Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

choose and read books at the appropriate reading level for a variety of purposes;

demonstrate knowledge of subject-specific terms;

read for specific purposes, with teacher guidance;

locate and evaluate resource materials for guided research and career exploration, with teacher guidance.

Reading and Responding

By the end of this course, students will:

read and respond to a variety of fiction and non-fiction materials selected for study and pleasure (e.g., participate in literature study groups; give short book talks; write book reports);

identify a writer’s or character’s point of view in short novels;

describe the function of various story elements in short works of fiction (e.g., character, plot, setting);

identify elements of style appropriate to various text forms (e.g., salutations and closings in letters, summaries in short reports, dialogue in narratives).

By the end of this course, students will:

demonstrate knowledge of some key specialized terms in different subject areas (e.g., photosynthesis, osmosis, membrane in biology);

use dictionaries and a thesaurus to build vocabulary.

By the end of this course, students will:

extract information from specific features/sections of grade-level texts (e.g., footnotes, chapter summaries, tables, illustrated figures);

recognize patterns of word structure and derivation and use them to determine meaning (e.g.,origin/original/originate);

demonstrate comprehension of passages containing complex verb forms, with teacher guidance (e.g., sections of grade-level texts containing the past-perfect tense, passive verbs, or conditional structures).

By the end of this course, students will:

select appropriate materials for research on classroom topics and for career planning (e.g., select the career pamphlets or databases that are most relevant for a particular research purpose);

compare information from various sources for classroom research (e.g., print and non-print magazines and newspapers, CD-ROMs);

take notes from a variety of sources, using graphic organizers such as charts and tables as a guide.

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

read and respond to literature, with teacher guidance;

use a range of strategies to build vocabulary;

extract information from grade-level texts, with teacher guidance;

locate, evaluate, and use information from a variety of sources for academic, social, and career purposes, including guided research projects.

Reading and Responding

By the end of this course, students will:

identify some common cross-cultural themes in literature (e.g., coming of age, creation of the universe, quests);

identify and explain literary elements and devices in teacher- selected texts (e.g., theme, character development, plot, setting, simile, metaphor);

make inferences about a writer’s point of view or a character’s actions;

choose and respond to personal reading material comparable in scope and difficulty to some materials selected by their English- speaking peers;

explain their reasons for choosing specific authors and genres (e.g., in book reviews, in literature study groups).

By the end of this course, students will:

use a variety of strategies to build vocabulary (e.g., check learner dictionaries; keep a personal list of words and phrases; seek opportunities to use new words);

infer the meaning of many Latin-based words from context and from prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.

By the end of this course, students will:

recognize the elements and purposes of different forms of texts and participate in discussions about them (e.g., subject-area texts, short stories, magazine articles);

skim texts for main ideas and overall organization (e.g., skim a section of a reference book to evaluate its relevance for a specific project; skim brochures for career information);

scan texts for specific information (e.g., locate required information in a reference book; locate information about specific aptitudes or qualifications in a career brochure);

determine meaning in texts that contain complex grammatical elements (e.g., conditionals, modals, passive verbs);

recognize transition words and phrases used to indicate definition of terms, classification, sequence, summary, conclusion, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and hypothesis (e.g., that is, in conclusion, by contrast, as a result, possibly);

identify facts, opinions, and perspectives in text.

By the end of this course, students will:

use knowledge of a variety of conventions of formal texts to locate information (e.g., footnotes, end notes, and lists);

compare ideas and information from a variety of sources for guided research projects (e.g., sources such as print and non- print magazines and newspapers, CD-ROMs, the Internet);

summarize main points for guided research projects, using graphic organizers (e.g., charts, tables,Venndiagrams).

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

read and respond to literature;

choose and respond to personal reading material comparable in scope and difficulty to materials chosen by their English- speaking peers;

extract information from a variety of texts used in subject classrooms;

demonstrate understanding of the elements of a range of fiction and non-fiction forms of writing;

use independently a variety of strategies to build vocabulary;

use a range of research strategies independently to gather information for a variety of purposes.

Reading and Responding

By the end of this course, students will:

use knowledge of the personal, historical, and cultural backgrounds of authors and audiences to explain themes, situations, and characters represented in texts;

demonstrate understanding of some cultural references in Western and American literature (e.g., biblical allusions; references to Greek mythology, Native mythology);

compare the treatment of common literary themes in a range of fiction materials (e.g., themes of a golden age, intergenerational conflict, reconciliation);

analyze literature and classify it by type and theme (e.g., romance, tragedy, comedy, satire);

use a variety of methods to demonstrate understanding of their personal reading (e.g., give a book talk; write a diary entry for a character in a novel; explain the point of view of the author of a magazine essay);

write a critical review of a book or article.

By the end of this course, students will:

use a variety of strategies to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words (e.g., consult a dictionary; infer meaning from context; relate unfamiliar words to cognates or word families);

use a thesaurus to expand vocabulary and explain its use to others;

use all elements of an entry in an advanced learner dictionary and explain their use to others (e.g., elements such as word- class labels, definitions, examples, usage labels, pronunciation keys);

explain why they prefer one dictionary to another;

take advantage of opportunities to use new words (e.g., in written responses to literature; in classroom discussions).

By the end of this course, students will:

use a variety of cues to extract meaning from a textbook (e.g., cues such as headings, subheadings, graphics, questions, sidebars, summaries);

identify characteristic elements of a range of literary genres, including essays, short stories, novels, poetry, and drama (e.g., elements such as imagery, personification, figures of speech);

use reading strategies effectively before, during, and after reading and explain their use to others (e.g., strategies such as previewing text, predicting main ideas or outcomes, listing unanswered questions while reading);

analyze how informational texts present facts and ideas (e.g., compare how newspapers and periodicals from around the world present information and use format, layout, titles, and styles of address to appeal to specific audiences);

record needed information from texts used in classroom subjects (e.g., take point-form notes; fill in graphic organizers).

By the end of this course, students will:

gather information from a variety of sources, including electronic databases, websites, and online libraries;

synthesize and evaluate the information gathered from a variety of sources for an independent research project;

prepare a bibliography of print and electronic sources consulted during research;

acknowledge borrowed information, ideas, and quotations.