Standard 2: Speaking & Writing

Students will read and listen to oral, written and electronically produced texts and performances, relate texts and performances to their own lives, and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language for self-expression and artistic creation.

Key Idea:

Speaking & Writing for literary response involves presenting interpretations, analysis, and reactions to the content and language of a text. Speaking and writing for literary expression involves producing imaginative texts that use language and text structures that are inventive and often multilayered.

Elementary

• present personal responses to literature that make reference to the plot, characters, ideas, vocabulary, and text structure
• explain the meaning of literary works with some attention to meanings beyond the literal level
• create their own stories, poems, and songs using the elements of the literature they have read and appropriate vocabulary
• observe the conventions of grammar and usage, spelling, and punctuation

Intermediate

• present responses to and interpretations of literature, making reference to the literary elements found in the text and connections with their personal knowledge and experience
• produce interpretations of literary works that identify different levels of meaning and comment on their significance and effect
• write stories, poems, literary essays, and plays that observe the conventions of the genre and contain interesting and effective language and voice
• use standard English effectively

Commencement

• present responses to and interpretations of works of recognized literary merit with references to the principal features of the genre, the period, and literary tradition, and drawing on their personal experiences and knowledge
• produce literary interpretations that explicate the multiple layers of meaning
• write original pieces in a variety of literary forms, correctly using the conventions of the genre and using structure and vocabulary to achieve an effect
• use standard English skillfully and with an individual style

• Standard 2: Listening and Reading