LitHubAZ
Effective Literacy Practices

Literacy Standards

The following indicators outline the developmental benchmarks and literacy behaviors that most children display at a particular age/grade. All are aligned with guidelines and standards established by the Arizona Department of Education. Seen together, they show the progression of development over time, but it is important to remember that all children develop at a different pace and follow varied patterns of development.

For very young children, key components of language and communication development include modeling conversations, book handling, and picture/story comprehension. For preschool and K-3 students, indicators of developing language and emergent literacy provide a clear overview of the learning goals to be achieved by the end of each year. Across the higher grades, indicators may have similar wording, but they are to be applied with increased focus to progressively more challenging texts and tasks.



Reading Standards for Literature

  • Independently and proficiently read grade-appropriate and increasingly complex literature from a variety of genres.
  • Analyze the central ideas or themes of a text, including analyzing the roles of dialogue or incidents in developing the depth of the plot.
  • Analyze the intentional choices authors make by comparing modern works of literature to traditional pieces, and citing their evidence to support their analysis.
  • Develop vocabulary by determining and analyzing the impact of specific word choice on meaning and tone.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

  • Analyze individuals, events, and ideas in informational text.
  • Use evidence from the text to support the inferences they draw from the text, and write an effective summary of a variety of texts.
  • Analyze the claims made in a text by evaluating the supporting reasoning and evidence an author uses, and recognize conflicting and irrelevant evidence. 
  • Evaluate the use of varying perspectives and mediums on the portrayal of subjects/topics by different authors.

Writing Standards

  • Produce clear and coherent writing for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences using argumentative, informational, or narrative writing types.
  • Develop arguments supported with reasoning and evidence gathered from multiple, credible print and digital sources.
  • Acknowledge and address opposing viewpoints in response to their claims.
  • Routinely plan, draft, revise, and edit a wide variety of writing tasks.

Speaking and Listening Standards

  • Collaboratively discuss and analyze a variety of subjects using diverse media and formats while considering the motives behind the presentation of information.
  • Develop respectful communication skills in order to clarify, extend and challenge information presented in a variety of contexts.
  • Adapt and present information using technology, multimedia, and visual formats effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes.

Language Standards

  • Demonstrate mastery of grade level conventions (grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling).
  • Utilize various strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases, as well as figurative language.

Source: Arizona Department of Education, Arizona English Language Arts Standards

Related

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