English Language Arts -- Level 8

The goal of the IVE League is to research, develop, and implement comprehensive integrated curricula; instructing students of all ages in both theories and applications of a broad range of disciplines, with the goal of graduating or certifying those students capable of direct entry into the local and global workforce, or continuing on to higher education, without the emotional or fiscal burden of redirection or remediation.

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IVE DISTANCE LEARNING
FRAMEWORK AND CURRICULUM
This page was last updated on 4 April 2000

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
ENGLISH ESSENTIALS
Achievement Level 8

Formatted for a modified four-quarters class schedule.

This IVE League Framework and Curriculum is constructed with the guidance of many sources, the most important being the 1999 Edition of the California Reading and Language Arts Framework published by the California Department of Education. It is intended as a guide to formatting classes either conducted by The IVE League Distance Learning program or those conducted by other organizations who are using the program as a learning resource. It is NOT intended to be a detailed schedule and script for conducting courses in English Language Arts but are presented as a criteria for preparation of unit and lesson plans, preparation and evaluation of instructional materials, and evaluation of student accomplishment.

The materials and programs identified in this document assume that the student possesses English Language skills which are considered as having achieved competence characteristic of the completion of achievement level seven. These include, in part, the ability to listen with understanding, speak with a vocabulary equivalent to a 7.9 on standardized English Language assessment test, and to both read and write at this same level.

At the completion of this course of instruction, the student will be able to demonstrate competence and understanding in the following four areas of the subject matter.

1. READING

1.1. Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development.

1.1.1. Vocabulary and Concept Development:

a. Students will be able to analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer the literal and figurative meanings of the phrases.

b. Students will be able to understand the most important points in the history of the English language, to use common word origins to determine the historical influences on English word meanings, and how these common language roots result in a rich inventory of inter-language cognates.

c. Students will be able to use word meanings within the appropriate context and show ability to verify those meanings by definition, restatement, example, comparison, or contrast.

1.2. Reading Comprehension (with a focus on Informational Materials).

1.2.1. Structural Features of Informational Material:

a. Students will be able to compare and contrast the features and elements of consumer materials to gain meaning from documents (e.g., warranties, contracts, product information, instruction manuals).

b. Students will demonstrate their ability to analyze text that uses proposition and support patterns.

1.2.2. Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-level-appropriate Text.

a. Students will be able to find similarities and differences between texts in the treatment, scope, or organization of ideas.

b. Students will be able to compare the original text to a summary to determine whether a summary accurately captures the main ideas, includes critical details, and conveys the underlying meaning.

c. Students will be able to understand and explain the use of a complex mechanical device by following written technical directions.

d. Students will be able to use information from a variety of consumer, workplace, and public documents to explain a situation or decision and to solve a problem.

1.2.3. Expository Critique:

Students will be able to evaluate the unity, coherence, logic, internal consistency, and structural patterns of text..

1.3. Literary Response and Analysis.

1.3.1. Structural Features of Literature:

Students will be able to determine and articulate the relationship between the purposes and characteristics of different forms of poetry (e.g., ballad, lyric, couplet, epic, elegy, ode, sonnet).

1.3.2. Narrative Analysis of Grade-level-appropriate Text

a. Students will be able to evaluate the structural elements of a plot (e.g., subplots, parallel episodes, climax), the plot's development, and the way in which conflicts are (or are not) addressed and resolved.

b. Students will be able to compare and contrast motivations and reactions of literary characters from different historical eras confronting similar situations or conflicts.

c. Students will be able to analyze the relevance of the setting (e.g., place, time, customs) to the mood, tone, and meaning of the text.

d. Students will be able to identify and analyze recurring themes (e.g., good versus evil) across traditional contemporary works.

e. Students will be able to identify significant literary devices (e.g., metaphor, symbolism, dialect, irony) that defines a writer's style and use those elements to interpret the work.

1.3.3. Literary Criticism

Students will be able to analyze a work of literature, showing how it reflects the heritage, traditions, attitudes, and beliefs of the author (the biographical approach to understand literature and its intent).

2. WRITING

2.1. Writing Strategies.

2.1.1 Organization and Focus:

a. Students will be able to create compositions that establish a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and well-supported conclusion.

b. Students will be able to establish coherence within and among paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel structures and similar writing techniques.

c. Students will be able to support theses or conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities, comparisons, and similar devices.

2.1.2 Research and Technology:

a. Students will be able to plan and conduct multiple-step information searches by using a computer network and modems.

b. Students will be able to achieve an effective balance between researched information and original ideas.

2.1.3 Evaluation and Revision:

Students will be able to revise writing for word choice; appropriate organization; consistent point of view; and transitions between paragraphs, passages, and ideas.

2.2. Writing Applications (Genres and their characteristics).

Students will be able to write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive essays of at least 500 to 700 words in each genre. The writing will demonstrate a command of standard American English and research, organizational, and drafting strategies appropriate to Level 8 writing competency. These include:

Writing biographies, autobiographies, short stories, or narratives.
Writing responses to literature.
Writing research reports.
Writing persuasive compositions.
Writing documents related to career development, including simple business letters and job applications.
Write technical documents which identify a sequence of activities needed to design a system, operate a tool, or explain the by-laws of an organization.

3. WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

3.1 Written and Oral Conventions of the English Language

3.1.1. Sentence Structure:

Students will be able to place modifiers properly and write in the active voice.

3.1.2. Grammar:

Students will be able to edit written manuscripts to ensure that correct and appropriate grammar is used.

NOTE: Successful participation in this element of the subject require that the student possess, at a minimum, the following skills: Be able to identify and use infinitives and participles and make clear references between pronouns and antecedents; be able to identify all parts of speech and types and structures of sentences; demonstrate the mechanics of writing (e.g., quotation marks, commas at end of dependent clauses) and appropriate English usage (e.g., pronoun reference).

3.1.3. Punctuation and Capitalization:

Students will be able to use correct punctuation and capitalization.

3.1.4. Spelling:

Students will be able to use correct spelling conventions.

4. LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Students will be able to prepare and deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. Students will also be able to evaluate the content of oral communications.

4.1. Listening and Speaking Strategies

4.1.1. Comprehension:

a. Students will be able to analyze oral interpretations of literature, including language choice and delivery, and the effect of interpretations on the listener.

b. Students will be able to paraphrase a speakers purpose and point of view and ask relevant questions concerning the speaker's content, delivery, and purpose.

4.1.2. Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication:

a. Students will be able to organize information to achieve particular purposes by matching the message, vocabulary, voice modulation, expression, and tone to the audience and purpose.

b. Students will be able to prepare a speech outline based upon a chosen pattern of organization, which generally includes an introduction; transitions, previews, and summaries; a logically developed body; and an effective conclusion.

c. Students will be able to use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate and colorful modifiers, and the active rather than the passive voice in ways that enliven oral presentations.

d. Students will be able to use appropriate grammar, word choice, enunciation, and pace during formal presentations.

e. Students will be able to use audience feedback (e.g., verbal and nonverbal cues) as a basis for reconsidering and modifying the organizational structure or plan and rearranging words and sentences to clarify the meaning.

4.1.3. Analysis and Evaluation of Oral and Media Communications.

a. Students will be able to evaluate the credibility of a speaker (e.g., hidden agendas, slanted or biased material).

b. Students will be able to interpret and evaluate the various ways in which visual image makers (e.g., graphic artists, illustrators, news photographers) communicate information and affect impressions and opinions.

4.2. Speaking Applications

Using the speaking strategies for Level eight outlined in the preceding section (Listening and Speaking Strategies), students will be able to deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies (e.g., narration, exposition, persuasion, description. The student's speaking demonstrates a command of standard American English and well developed organizational and delivery strategies.

Using these strategies, students will be able to:

Deliver narrative presentations.
Deliver oral responses to literature.
Deliver research presentations.
Deliver persuasive presentations.
Recite poems (of four to six stanzas), sections of speeches, or dramatic soliloquies, using voice modulation, tone, and gestures expressively to enhance the meaning.

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