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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 10-1962b

[40 Pa.B. 5903]
[Saturday, October 16, 2010]

[Continued from previous Web Page]

Language Progressive Skills, by Grade

 The following skills, marked with an asterisk (*) in Language standards 1-3, are particularly likely to require continued attention in higher grades as they are applied to increasingly sophisticated writing and speaking.

Grade(s)
Standard
3 4 5 6 7 8 9-10 11-12
L.3.1f. Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement. X X X X X X X X
L.3.3a. Choose words and phrases for effect. X X X X X X X X
L.4.1f. Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-ons. X X X X X X X
L.4.1g. Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to/too/two; there/their). X X X X X X X
L.4.3a. Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.* X X X
L.4.3b. Choose punctuation for effect. X X X X X X X
L.5.1d. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense. X X X X X X
L.5.2a. Use punctuation to separate items in a series.† X X X X
L.6.1c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person. X X X X X
L.6.1d. Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents). X X X X X
L.6.1e. Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others' writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language. X X X X X
L.6.2a. Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements. X X X X X
L.6.3a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.‡ X X X X
L.6.3b. Maintain consistency in style and tone. X X X X X
L.7.1c. Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers. X X X X
L.7.3a. Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy. X X X X
L.8.1d. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood. X X X
L.9-10.1a. Use parallel structure. X X

 * Subsumed by L.7.3a

 † Subsumed by L.9—10.1a

 ‡ Subsumed by L.11—12.3a

Standard 10: Range, Quality, and Complexity of Student Reading K-5

Measuring Text Complexity: Three Factors


Qualitative evaluation of the text: Levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

Quantitative evaluation of the text: Readability measures and other scores of text complexity

Matching reader to text and task: Reader variables (such as motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and task variables (such as purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed)

Note: More detailed information on text complexity and how it is measured is contained in Appendix A.

Range of Text Types for K-5

 Students in K-5 apply the Reading standards to the following range of text types, with texts selected from a broad range of cultures and periods.

Literature
Informational Text
Stories
Dramas
Poetry
Literary Nonfiction and Historical,
Scientific, and Technical Texts
Includes children's adventure stories, folktales, legends, fables, fantasy, realistic fiction, and myth Includes staged dialogue and brief familiar scenes Includes nursery rhymes and the subgenres of the narrative poem, limerick, and free verse poem Includes biographies and autobiographies; books about history, social studies, science, and the arts; technical texts, including directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps; and digital sources on a range of topics

Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, and Range of Student Reading K-5

Literature: Stories, Drama, Poetry Informational Texts: Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts
K1 Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff (traditional) (c1800)*
A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer (1967)
A Story, A Story by Gail E. Haley (1970)*
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola (1978)
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2004)*
My Five Senses by Aliki (1962)**
Truck by Donald Crews (1980)
I Read Signs by Tana Hoban (1987)
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (2003)*
Amazing Whales! by Sarah L. Thomson (2005)*
11 • ''Mix a Pancake'' by Christina G. Rossetti (1893)**
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater (1938)*
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1957)**
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (1971)**
Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (2006)
A Tree Is a Plant by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett (1960)**
Starfish by Edith Thacher Hurd (1962)
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros (1991)**
From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by James Graham Hale (2004)*
How People Learned to Fly by Fran Hodgkins and True Kelley (2007)*
2-3 • ''Who Has Seen the Wind?'' by Christina G. Rossetti (1893)
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (1952)*
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985)
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens (1995)
Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague (2001)
A Medieval Feast by Aliki (1983)
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons (1991)
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (1995)*
A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder by Walter Wick (1997)
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (2009)
4-5 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
• ''Casey at the Bat'' by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1888)
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley (1941)
• ''Zlateh the Goat'' by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1984)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009)
Discovering Mars: The Amazing Story of the Red Planet by Melvin Berger (1992)
Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms by Patricia Lauber (1996)
A History of US by Joy Hakim (2005)
Horses by Seymour Simon (2006)
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea by Sy Montgomery (2006)

Note: Given space limitations, the illustrative texts listed above are meant only to show individual titles that are representative of a wide range of topics and genres.

 (See Appendix B for excerpts of these and other texts illustrative of K-5 text complexity, quality, and range.) At a curricular or instructional level, within and across grade levels, texts need to be selected around topics or themes that generate knowledge and allow students to study those topics or themes in depth. On the next page is an example of progressions of texts building knowledge across grade levels.

1 Children at the kindergarten and grade 1 levels should be expected to read texts independently that have been specifically written to correlate to their reading level and their word knowledge. Many of the titles listed above are meant to supplement carefully structured independent reading with books to read along with a teacher or that are read aloud to students to build knowledge and cultivate a joy in reading.

Staying on Topic Within a Grade and Across Grades:
How to Build Knowledge Systematically in English Language Arts K-5

 Building knowledge systematically in English language arts is like giving children various pieces of a puzzle in each grade that, over time, will form one big picture. At a curricular or instructional level, texts—within and across grade levels—need to be selected around topics or themes that systematically develop the knowledge base of students. Within a grade level, there should be an adequate number of titles on a single topic that would allow children to study that topic for a sustained period. The knowledge children have learned about particular topics in early grade levels should then be expanded and developed in subsequent grade levels to ensure an increasingly deeper understanding of these topics. Children in the upper elementary grades will generally be expected to read these texts independently and reflect on them in writing. However, children in the early grades (particularly K-2) should participate in rich, structured conversations with an adult in response to the written texts that are read aloud, orally comparing and contrasting as well as analyzing and synthesizing, in the manner called for by the Standards.

 Preparation for reading complex informational texts should begin at the very earliest elementary school grades. What follows is one example that uses domain-specific nonfiction titles across grade levels to illustrate how curriculum designers and classroom teachers can infuse the English language arts block with rich, age-appropriate content knowledge and vocabulary in history/social studies, science, and the arts. Having students listen to informational read-alouds in the early grades helps lay the necessary foundation for students' reading and understanding of increasingly complex texts on their own in subsequent grades.

Exemplar Texts on a Topic Across Grades K
1
2-3
4-5
The Human Body
Students can begin learning about the human body starting in kindergarten and then review and extend their learning during each subsequent grade.
The five senses and associated body parts
• My Five Senses by Aliki (1989)
• Hearing by Maria Rius (1985)
• Sight by Maria Rius (1985)
• Smell by Maria Rius (1985)
• Taste by Maria Rius (1985)
• Touch by Maria Rius (1985)
Taking care of your body: Overview (hygiene, diet, exercise, rest)
• My Amazing Body: A First Look at Health & Fitness by Pat Thomas (2001)
• Get Up and Go! by Nancy Carlson (2008)
• Go Wash Up by Doering Tourville (2008)
• Sleep by Paul Showers (1997)
• Fuel the Body by Doering Tourville (2008)
Introduction to the systems of the human body and associated body parts
• Under Your Skin: Your Amazing Body by Mick Manning (2007)
• Me and My Amazing Body by Joan Sweeney (1999)
• The Human Body by Gallimard Jeunesse (2007)
• The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell (2008)
• First Encyclopedia of the Human Body by Fiona Chandler (2004)
Taking care of your body: Germs, diseases, and preventing illness
• Germs Make Me Sick by Marilyn Berger (1995)
• Tiny Life on Your Body by Christine Taylor-Butler (2005)
• Germ Stories by Arthur Kornberg (2007)
• All About Scabs by GenichiroYagu (1998)
Digestive and excretory systems
• What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers (1985)
• The Digestive System by Christine Taylor-Butler (2008)
• The Digestive System by Rebecca L. Johnson (2006)
• The Digestive System by Kristin Petrie (2007)
Taking care of your body: Healthy eating and nutrition
• Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell (1999)
• Showdown at the Food Pyramid by Rex Barron (2004) Muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems
• The Mighty Muscular and Skeletal Systems Crabtree Publishing (2009)
• Muscles by Seymour Simon (1998)
• Bones by Seymour Simon (1998)
• The Astounding Nervous System Crabtree Publishing (2009)
• The Nervous System by Joelle Riley (2004)
Circulatory system
• The Heart by Seymour Simon (2006)
• The Heart and Circulation by Carol Ballard (2005)
• The Circulatory System by Kristin Petrie (2007)
• The Amazing Circulatory System by John Burstein (2009) Respiratory system
• The Lungs by Seymour Simon (2007)
• The Respiratory System by Susan Glass (2004)
• The Respiratory System by Kristin Petrie (2007)
• The Remarkable Respiratory System by John Burstein (2009) Endocrine system
• The Endocrine System by Rebecca Olien (2006)
• The Exciting Endocrine System by John Burstein (2009)

STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

6-12

COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS ANCHOR STANDARDS FOR READING

 The grades 6-12 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. They correspond to the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.

Note on range and content of student reading

 To become college and career ready, students must grapple with works of exceptional craft and thought whose range extends across genres, cultures, and centuries. Such works offer profound insights into the human condition and serve as models for students' own thinking and writing. Along with high-quality contemporary works, these texts should be chosen from among seminal U.S. documents, the classics of American literature, and the timeless dramas of Shakespeare. Through wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction of steadily increasing sophistication, students gain a reservoir of literary and cultural knowledge, references, and images; the ability to evaluate intricate arguments; and the capacity to surmount the challenges posed by complex texts.

Key Ideas and Details

 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

 2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

 3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Craft and Structure

 4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

 5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

 6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.*

 8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

 9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

 10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

 *Please see ''Research to Build Knowledge'' in Writing and ''Comprehension and Collaboration'' in Speaking and Listening for additional standards relevant to gathering, assessing, and applying information from print and digital sources.

Reading Standards for Literature 6-12[RL]

 The following standards offer a focus for instruction each year and help ensure that students gain adequate exposure to a range of texts and tasks. Rigor is also infused through the requirement that students read increasingly complex texts through the grades. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year's grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.

Grade 6 students: Grade 7 students: Grade 8 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. 3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). 3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama. 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
5. Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot. 5. Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. 5. Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. 6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text. 6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they ''see'' and ''hear'' when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch. 7. Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film). 7. Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
8. (Not applicable to literature) 8. (Not applicable to literature) 8. (Not applicable to literature)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. 9. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. 9. Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Standards for Literature 6-12[RL]

 The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.

Grades 9-10 students: Grades 11-12 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 2. Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. 3. Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
5. Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. 5. Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. 6. Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden's ''MusÍmultiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
8. (Not applicable to literature) 8. (Not applicable to literature)
9. Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). 9. Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
10. By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11—CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11—CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12[RI]

Grade 6 students: Grade 7 students: Grade 8 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2. Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. 2. Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. 2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes). 3. Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events). 3. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
5. Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. 5. Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas. 5. Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.
6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text. 6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others. 6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. 7. Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium's portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words). 7. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
8. Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not. 8. Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims. 8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
9. Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person). 9. Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts. 9. Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12[RI]

 The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations-the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.

Grades 9-10 students: Grades 11-12 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 2. Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them. 3. Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
5. Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter). 5. Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose. 6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account. 7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning. 8. Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).
9. Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's ''Letter from Birmingham Jail''), including how they address related themes and concepts. 9. Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
10. By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS ANCHOR STANDARDS FOR WRITING

 The grades 6-12 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. They correspond to the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.

Note on range and content of student writing

 For students, writing is a key means of asserting and defending claims, showing what they know about a subject, and conveying what they have experienced, imagined, thought, and felt. To be college- and career- ready writers, students must take task, purpose, and audience into careful consideration, choosing words, information, structures, and formats deliberately. They need to know how to combine elements of different kinds of writing—for example, to use narrative strategies within argument and explanation within narrative—to produce complex and nuanced writing. They need to be able to use technology strategically when creating, refining, and collaborating on writing. They have to become adept at gathering information, evaluating sources, and citing material accurately, reporting findings from their research and analysis of sources in a clear and cogent manner. They must have the flexibility, concentration, and fluency to produce high-quality first-draft text under a tight deadline as well as the capacity to revisit and make improvements to a piece of writing over multiple drafts when circumstances encourage or require it.

Text Types and Purposes*

 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Production and Distribution of Writing

 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

 5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Range of Writing

 10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

 *These broad types of writing include many subgenres. See Appendix A for definitions of key writing types.

Writing Standards 6-12[W]

 The following standards for grades 6-12 offer a focus for instruction each year to help ensure that students gain adequate mastery of a range of skills and applications. Each year in their writing, students should demonstrate increasing sophistication in all aspects of language use, from vocabulary and syntax to the development and organization of ideas, and they should address increasingly demanding content and sources. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year's grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades. The expected growth in student writing ability is reflected both in the standards themselves and in the collection of annotated student writing samples in Appendix C.

Grade 6 students: Grade 7 students: Grade 8 students:
Text Types and Purposes
1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.
b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented.
1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.) 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.) 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 6 on page 53.) 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 7 on page 53.) 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 8 on page 53.)
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting. 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources. 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., ''Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres [e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories] in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics'').
b. Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., ''Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not'').
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature (e.g., ''Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history'').
b. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. ''Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims'').
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., ''Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new'').
b. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., ''Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced'').
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. 10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. 10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

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