ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS

A A student should be able to speak and write well for a variety of purposes and audiences.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. apply elements of effective writing and speaking; these elements include ideas, organization, vocabulary, sentence structure, and personal style;
2. in writing, demonstrate skills in sentence and paragraph structure, including grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation;
3. in speaking, demonstrate skills in volume, intonation, and clarity;
4. write and speak well to inform, to describe, to entertain, to persuade, and to clarify thinking in a variety of formats, including technical communication;
5. revise, edit, and publish the student's own writing as appropriate;
6. when appropriate, use visual techniques to communicate ideas; these techniques may include role playing, body language, mime, sign language, graphics, Braille, art, and dance;
7. communicate ideas using varied tools of electronic technology; and
8. evaluate the student's own speaking and writing and that of others using high standards.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. comprehend meaning from written text and oral and visual information by applying a variety of reading, listening, and viewing strategies; these strategies include phonic, context, and vocabulary cues in reading, critical viewing, and active listening;
2. reflect on, analyze, and evaluate a variety of oral, written, and visual information and experiences, including discussions, lectures, art, movies, television, technical materials, and literature; and
3. relate what the student views, reads, and hears to practical purposes in the student's own life, to the world outside, and to other texts and experiences.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. make choices about a project after examining a range of possibilities;
2. organize a project by
   1. understanding directions;
   2. making and keeping deadlines; and
   3. seeking, selecting, and using relevant resources;
3. select and use appropriate decision-making processes;
4. set high standards for project quality; and
5. when working on a collaborative project,
   1. take responsibility for individual contributions to the project;
   2. share ideas and workloads;
   3. incorporate individual talents and perspectives;
   4. work effectively with others as an active participant and as a responsive audience; and
   5. evaluate the processes and work of self and others.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. develop a position by
   1. reflecting on personal experiences, prior knowledge, and new information;
   2. formulating and refining questions;
   3. identifying a variety of pertinent sources of information;
   4. analyzing and synthesizing information; and
   5. determining an author's purposes;
2. evaluate the validity, objectivity, reliability, and quality of information read, heard, and seen;
3. give credit and cite references as appropriate; and
4. explain and defend a position orally, in writing, and with visual aids as appropriate.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. use information, both oral and written, and literature of many types and cultures to understand self and others;
2. evaluate content from the speaker's or author's perspective;
3. recognize bias in all forms of communication; and
4. recognize the communication styles of different cultures and their possible effects on others.