National Language Arts Standards
NL-ENG.K-12.4 COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
NL-ENG.K-12.5 COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
California State Standards
You can find your own state standards by clicking HERE.
Kindergarten
Reading Comprehension
Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
2.2 Use pictures and context to make predictions about story content.
2.3 Connect to life experiences the information and events in texts.
2.4 Retell familiar stories.
2.5 Ask and answer questions about essential elements of a text.
Listening & Speaking
2.0 Speaking Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests, demonstrating command of the organization and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.
Using the listening and speaking strategies of kindergarten outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0, students:
2.1 Describe people, places, things (e.g., size, color, shape), locations, and actions.
2.2 Recite short poems, rhymes, and songs.
2.3 Relate an experience or creative story in a logical sequence
First Grade
Reading Comprehension
Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
2.2 Respond to who, what, when, where, and how questions.
2.3 Follow one-step written instructions.
2.4 Use context to resolve ambiguities about word and sentence meanings.
2.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a text by identifying key words (i.e., signpost words).
2.6 Relate prior knowledge to textual information.
2.7 Retell the central ideas of simple expository or narrative passages.
Literary Response & Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.1 Identify and describe the elements of plot, setting, and character(s) in a story, as well as the story's beginning, middle, and ending.
3.2 Describe the roles of authors and illustrators and their contributions to print materials.
3.3 Recollect, talk, and write about books read during the school year.
Second Grade
Writing Applications
2.1 Write brief narratives based on their experiences:
1. Move through a logical sequence of events.
2. Describe the setting, characters, objects, and events in detail.
2.2 Write a friendly letter complete with the date, salutation, body, closing, and signature.
Third Grade
Written & Oral English Language Conventions
Grammar
1.2 Identify subjects and verbs that are in agreement and identify and use pronouns, adjectives, compound words, and articles correctly in writing and speaking.
1.3 Identify and use past, present, and future verb tenses properly in writing and speaking.
1.4 Identify and use subjects and verbs correctly in speaking and writing simple sentences.
Listening & Speaking
Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
1.5 Organize ideas chronologically or around major points of information.
1.6 Provide a beginning, a middle, and an end, including concrete details that develop a central idea.
1.7 Use clear and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas and establish the tone.
1.8 Clarify and enhance oral presentations through the use of appropriate props (e.g., objects, pictures, charts).
1.9 Read prose and poetry aloud with fluency, rhythm, and pace, using appropriate intonation and vocal patterns to emphasize important passages of the text being read.
Fourth Grade
Literary Response & Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2 Identify the main events of the plot, their causes, and the influence of each event on future actions.
3.3 Use knowledge of the situation and setting and of a character's traits and motivations to determine the causes for that character's actions.
3.4 Compare and contrast tales from different cultures by tracing the exploits of one character type and develop theories to account for similar tales in diverse cultures (e.g., trickster tales).
3.5 Define figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification) and identify its use in literary works.
Fifth Grade
Literary Reponse & Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2 Identify the main problem or conflict of the plot and explain how it is resolved.
3.3 Contrast the actions, motives (e.g., loyalty, selfishness, conscientiousness), and appearances of characters in a work of fiction and discuss the importance of the contrasts to the plot or theme.
3.4 Understand that theme refers to the meaning or moral of a selection and recognize themes (whether implied or stated directly) in sample works.
Writing Applications
2.2 Write responses to literature:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of a literary work.
2. Support judgments through references to the text and to prior knowledge.
3. Develop interpretations that exhibit careful reading and understanding.
Sixth Grade
Literary Reponse & Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2 Analyze the effect of the qualities of the character (e.g., courage or cowardice, ambition or laziness) on the plot and the resolution of the conflict.
3.3 Analyze the influence of setting on the problem and its resolution.
3.4 Define how tone or meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.
3.5 Identify the speaker and recognize the difference between first-and third-person narration (e.g., autobiography compared with biography).
3.6 Identify and analyze features of themes conveyed through characters, actions, and images.
3.7 Explain the effects of common literary devices (e.g., symbolism, imagery, metaphor) in a variety of fictional and nonfictional texts.
Writing Strategies
Research and Technology
1.4 Use organizational features of electronic text (e.g., bulletin boards, databases, keyword searches, e-mail addresses) to locate information.
1.5 Compose documents with appropriate formatting by using word-processing skills and principles of design (e.g., margins, tabs, spacing, columns, page orientation).