Standard 1—Language for Information and Understanding

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Key ideas are identified by numbers (1).
Performance indicators are identified by bullets.
Sample tasks are identified by triangles (s).

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Elementary Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Students:

• gather and interpret information from children’s reference books,magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams
• select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another
• select and use strategies they have been taught for note-taking, organizing, and categorizing information
• ask specific questions to clarify and extend meaning
• make appropriate and effective use of strategies to construct meaning from print, such as prior knowledge about a subject, structural and context clues, and an understanding of letter-sound relationships to decode difficult words
• support inferences about information and ideas with reference to text features, such as vocabulary and organizational patterns.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s accurately paraphrase what they have heard or read
s follow directions that involve a few steps
s ask for clarification of a classmate’s idea in a group discussion
s use concept maps, semantic webs, or outlines to organize information they have collected.

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Elementary Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

Students:

• present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports, stories, posters, and charts
• select a focus, organization, and point of view for oral and written presentations
• use a few traditional structures for conveying information such as chronological order, cause and effect, and similarity and difference
• use details, examples, anecdotes, or personal experiences to explain or clarify information
• include relevant information and exclude extraneous material
• use the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, and proofreading ( the "writing process") to produce well-constructed informational texts
• observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s write a short report on a topic in social studies using information from at least two different sources
s demonstrate the procedures for caring for a classroom pet using props or other visual aids as well as oral explanation
s revise early drafts of a report to make the information clearer to the audience
s use the vocabulary from their content area reading appropriately and with correct spelling
s produce brief summaries of chapters from text books, clearly indicating the most significant information and the reason for its importance.

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Intermediate Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Students:

• interpret and analyze information from textbooks and nonfiction books for young adults, as well as reference materials, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, graphs, charts, diagrams, and electronic data bases intended for a general audience
• compare and synthesize information from different sources
• use a wide variety of strategies for selecting, organizing, and categorizing information
• distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information and between fact and opinion
• relate new information to prior knowledge and experience
• understand and use the text features that make information accessible and usable, such as format, sequence, level of diction, and relevance of details.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s produce a summary of the information about a famous person found in a biography, encyclopedia, and textbook
s use facts and data from news articles and television reports in an oral report on a current event
s compile a bibliography of sources that are used in a research project
s take notes that record the main ideas and most significant supporting details of a lecture or speech.

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Intermediate Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

Students:

• produce oral and written reports on topics related to all school subjects
• establish an authoritative stance on the subject and provide references to establish the validity and verifiability of the information presented
• organize information according to an identifiable structure, such as compare/contrast or general to specific
• develop information with appropriate supporting material, such as facts, details, illustrative examples or anecdotes, and exclude extraneous material
• use the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, and proofreading ( the "writing process") to produce well-constructed informational texts
• use standard English for formal presentation of information, selecting appropriate grammatical constructions and vocabulary, using a variety of sentence structures, and observing the rules of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s write an essay for science class that contains information from interviews, data bases, magazines, and science texts
s participate in a panel discussion on population trends in the United States in recent years, using graphics, and citing the source of the data
s use technical terms correctly in subject area reports
s survey student views on a school issue and report findings to the class.

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Commencement Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Students:

• interpret and analyze complex informational texts and presentations, including technical manuals, professional journals, newspaper and broadcast editorials, electronic networks, political speeches and debates, and primary source material in their subject area courses
• synthesize information from diverse sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information
• use a combination of techniques (e.g., previewing, use of advance organizers, structural cues) to extract salient information from texts
• make distinctions about the relative value and significance of specific data, facts, and ideas
• make perceptive and well developed connections to prior knowledge
• evaluate writing strategies and presentational features that affect interpretation of the information.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s incorporate information from several noted experts to support a thesis in a research paper
s assemble notes for historical and artistic exhibits
s use an electronic data base and other graphic presentations to find evidence of trends for a sociological study
s produce flow charts and diagrams to show the relationships among information from different sources
s determine the relative value of different reference materials for a particular research question.

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Commencement Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

Students:

• write and present research reports, feature articles, and thesis/support papers on a variety of topics related to all school subjects
• present a controlling idea that conveys an individual perspective and insight into the topic
• use a wide range of organizational patterns such as chronological, logical (both deductive and inductive), cause and effect, and comparison/contrast
• support interpretations and decisions about relative significance of information with explicit statement, evidence, and appropriate argument
• revise and improve early drafts by restructuring, correcting errors, and revising for clarity and effect
• use standard English skillfully, applying established rules and conventions for presenting information and making use of a wide range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary to achieve an individual style that communicates effectively.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s demonstrate how to perform an intricate task, such as how to operate a computer program or conduct a laboratory experiment
s write an extended research report on a complex issue or topic that documents sources of information and is well organized to convey overarching ideas and supporting evidence and details
s write a report of a scientific inquiry that observes the conventions of scientific writing, the rules of evidence, and the correct usage of technical terms
s produce program notes for an art exhibit or concert with background information on the works and artists.

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