identifies the social contexts of the document
- Identifies the author’s purpose and stance
- Analyzes the arguments and positions advanced and the evidence offered in support of them, or formulates an argument and offers evidence to support it
- Examines or makes use of the appeal of a document to audiences both friendly and hostile to the position presented
- Identifies or uses commonly used persuasive techniques
E 1 e
The student demonstrates familiarity with a variety of functional documents (i.e. documents that exist in order to get things done) and produces written or oral work that does one or more of the following:
- Identifies the institutional context of the document
- Identifies the sequence of activities needed to carry out a procedure
- Analyzes or uses the formatting techniques used to make a document user-friendly
- Identifies any information that is either extraneous or missing in terms of audiences and purpose or makes effective use of relevant information.
E 2 d
The student produces a narrative account (fictional or autobiographical) that:
- Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a point of view, and otherwise developing reader interest;
- Establishes a situation, plot, point of view, setting, and conflict (and for autobiography, the significance of events and of conclusions that can be drawn from the events);
- Creates an organizing structure;
- Includes sensory details and concrete language to develop plot and character;
- Excludes extraneous details and inconsistencies
- Develops complex characters
- Uses a range of appropriate strategies, such as dialogue, tension or suspense, naming, and specific narrative action, e.g. movement, gestures, expressions;
- Provides a sense of closure to the writing.
E 2 e
The student produces a persuasive essay that:
- Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a point of view, and otherwise developing reader interest;
- Establishes a situation, plot, point of view, setting, and conflict (and for autobiography, the significance of events and of conclusions that can be drawn from the events);
- Creates an organizing structure;
- Includes sensory details and concrete language to develop plot and character;
- Excludes extraneous details and inconsistencies
- Develops complex characters
- Uses a range of appropriate strategies, such as dialogue, tension or suspense, naming, and specific narrative action, e.g. movement, gestures, expressions;
- Provides a sense of closure to the writing.
E 3 c
The student prepares and delivers an individual presentation in which the student:
- Shapes information to achieve a particular purpose and to appeal to the interest and background knowledge of audience members
- Shapes content and organization according to criteria for importance and impact rather than according to availability of information or resource materials
- Uses notes or other memory aids to structure the presentation
- Develops several main points relating to a single thesis
- Engages the audience with appropriate verbal cues and eye contact
- Projects a sense of individuality and personality in selecting and organizing content, and in delivery
E 3 d
The student makes informed judgments about television, radio, and film productions, that is, the student:
- Demonstrates an awareness of the presence of the media in the daily lives of most people
- Evaluates the role of the media in focusing attention and in forming opinions
- Judges the extent to which the media are a source of entertainment as well as a source of information
- Defines the role of advertising as part of media presentation.
E 4 a
The student demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. The student demonstrates control of:
- Grammar
- Paragraph structure
- Punctuation
- Sentence constructions
- Spelling
- Usage
E 4 b
The student analyzes and subsequently revises work to clarify or make it more effective in communication the intended message or thought. The student’s revisions should be made in the light of the purposes, audiences, and contexts that apply to the work.
Strategies for revision include:
- Adding or deleting details
- Adding or deleting explanations
- Clarifying difficult passages
- Rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to improve or clarify meaning
- Sharpening the focus
- Reconsidering the organizational structure.
E 5 b
The student produces work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.
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