ELA Content Standards
Standard 1- Students will use written and oral English appropriate for various purposes and audiences.
Standard One recognizes that students communicate ideas primarily through writing and speaking.
In order to meet the standard students should:
• be aware of the factors which influence the effectiveness of their writing and speaking (e.g., audience, purpose, form).
• develop their capacity for organizing and supporting their thinking for a specific audience.
• develop a facility of language (e.g., word choice, style, sentence formation, conventions) which will allow them to communicate effectively.
• transfer their written and oral language proficiency to authentic settings.
As a result, teachers should develop real-world; authentic opportunities for learning that require students to demonstrate their communication proficiency, both written and oral.
Standard 2- Students will construct, examine, and extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through listening, reading, and viewing.
ELA Content Standard Two recognizes that effective listening, reading or viewing requires three processes: constructing, examining, and extending meaning from text.
The teaching of reading as a process is on- going: as a text becomes more rigorous, it is imperative that teachers continue teaching reading strategies at all levels.
In order to meet this standard, students should:
• determine meaning by using word recognition skills, reading strategies, prior knowledge, and textual clues.
• interpret text(s) through critical analysis, evaluation, and reasoning.
• extend meaning by transferring information gained to authentic situations (e.g., make decisions, solve problems, complete tasks, create products, enjoy literary experiences).
Designing their instruction with scientifically-based reading research, teachers should develop real-world, authentic opportunities for learning that enable students to become independent readers, listeners, and viewers.
Standard 3- Students will access, organize, and evaluate information gained through listening, reading, and viewing.
ELA Content Standard Three recognizes that in today’s information-rich and technology based world, students must be able to access, organize, and evaluate information in order to inform their thinking.
In order to meet this standard, students should be able to:
• identify the question/issue/topic
• locate and verify reliable sources
• select appropriate information from these sources
• evaluate the information found
• synthesize information to determine what has been learned
As a result, teachers should design real-world, authentic opportunities for developing students’
• reading literacy (becoming an avid and capable reader).
• technology literacy (becoming a skilled user of technology tools).
• information literacy (becoming an organized investigator, a critical and creative thinker, an effective communicator, and a responsible information user).
Standard 4- Students will use literary knowledge accessed through print and visual media to connect self to society and culture.
ELA Content Standard Four recognizes that print and visual media can provide rich and timeless insights into key themes, dilemmas, and challenges faced in life.
In order to meet this standard, students should respond to print and visual media by:
• making inferences and drawing conclusions.
• making connections to self, to other texts, and to the world.
• seeking a variety of other literary texts and media as a result of literary
experiences.
• using texts as resources for understanding social, cultural, and political issues.
As a result, teachers should provide students exposure to a broad range of literature from various cultures, genres, and time periods; enabling them to find personal relevance in their reading, to use literature as a resource for shaping decisions, and to recognize literary merit.
Complete ELA Clarifications document can be found at: http://www.doe.k12.de.us/infosuites/staff/ci/content_areas/files/ela/ELA%20Clarifications.pdf
ELA 5th Grade Learning Focused Strategies (2005)Theme / Selection Comprehension Skill/Strategy / Theme Enduring Understandings / Theme Essential Question(s)
One—Nature’s Fury
A. Earthquake Terror
B. Eye of the Storm
C. Volcanoes
D. Connecting and Comparing Literature: Night of the Twisters & The Blizzard
E. Tall Tales / A. Making Inferences; Sequence of Events
B. Question; Making Connections; Text Organization
C. Question; Monitor/Clarify; Infer; Sequence of Events; Text Organization; Categorize/Classify
D. Monitor/Clarify; Infer; Sequence of Events; Text Organization; Categorize & Classify
E. Visualizations; Summarize; Sequence of Events; Text Organization; Categorize & Classify / · Good readers may use many strategies that work, and they quickly try another one when the one they are using doesn’t work. They not only know many different strategies, but they never get stuck in persisting with one that isn’t working.
· The impact of a text on a reader is influenced by the reader’s experience.
· The reader’s interaction with text changes with time and experience.
· Good readers employ strategies to help them understand text. / · What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of text?
· What do you do when you do not understand everything in the text?
· How do you know a piece of text is worth reading more than once?
· Why read fiction? Can a fictional story be ‘true”? What is the relationship between “fiction” and “truth”?
· What is a story: How are stories from other places and times about me? Must a good story have a moral? Must a story have heroes and villains? Should a story or fairy tale teach you something?
· What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of text?
· What do you do when you do not understand everything in a text?
Two— Give it All You’ve Got
A. Figure Skating, Michelle Kwan
B. Talent Show: La Bamba
C. The Fear Place
D. Mae Jemison
E. Connecting and Comparing Literature: Iditarod Dream & Me and the Moon Bounce Kid
F. Poetry / A. Evaluate; Summarize; Fact/Opinion
B. Evaluate; Summarize; Story Structure
C. Infer; Monitor/Clarify; Predicting Outcomes
D. Infer; Monitor/Clarify; Predicting Outcomes; Topic, Main Idea and Supporting Details
E. Monitor/Clarify; Making Connections; Story Structure
F. Infer; Understanding Poetry / · Good readers may use many strategies that work, and they quickly try another one when the one they are using doesn’t work. They not only know many different strategies, but they never get stuck in persisting with one that isn’t working.
· Good readers are never afraid or embarrassed to admit when they don’t understand. Asking questions-of a text, of a teacher, of another reader-is what good readers do.
· Good readers employ strategies to help them understand text.
· No opinion is privileged, but some are better than others.
· Authors combine facts and opinion to communicate perspectives and information.
· The impact of a text on a reader is influenced by the reader’s experience.
· The reader’s interaction with text changes with time and experience. / · What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of text?
· Why read? What can we learn from print? Can all of our experiences be put into words? Does literature primarily reflect culture or shape it? To what extent is written text conservative and to what extent dangerous?
· From whose viewpoint are we reading? What is the author’s angle or perspective? What should we do when texts or authors disagree?
· What’s new and what’s old here? Have we run across this idea before? So what? Does it matter?
Three – Voices of the Revolution
A. And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
B. Katie’s Trunk
C. James Forten
D. Tolliver’s Secret
E. Mary Redmond, John Darragh and Dicey Langston: SPIES / A. Evaluate; Author’s Viewpoint
B. Summarize; Evaluate; Cause/Effect
C. Question; Summarize; Following Directions
D. Questioning; Compare/Contrast; Summarize
E. Summarize; Making Connections; Cause/Effect / · Sometimes the author makes his/her meaning plain; often however, a reader must dig beneath the” surface” of the text to find the meaning.
· Good readers are never afraid or embarrassed to admit when they don’t understand. Asking questions of a text, of a teacher, of another reader-is what good readers do.
· Different types of texts (e.g., narrative, mystery, biography, persuasive) have different structures. Understanding a text’s structure helps a reader better understand its meaning.
· Different authors use techniques/strategies to convince readers. Readers must apply criteria to evaluate credibility of information. / · What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of text?
· What lies beneath the surface of this text: (In fiction: symbol and theme; in nonfiction texts: assumptions, biases, preconceptions). How much does this matter? How can I uncover it?
· How can a reader recognize truth in text?
Four – Person to Person
A. Mariah Keeps Cool
B. Mom’s Best Friend
C. Yang and Her Secret Admirers
D. Dear Mr. Henshaw
E. Connecting and Comparing Literature: Summer on Wheels & The Wright Brothers
F. The Case of the Runaway Appetite: A Joe Giles Mystery / A. Infer; Text to Self, Text to World Connections; Problem Solving and Decision Making
B. Monitor/Clarify; Making Connections; Noting Details
C. Questioning; Compare/Contrast; Summarize; Making Generalizations
D. Strategy Review; Making Inferences
E. Questioning; Skill Review
F. Monitor/Clarify; Visualizations; Understanding Plays / · Just because you read the text doesn’t mean you understood it. Just because you had a strong response to the text doesn’t mean you understood it either.
· Different readers may respond to the same text in different ways. The better responses are those that provide greater insight into the text and/or the issues raised.
· The impact of a text on a reader is influenced by the reader’s experience.
· The reader’s interaction with text changes with time and experience. / · What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of texts?
· What’s new and what’s old here? Have we run across this idea before? So what? Does it matter?
· What lies beneath the surface of this text: (In fiction: symbol and theme; nonfiction texts: assumptions, biases, preconceptions). How much does this matter? How can I uncover it?
· What does a reader gain from re-visiting or re-reading a text?
· How do you know a piece of text is worth reading more than once?
Five – One Land, Many Trails
A. A Boy Called Slow
B. Pioneer Girl
C. Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
D. Elena
E. Connecting and Comparing Literature: Journey to Nowhere & Robert Farnsworth
F. Focus on Genre: Autobiographies / A. Infer; Drawing Conclusions
B. Questioning; Propaganda
C. Evaluate; Propaganda; Making Judgments
D. Summarize; Story Structure
E. Evaluate; Making Connections; Review Theme 5 Skills
F. Evaluate; Story Structure; Making Inferences; Noting Details / · Great literature provides rich and timeless insights into the key themes, dilemmas, and challenges that we face. Literature presents complex stories in which the inner and outer lives of human beings are revealed.
· Everyone is entitled to an opinion about what a text means, but the text supports some interpretations more than others.
· Understanding of text develops over time and experience.
· No opinion is privileged, but some are better than others. / · What makes a great book or story great? What is the relationship between popularity and greatness in literature? Is a “good read” always a great book?
· To what extent does it matter that you do not understand the whole text?
· Under what conditions is an interpretation of text valid?
· How does literature reveal us to ourselves?
Six – Animal Encounters
A. The Grizzly Bear Family Book
B. The Golden Lion Tamarian Comes Home
C. My Side of the Mountain
D. Comparing and Connecting Literature: Interrupted Journey & The Rabbit’s Judgment / A. Evaluate; Making Generalizations
B. Monitor/Clarify; Drawing Conclusions; Topic, Main Idea and Supporting Details
C. Summarize; Making Connections; Drawing Conclusions
D. Monitor/Clarify; Making Generalizations; Topic, Main Idea and Details; Making Judgments; Author’s Viewpoint / · Reading for meaning often requires imagining conversation with and questioning of the author. You must consider and respond- very different from passively accepting or instantly liking or disliking.
· Different types of text (e.g. narrative, mystery, biography, expository, persuasive) have different structures. Understanding a text’s structure helps a reader better understand its meaning.
· A good story has a pattern or plan.
· Good readers employ strategies to help them understand text. / · Why read? What can we learn from print? Can all of our experiences be put into words? Does literature primarily reflect culture or shape it? To what extent is written text conservative and to what extent dangerous?
· What is the author saying? How do I know? What is the gist? What is the main idea? How do I read between the lines? How do I know I am getting the point and not merely imposing my views and experiences?
· What do good readers do? What do they do when they do not understand? How do texts differ? How should I read different types of text?
· What is the relationship between reader and writer?