Iowa K–6 english language arts standards

Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.

Form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/ (e.g., dog, dogs; wish, wishes).

Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).

Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.

Recognize and name end punctuation.

Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).

Use the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-, -ful, -less) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.

Sort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.

Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites (antonyms).

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at school that are colorful).

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action (e.g., walk, march, strut, prance) by acting out the meanings.

Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.

Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Count, produce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.

Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final phonemes (sounds) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

Recognize and produce rhyming words.

Demonstrate basic knowledge of phoneme-grapheme (one-to-one, letter-sound) correspondences by producing the primary and most frequent sounds for each consonant.

Associate the long and short sounds with common graphemes (spellings) for the five major vowels.

Read common high-frequency words with accuracy and automaticity (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).

Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

Orally read grade-appropriate text with purpose and understanding.

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words and phrases in a text.

Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Not applicable to literature)

With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.

Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others, staying on topic, and taking turns speaking).

Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.

Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.

Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly when retelling familiar stories or reciting poems, nursery rhymes or lines of a play.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Form many upper and lowercase manuscript letters and numerals correctly with proportion, line awareness, and spacing (between words and letters).

Begin to produce manuscript writing.

Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.

Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).

Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything).

Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

Use frequently occurring adjectives.

Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).

Use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).

Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).

Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

Capitalize dates and names of people.

Use end punctuation for sentences.

Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.

Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Use known individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).

Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.

Identify frequently occurring root words (e.g., look) and their inflectional forms (e.g., looks, looked, looking).

Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.

Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings.

Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and being read to, and responding to texts, including frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).

Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

Distinguish long from short vowel phonemes (sounds) in single-syllable words.

Orally produce single-syllable words by blending phonemes (sounds), including consonant blends.

Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final phonemes (sounds) in spoken singlesyllable words.

Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual phonemes (sounds).

Decode and encode one-syllable words with common consonant digraphs.

Decode and encode regularly spelled one-syllable words with closed syllables and consonant blends.

Decode and encode regularly spelled one-syllable words with final-e (VCe) patterns. Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words with common vowel team patterns that represent long vowel sounds.

Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.

Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables (may include closed and open syllables).

With prompting and support, decode and encode words with inflectional suffixes (e.g., -ed, -ing, -s/es, -er).

Read grade-appropriate high frequency words with accuracy and automaticity. (RF.1.3) (DOK 1,2)

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Use decoding skills to self-correct word recognition, rereading as necessary.

Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.

Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.

Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Not applicable to literature)

Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

With prompting and support, read stories and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others, staying on topic, and taking turns speaking).

Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.

Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.

Ask and answer questions about the main topic and key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.

Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Speak audibly and in complete sentences when retelling familiar stories or reciting poems, nursery rhymes or lines of a play. (See grade 1 Language standard 1 for specific expectations.)

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Form upper and lowercase manuscript letters and numerals correctly with proportion, line awareness, and spacing (between words and letters).

Produce manuscript writing with accuracy and automaticity.

Use collective nouns (e.g., group).

Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish).

Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).

Use adjectives and adverbs.

Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).

Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.

Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.

Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.

Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).

Consult reference materials (e.g., beginning dictionaries) as needed, to check and correct spellings.

Compare formal and informal uses of English.

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).

Use a known root word to identify the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).

Use reference materials (e.g., glossaries and beginning dictionaries) to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy).

Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).

Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other kids are happy that makes me happy).

Decode and encode long and short vowels in regularly-spelled one-syllable words.

Decode and encode common vowel teams. With prompting and support, decode and encode additional vowel teams.

Decode and encode regularly spelled two-syllable or multisyllabic words.

Decode and encode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

With prompting and support, decode and encode words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

Read grade-appropriate high frequency words with accuracy and automaticity.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Use decoding skills to self-correct word recognition, rereading as necessary.

Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.

Identify the main purpose of a text, including the author’s point of view and/or perspective.

Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) and details contribute to and clarify a text.

Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details using evidence from the text.

Recount and determine the central message, lesson or moral of stories, including but not limited to fables and folktales from diverse cultures.

Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges, drawing on key details.

Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story, how the middle progresses the plot, and how the ending concludes the action.

Acknowledge differences in the points of view (perspective) of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a story to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Not applicable to literature)

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story by different authors or from different cultures.

By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others, staying on topic, and taking turns speaking).

Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.

Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.

Describe the main topic and recount key details from a text read aloud, information presented orally, or other media.

Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

Recount an experience or tell a story with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly in complete sentences.

Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Speak audibly and in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification when retelling familiar stories or reciting poems, nursery rhymes or lines of a play. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

With guidance and support from adults and collaboration with peers, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing.

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Produce manuscript writing with accuracy and automaticity.

Begin to produce cursive writing.

Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).

Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.

Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

Use commas in addresses.

Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

Form and use possessives.

Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).

Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.

Consult reference materials (e.g., beginning dictionaries) as needed to check and correct spellings.

Choose words and phrases for effect.

Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).

Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).

Use reference materials (e.g., glossaries or beginning dictionaries) to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).

Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night, we went looking for them).

Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes.

Decode and encode words with common Latin suffixes.

Decode and encode multisyllable words.

Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words with accuracy and automaticity.

Read grade level text with purpose and understanding.

Use decoding skills to self-correct word recognition, rereading as necessary.

Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

Compare and contrast their own point of view and/or perspective from that of the author of a text.

Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Recount and determine the central message, lesson, or moral of fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

Compare and contrast their own point of view (perspective) from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character, or setting).

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Not applicable to literature)

Compare and contrast the settings, plots, and themes of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).

By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

Ask relevant and clarifying questions of information presented, stay on topic, and link their own ideas and understanding to the remarks of others.

Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.

Speak audibly and in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation, such as when performing dramatic readings or presentations, in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

Provide reasons that support the opinion.

Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.

Provide a concluding statement or section.

Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.

Provide a concluding statement or section.

Use an organizational structure to establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.

Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

Provide a sense of closure.

With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

With scaffolding and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 3.)

With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

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.

Form all upper and lowercase cursive letters efficiently and proportionately.

Produce cursive writing with accuracy and automaticity.

Use relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why).

Form and use the progressive (e.g., I was walking; I am walking; I will be walking) verb tenses.

Use modal auxiliaries (e.g., can, may, must) to convey various conditions.

Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional patterns.

Form and use prepositional phrases.

Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting fragments and run-ons.

Correctly use homophones (e.g., to, too, two, there, their).

Use correct capitalization.

Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.

Spell correctly, consulting references as needed.

Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.

Choose punctuation for effect.

Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion).

Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).

Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses) to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context.

Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

Demonstrate an understanding of synonyms and antonyms.

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

Accurately read unfamiliar multisyllabic words in and out of context using sound-spelling correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes).

Orally read grade-level texts (e.g., poetry and prose) with accuracy, automaticity, and expression at an appropriate rate to support comprehension, self-correcting as necessary.

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific details from the text.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.

Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to comprehension of the text.

Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences.

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters.

Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

Compare and contrast the point of view and/or perspective from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

Make connections between a literary text and a visual/oral presentation of the text (e.g., mood, aspects of characters, or setting).

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Not applicable to literature)

Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in literary text.

By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. (RL.4.10)

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.