Language Arts Exit

1. Prewriting: Uses a variety of prewriting strategies (makes outlines, uses published pieces as writing models, constructs critical standards, brainstorms, builds background knowledge)
2. Drafting and Revising: Uses a variety of strategies to draft and revise written work (analyzes and clarifies meaning, makes structural and syntactical changes, uses an organizational scheme, uses sensory words and figurative language, rethinks and rewrites for different audiences and purposes, checks for a consistent point of view and for transitions between paragraphs, uses direct feedback to revise compositions)
3. Editing and Publishing: Uses a variety of strategies to edit and publish written work (eliminates slang; edits for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling at a developmentally appropriate level; proofreads using reference materials, word processor, and other resources; edits for clarity, word choice, and language usage; uses a word processor to publish written work)
4. Evaluates own and others' writing (applies criteria generated by self and others, uses self-assessment to set and achieve goals as a writer, participates in peer response groups)
5. Uses style and structure appropriate for specific audiences (public, private) and purposes (to entertain, to influence, to inform)
6. Writes expository compositions (presents information that reflects knowledge about the topic of the report; organizes and presents information in a logical manner)
7. Writes narrative accounts (engages the reader by establishing a context and otherwise developing reader interest; establishes a situation, plot, persona, point of view, setting, and conflict; creates an organizational structure that balances and unifies all narrative aspects of the story; uses sensory details and concrete language to develop plot and character; excludes extraneous details and inconsistencies; develops complex characters; uses a range of strategies such as dialogue, tension or suspense, naming, and specific narrative action such as movement, gestures, and expressions)
8. Writes compositions about autobiographical incidents (explores the significance and personal importance of the incident; uses details to provide a context for the incident; reveals personal attitude towards the incident; presents details in a logical manner)
9. Writes biographical sketches (illustrates the subject's character using narrative and descriptive strategies such as relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description, background description, and comparison or contrast to other people; reveals the significance of the subject to the writer; presents details in a logical manner)
10. Writes persuasive compositions (engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a persona, and otherwise developing reader interest; develops a controlling idea that conveys a judgment; creates and organizes a structure appropriate to the needs and interests of a specific audience; arranges details, reasons, examples, and/or anecdotes persuasively; excludes information and arguments that are irrelevant; anticipates and addresses reader concerns and counterarguments; supports arguments with detailed evidence, citing sources of information as appropriate)
11. Writes compositions that speculate on problems/solutions (identifies and defines a problem in a way appropriate to the intended audience, describes at least one solution, presents logical and well-supported reasons)
12. Writes in response to literature (anticipates and answers a reader's questions, responds to significant issues in a log or journal, answers discussion questions, writes a summary of a book, describes an initial impression of a text, connects knowledge from a text with personal knowledge)
13. Writes business letters and letters of request and response (uses business letter format; states purposeof the letter; relates opinions, problems, requests, or compliments; uses precise vocabulary)

1. Uses descriptive language that clarifies and enhances ideas (establishes tone and mood, uses figurative language)
2. Uses paragraph form in writing(arranges sentences in sequential order, uses supporting and follow-up sentences)
3. Uses a variety of sentence structures to express expanded ideas
4. Uses some explicit transitional devices

1. Uses simple and compound sentences in written compositions
2. Uses pronouns in written compositions (relative, demonstrative, personal [i.e., possessive, subject, object])
3. Uses nouns in written compositions (forms possessives of nouns; forms irregular plural nouns)
4. Uses verbs in written compositions (uses linking and auxiliary verbs, verb phrases, and correct forms of regular and irregular verbs)
5. Uses adjectives in written compositions (pronominal, positive, comparative, superlative)
6. Uses adverbs in written compositions (chooses between forms of adjectives and adverbs)
7. Uses prepositions and coordinating conjunctions in written compositions (uses prepositional phrases, combines and embeds ideas using conjunctions)
8. Uses interjections in written compositions
9. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (spells high frequency, commonly misspelled words from appropriate grade-level list, uses a dictionary and other resources to spell words, uses common prefixes and suffixes as aids to spelling, applies rules for irregular structural changes)
10. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (titles [books, stories, poems, magazines, newspapers, songs, works of art], proper nouns [team names, companies, schools and institutions, departments of government, religions, school subjects], proper adjectives, nationalities, brand names of products)
11. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (uses exclamation marks after exclamatory sentences and interjections; uses periods in decimals, dollars, and cents; uses commas with nouns of address and after mild interjections; uses quotation marks with poems, songs, and chapters; uses colons in business letter salutations; uses hyphens to divide words between syllables at the end of a line)
12. Uses standard format in written compositions (includes footnotes, uses italics [for titles of books, magazines, plays, movies])

1. Gathers data for research topics from interviews (prepares and asks relevant questions, makes notes of responses, compiles responses)
2. Uses the card catalog to locate books for research topics
3. Uses the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and other indexes to gather information for research topics
4. Uses a computer catalog to gather information for research topics
5. Uses a variety of resource materials to gather information for research topics (magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, schedules, journals, phone directories, globes, atlases, almanacs)
6. Determines the appropriateness of an information source for a research topic
7. Organizes information and ideas from multiple sources in systematic ways (time lines, outlines, notes, graphic representations)
8. Writes research papers (separates information into major components based on a set of criteria, examines critical relationships between and among elements of a research topic, integrates a variety of information into a whole)

1. Applies reading skills and strategies to a variety of literary passages and texts (fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fantasies, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, tall tales, supernatural tales)
2. Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of literary forms and genres (fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fantasies, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, tall tales, supernatural tales)
3. Identifies specific questions of personal importance and seeks to answer them through literature
4. Recognizes complex elements of plot (cause-and-effect relationships, conflicts, resolutions)
5. Recognizes devices used to develop characters in literary texts (character traits, motivations, changes, and stereotypes)
6. Makes inferences and draws conclusions about story elements (main and subordinate characters, events, setting, theme, missing details)
7. Understands complex, extended dialogues and how they relate to a story
8. Recognizes the use of specific literary devices (foreshadowing, flashback, progressive and digressive time, suspense, figurative language, description, metaphor)
9. Understands the effects of the author's style on a literary text (how it elicits an emotional response from the reader)
10. Identifies point of view in a literary text (distinguishes between first and third person)
11. Explains how the motives of characters or the causes for complex events in texts are similar to and different from those in his or her own life
12. Understands that people respond differently to literature

1. Applies reading skills and strategies to a variety of informational texts (textbooks, biographical sketches, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines, essays, primary source historical documents, editorials, news stories, periodicals, bus routes, catalogs)
2. Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of informational texts (textbooks, biographical sketches, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines, essays, primary source historical documents, editorials, news stories, periodiocals, bus routes, catalogs)
3. Summarizes and paraphrases complex, explicit hierarchic structures in informational texts
4. Identifies information-organizing strategies that are personally most useful
5. Uses new information to adjust and extend personal knowledge base
6. Identifies techniques used to convey viewpoint (word choice, language structure, context)
7. Seeks peer help to understand information
8. Draws conclusions and makes inferences based on explicit and implicit information in texts
9. Differentiates between fact and opinion in informational texts

1. Plays a variety of roles in group discussions (active listener, discussion leader, facilitator)
2. Asks questions to seek elaboration and clarification of ideas
3. Listens in order to understand a speaker's topic, purpose, and perspective
4. Conveys a clear main point when speaking to others and stays on the topic being discussed
5. Presents simple prepared reports to the class
6. Uses explicit techniques for oral presentations (modulation of voice, inflection, tempo, enunciation, physical gestures, eye contact, posture)
7. Identifies strategies used by speakers in oral presentations (persuasive techniques, verbal and nonverbal messages, the use of fact and opinion)
8. Listens to and understands the impact of nonprint media on media consumers ( e.g., persuasive messages and advertising in media, the presence of media in people's daily lives, the role of the media in forming opinions, media as a source of entertainment and information)
9. Identifies the ways in which language differs across a variety of social situations

Appendix for Language Arts Standard 13
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Greek and Roman Mythology

Classic American Literature

Classic World Literature

Modern/Contemporary Fiction

Poetry and Poets

Nonfiction - Information

Nonfiction - Biography

Citation Log