Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

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

As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Key Idea 1

Listening and Reading:

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.

Performance Indicators (Benchmarks)

Elementary Level 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, end 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 inference about information and ideas with reference to text features, such as vocabulary and organizational patterns.

Middle Level 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.

Commencement Level 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.

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Key Idea 2

Speaking and Writing:

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.

Performance Indicators (Benchmarks)

Elementary Level 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 end 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.

Middle Level Students:

• produce oral and written reports on topics related to all school subjects
• establish an authoritative stance on the subject and provide reference 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 antidotes, and exclude extraneous material
• use the process of pro-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.

Commencement Level 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 end vocabulary to achieve an individual style that communicates effectively.