New Jersey 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.

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.

Recognize and produce rhyming words.

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

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

Orally repeat multi-syllable words and pronounce the separate syllables.

Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). isolate and pronounce the initial, final, and medial sounds (phonemes) in spoken, single-syllable words, (simple syllables that do not include final /l/, /m/, /r/, or /x/ sounds and consonant blends).

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

Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing many of the most frequently used sounds of each consonant.

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

Read high-frequency words and grade level irregular words with automaticity.

Recognize the parts of high-frequency words that are regular and the parts that are irregular.

Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ (e.g., nap and tap; cat and cot).

Read emergent-reader texts (decodable texts, including words with one-to-one letter-sound correspondences) orally with sufficient decoding accuracy to support comprehension.

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.

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 affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, -ing) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.

Match upper and lowercase letters.

Write upper and lowercase letters, with reference to a model.

Write left to right and include a space between words.

Identify the letters used to represent vowel phonemes and those used to represent consonants, knowing that every syllable has a vowel.

Write a common grapheme (letter or letter group) for each phoneme.

Orally segment the phonemes in any single syllable, spoken word.

Representing phonemes, first to last, in simple words, using letters with a transparent relationship to sound (e.g., the “o” in “rope” may be spelled with a single letter, o).

Writing or selecting a missing initial or final consonant when spelling a CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) word.

Spelling VC (vowel-consonant) [at, in] and CVC [pet, mud] words with short vowel sounds.

Writing frequently used words accurately.

Attempting phonetic spellings of unknown words.

Writing initial and final consonant blends (must, slab, plump).

Repeat a sentence, identifying how many words are in the sentence.

Write simple sentences.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence, capitalize proper names, and include spaces between words.

Use end punctuation.

Use manipulatives or digital tools to construct complete sentences.

Write sentences with increasing complexity.

Supply the “who,” “is doing,” “what,” in a subject-verb-object sentence frame.

Match periods, question marks, and exclamation points to statements, questions, commands, and exclamations.

With support, distinguish between a complete sentence and a sentence fragment.

With support, write statements in response to questions, and questions transformed from statements, using conventional word order.

Elaborate a simple subject or simple predicate, in response to questions who, what, where, when, how, or why.

Use conjunctions appropriately in sentences (e.g., and, but, so, and because).

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

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and key details of an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

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

With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of 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, name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

Recognize common types of informational texts (e.g., biographies, recipes, how-to manuals) and identify features of print (e.g., front cover, back cover, and title page of a book).

With prompting and support, identify the central message and retell familiar literary texts, including key details (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a literary text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

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

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

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

Recognize common types of literary texts (e.g., storybooks, poems) and identify features of print (front cover, back cover, and title page of a book).

Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

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

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.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

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.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces on topics or texts (e.g., My favorite book is...).

Introduce a topic.

Develop the topic with at least two facts or other information and examples related to the topic, including pictures.

Establish a situation and/or introduce characters; organize an event sequence (beginning, middle, end).

Provide limited details of experiences, events, or characters.

Provide a reaction to the experiences or events.

With prompting and support, engage in brief but regular writing and drawing tasks

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

With prompts and support from adults, recognize that writing carries a message and should make sense to others.

With prompting and support, generate questions through shared research in response to a topic, text, or stimulus (e.g., event, photograph, video, book).

With prompting and support, develop knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Demonstrate mastery of the organization and basic features of print (including those listed under L.RF.K.1); recognize and understand the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.

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

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

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

Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs (two letters that represent one sound).

Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.

Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables using knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound.

Read high-frequency and grade-level irregular words with automaticity (e.g. fly, walk, old).

Recognize the parts of high-frequency words that are regular and the parts that are irregular.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

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

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

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

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.

Choose flexibly from an array of strategies to determine the meaning of words and phrases.

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

Write the upper and lowercase alphabets from memory.

Write a common grapheme (letter or letter group) for each phoneme.

Orally segment the phonemes in any single syllable, spoken word.

Recognize that each syllable is organized around a vowel sound.

Short vowels and single consonants.

Consonant graphemes including qu, x, and –ck; digraphs (thin, shop, when, much, sing); and doubled letters (off, will, mess).

Initial and final consonant blends (must, slab, plump).

Write sentences with increasing complexity.

Supply the “who,” “is doing,” “what,” in a subject-verb-object sentence frame.

Capitalize the first word of a sentence, days of the week, months, names of people, and proper names.

Match periods, question marks, and exclamation points to statements, questions, commands, and exclamations.

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

Distinguish between a complete sentence and a sentence fragment and supply the missing phrase or clause.

Write statements in response to questions, and questions transformed from statements, using conventional word order.

Elaborate a simple subject or simple predicate, in response to questions who, what, where, when, how, or why.

Use conjunctions appropriately in sentences (e.g., and, but, so, and because).

Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text and explain how that information is applied, with prompting as needed.

Determine main topic and retell a series of key details in informational texts (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

Ask and answer questions about key details in an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

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

Describe relationships among pieces of information (e.g., sequence of events, steps in a process, cause-effect and compare-contrast relationships) within a text.

With prompting and support, use text features (e.g., diagrams, tables, animations) to describe key ideas.

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

With prompting and support, explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, identifying various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text while drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

Determine central message and retell a sequence of events in literary texts (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

Ask and answer questions about key details in a literary text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

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

Describe characters, settings, and major event(s) in a story, using key details.

With prompting and support, use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

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

With prompting and support, explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information recognizing organization and features of literary texts (e.g., follows a story line, chronology of events, interprets illustrations) while drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

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.

Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

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

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

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.

Introduce an opinion.

Support the opinion with facts or other information and examples related to the topic.

Provide a conclusion.

Introduce a topic.

Develop the topic with facts or other information and examples related to the topic.

Provide a conclusion.

Using words and pictures, establish a situation and/or introduce characters; organize an event sequence.

Provide dialogue and/or description and details of experiences, events, or characters.

Use transitional words to manage the sequence of events.

Provide a reaction to the experiences or events.

Engage in discussion, drawing, and writing in brief but regular writing tasks.

With guidance and support from adults, gather and select information from multiple sources to answer a question or write about a topic.

With prompts and support, identify audience and purpose before writing.

With prompts and support, find and correct errors of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation after skills have been taught.

With prompting and support, generate questions through shared research about a topic and determine possible sources to obtain information on that topic.

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

Compare formal and informal uses of English.

Know spelling-sound correspondences for common vowel teams.

Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

Read high-frequency and grade-level irregular words with automaticity (e.g., friend, other, would).

Identify the parts of high-frequency words that are regular and the parts that are irregular.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

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

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

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).

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

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 as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).

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

Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.

Write legibly and with sufficient fluency to support composition.

Write the most common graphemes (letters or letter groups) for each phoneme, for example: i. Consonants: /s/ = s, ss, ce, ci, cy; /f/ = f, ff, ph; /k/ = c, k, -ckii. Vowels: /ō/ = o, oe, oa, ow; /ā/ = a, a_e, ai, ay, eigh.

Regular, single-syllable words that include: i. Position-based patterns (ch, -tch; k, -ck; -ge, -dge). ii. Complex consonant blends (scr, str, squ). iii. Less common vowel teams for long vowels (ow, oo, au, ou, ue). iv. Vowel-r combinations (turn, star, third, four/for). v. Contractions (we’ll; I’m; they’ve; don’t). vi. Homophones (bear, bare; past, passed). vii. Plurals and possessives (its, it’s).

Regular two- and three-syllable words that: i. Combine closed, open, vowel team, vowel –r and CVe syllables (compete; robot; violet; understand). ii. Are compounds comprising familiar parts (houseboat; yellowtail). iii. Include the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes (un, re, en; -ful, -ment, -less).

Words with suffixes that require: i. consonant doubling (penning, slimmed). ii. dropping silent-e (smiled, paving).

Most often used words in English: i. Irregular words (against, many, enough, does). ii. Pattern-based words (which, kind, have).

With modeling or prompting, separate run-on sentences and identify fragments, supplying a subject or predicate as necessary.

Capitalize holidays, product names and geographic names.

Supply adjectives in noun phrases to make them more precise or engaging.

Identify the verbs in clauses; form and use regular and irregular verbs for consistent use of past, present, and future tenses.

Punctuate dates, abbreviations, greetings and closings, initials, important words in a title, and items in a list.

Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.

With assistance, link sentences into a simple, cohesive paragraph with a main idea.

Describe and identify the logical connections of how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

Recount a text in oral and written form and determine main topic (in multi-paragraph informational text, focusing on specific paragraphs).

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in an informational text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Compare and contrast two informational versions of the same idea or topic by different authors or authors from different cultures.

Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in a sequence within a text.

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

Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author seeks to explore, answer, explain, or describe.

Describe the overall structure of a text and effectively use various text features (e.g., graphs, charts, images, captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information.

Recount a text in oral and written form and determine central message (in literary texts, e.g. fables and folktales from diverse cultures) .

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

Compare and contrast literary versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges using key details within a text.

With prompting and support, use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

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

Describe the overall structure of a text, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action, identifying how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

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 or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

Follow agreed-upon norms 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).

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

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

Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

Use multimedia; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Introduce an opinion.

Support the opinion with facts, definitions, concrete details, text evidence, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Provide a conclusion.

Introduce a topic clearly.

Develop a topic with facts definitions, concrete details, text evidence, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Provide a conclusion.

Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing characters; organize an event sequence.

Provide dialogue and description of experiences and events and/or show the responses of characters to situations.

Use transitional words to manage the sequence of events.

Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experience and events.

Provide a conclusion or sense of closure related to the narrated experiences or events.

Engage in both collaborative and independent writing tasks regularly, including extended and shorter time frames.

Prioritize information provided by different sources on the same topic while gathering ideas and planning to write about a topic.

Identify audience and purpose before writing.

Participate in self-evaluation of written work.

With feedback and digital or print tools such as a primary dictionary, find and correct errors.

Generate questions about a topic and locate related information from a reference source to obtain information on that topic through shared and independent research.

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases.

Choose words and phrases for effect.

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

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

Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

Decode multisyllable words.

Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

Analyze the parts of high-frequency words that are regular and the parts that are irregular.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

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

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

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).

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 glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Spell single syllable words with less common and complex graphemes (ough, augh; -old, -ind, -ost, -ild families).

Use digital or print tools such as a dictionary or thesaurus to check spellings of unknown words.

Identify language of word origin, as noted in dictionaries.

Spell singular and plural possessives (teacher’s; teachers’)

Change y to i (cried) in words with suffixes, when required

Spell regular two- and three-syllable words that:i. Combine all basic syllable types: closed, VCe, open, vowel team, vowel –r, Consonant-le. ii. Include common, transparent, prefixes and suffixes (e.g., re-, pre-, sub-, un-, dis-, mis-; -able, -ness, -ful) and suffix -tion.

Spell common words in English, including regular and irregular forms.

Improve communication of meaning by replacing weak verbs with stronger ones, and common nouns with precise nouns.

Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

Choose and maintain consistency of tense, writing nouns and verbs that agree in tense.

Use common regular and irregular plural forms, writing nouns and verbs that agree in number.

Use appropriate pronouns with clear referents.

Use periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks appropriately. (e.g., commas and quotation marks in dialogue, and commas in addresses).

Combine simple sentences into compound sentences, using conjunctions and, but, or, yet, and so.

Paraphrase a main idea or event in order to vary sentence structure and word use.

Organize ideas into paragraphs with main ideas and supporting details.

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

Recount in oral and written form the key details from a multi-paragraph informational text and explain how they support the main idea.

Ask and answer questions and make relevant connections to demonstrate understanding of an informational text, referring explicitly to textual evidence as the basis for the answers.

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

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.

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

Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.

Utilize and reference features of a text when writing or speaking about a text, using text features (e.g., graphics, images, captions, headings) and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate and integrate information relevant to a given topic efficiently. '

Recount in oral and written form key details from a text and explain how they support the theme (in literary texts, e.g., fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures).

Ask and answer questions and make relevant connections to demonstrate understanding of a literary text, referring explicitly to textual evidence as the basis for the answers.

Compare and contrast the elements (theme, settings, and plots) of literary texts written by the same author about similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).

Describe the development of individual character’s traits, motivations, or feelings and explain how their actions contribute to the plot within a text.

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).

Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

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

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

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

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.

Explicitly draw on previously read text or material and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

Follow agreed-upon norms 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 questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

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

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

Use multimedia to demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details

Introduce an opinion clearly.

Support the opinion with facts, definitions, reasons text evidence, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Link ideas within sections of information using transition words and phrases (e.g., then, because, also, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.

Provide a conclusion related to the opinion presented.

Introduce a topic clearly.

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and concrete details, text evidence, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Include text features (e.g.: illustrations, diagrams, captions) when useful to support comprehension.

Link ideas within sections of information using transition words and phrases (e.g., then, because, also, another, therefore).

Provide a conclusion related to the information or explanation presented.

Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; clearly organize an event sequence.

Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

Use transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events.

Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events.

Provide a conclusion or sense of closure that follows the narrated experiences or events.

Engage in independent and task-based writing for both short and extended periods of time, producing written work routinely.

Use discussion, books, or media resources to gather ideas, outline them, and prioritize the information to include while planning to write about a topic.

Identify audience, purpose, and intended length of composition before writing.

Consider writing as a process, including self-evaluation, revision and editing.

With adult and peer feedback, and digital or print tools such as a dictionary, thesaurus, and/or spell checker, find and correct errors and improve word choice.

Generate questions about a topic and independently locate related information from at least two reference sources (print and non-print) to obtain information on that topic.

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases.

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).

Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding and encoding words; use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

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

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

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

Determine the meaning of words and phrases that allude to significant characters found in literature.

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

Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).

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), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Analyze and spell multi-syllable words with the most common Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Write affixed words that involve a sound or spelling change in the base word.

Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

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