Reading Standardsfor Literature
The following standards offer a focus for instruction each year and help ensure that students gain adequate exposure to a range of texts and tasks. Rigor is also infused through the requirement that students read increasingly complex texts through the grades. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specificVstandards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite relevant textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a
summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
3. Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters
respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
5. Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and
contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio,
video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to
what they perceive when they listen or watch.
8. (Not applicable to literature)
9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy
stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8
text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Reading Standardsfor Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite relevant textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.
2. Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the
text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
3. Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g.,
through examples or anecdotes).
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings.
5. Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and
contributes to the development of the ideas.
6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
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Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words
to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
8. Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by
reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
9. Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a
biography on the same person).
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Writing Standards
The following standards offer a focus for instruction each year to help ensure that students gain adequate mastery of a
range of skills and applications. Each year in their writing, students should demonstrate increasing sophistication in
all aspects of language use, from vocabulary and syntax to the development and organization of ideas, and they
should address increasingly demanding content and sources. Students advancing through the grades are expected to
meet each year’s grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in
preceding grades.
Text Types and Purposes
1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.
b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an
understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through
the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition,
classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g.,
charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and
examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant
descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters;
organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events,
and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time
frame or setting to another.
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d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and
events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning,
revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a different approach.
6. Produce and publish grade-appropriate writing using technology, either independently or in collaborating with
others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry
when appropriate.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and
quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic
bibliographic information for sources.
9. Draw relevant evidence from grade-appropriate literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and
research.
a. Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast texts in different forms or
genres [e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories] in terms of their approaches to
similar themes and topics”).
b. Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Trace and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that
are not”).
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames
(a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking and Listening Standards
The following standards offer a focus for instruction each year to help ensure that students gain adequate mastery of a
range of skills and applications. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-
specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades
Comprehension and Collaboration
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that
preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under
discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as
needed.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to
the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
d. Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through
reflection and paraphrasing.
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2. Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain
how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
3. Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and
evidence from claims that are not.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to
accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
5. Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to
clarify information.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audience, and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.
Language Standards
The following standards for grades offer a focus for instruction each year to help ensure that students gain adequate
mastery of a range of skills and applications. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s
grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.
Conventions of Standard English
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
a. Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, possessive).
b. Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.
d. Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).
e. Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others’ writing and speaking, and identify and
use strategies to improve expression in conventional language.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
a. Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.
b. Spell correctly.
Knowledge of Language
3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.
b. Maintain consistency in style and tone.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6
reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range ofstrategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a
sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g.,
audience, auditory, audible).
c. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the
pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred
meaning in context or in a dictionary).
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5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context.
b. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., cause/effect, part/whole, item/category) to better
understand each of the words.
c. Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g.,
stingy, scrimping, economical, unwasteful, thrifty).
6. Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather
vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.