List of Benchmarks for Language Arts | | Standard 6. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts | | | Level Pre-K (Grades Pre-K) | | | 1. | Knows the sequence of events (e.g., beginning, middle, and end) in a story | | | 2. | Knows the elements that compose a story (e.g., characters, plot, events, setting) | | | 3. | Understands the literal meaning of plays, poems, and stories | | | 4. | Knows the difference between fact and fiction, real and make-believe | | | 5. | Relates stories to his/her own life and experience | | | Level I (Grades K-2) | | | 1. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of familiar literary passages and texts (e.g., fairy tales, folktales, fiction, nonfiction, legends, fables, myths, poems, nursery rhymes, picture books, predictable books) A | | | 2. | Knows the basic characteristics of familiar genres (e.g., picture books, fairy tales, nursery rhymes) | | | 3. | Knows setting, main characters, main events, sequence, and problems in stories | | | 4. | Knows the main ideas or theme of a story A | | | 5. | Relates stories to personal experiences (e.g., events, characters, conflicts, themes) | | | Level II (Grades 3-5) | | | 1. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary passages and texts (e.g., fairy tales, folktales, fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fables, fantasies, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, chapter books) A | | | 2. | Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of literary forms and genres ( e.g., fairy tales, folk tales, fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fables, fantasies, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, chapter books) | | | 3. | Understands the basic concept of plot (e.g., main problem, conflict, resolution, cause-and-effect) A | | | 4. | Understands similarities and differences within and among literary works from various genre and cultures (e.g., in terms of settings, character types, events, point of view; role of natural phenomena) A | | | 5. | Understands elements of character development in literary works (e.g., differences between main and minor characters; stereotypical characters as opposed to fully developed characters; changes that characters undergo; the importance of a character’s actions, motives, and appearance to plot and theme) A | | | 6. | Knows themes that recur across literary works | | | 7. | Understands the ways in which language is used in literary texts (e.g., personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, imagery, hyperbole, rhythm) | | | 8. | Makes connections between characters or simple events in a literary work and people or events in his or her own life A | | | Level III (Grades 6-8) | | | 1. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary passages and texts (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fantasies, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, drama) | | | 2. | Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of literary forms and genres (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fantasies, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, drama) | | | 3. | Understands complex elements of plot development (e.g., cause-and-effect relationships; use of subplots, parallel episodes, and climax; development of conflict and resolution) A | | | 4. | Understands elements of character development (e.g., character traits and motivations; stereotypes; relationships between character and plot development; development of characters through their words, speech patterns, thoughts, actions, narrator’s description, and interaction with other characters; how motivations are revealed) A | | | 5. | Understands the use of specific literary devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashback, progressive and digressive time, suspense) | | | 6. | Understands the use of language in literary works to convey mood, images, and meaning (e.g., dialect; dialogue; symbolism; irony; rhyme; voice; tone; sound; alliteration; assonance; consonance; onomatopoeia; figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, allusion; sentence structure; punctuation) A | | | 7. | Understands the effects of an author’s style (e.g., word choice, speaker, imagery, genre, perspective) on the reader | | | 8. | Understands point of view in a literary text (e.g., first and third person, limited and omniscient, subjective and objective) | | | 9. | Understands inferred and recurring themes in literary works (e.g., bravery, loyalty, friendship, good v. evil; historical, cultural, and social themes) A | | | 10. | Makes connections between the motives of characters or the causes for complex events in texts and those in his or her own life | | | Level IV (Grades 9-12) | | | 1. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary texts (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, supernatural tales, satires, parodies, plays, American literature, British literature, world and ancient literature) | | | 2. | Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of literary forms and genres (e.g.,fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, supernatural tales, satires, parodies, plays, drama, American literature, British literature, world and ancient literature, the Bible) | | | 3. | Analyzes the use of complex elements of plot in specific literary works (e.g., time frame, cause-and-effect relationships, conflicts, resolution) A | | | 4. | Analyzes the simple and complex actions (e.g., internal/external conflicts) between main and subordinate characters in literary works containing complex character structures A | | | 5. | Knows archetypes and symbols (e.g., supernatural helpers, banishment from an ideal world, the hero, beneficence of nature, dawn) present in a variety of literary texts (e.g., American literature, world literature, literature based on oral tradition, mythology, film, political speeches) | | | 6. | Understands how themes are used across literary works and genres (e.g., universal themes in literature of different cultures, such as death and rebirth, initiation, love and duty; major themes in American literature; authors associated with major themes of specific eras) | | | 7. | Understands the effects of author’s style and complex literary devices and techniques on the overall quality of a work (e.g., tone; irony; mood; figurative language; allusion; diction; dialogue; symbolism; point of view; voice; understatement and overstatement; time and sequence; narrator; poetic elements, such as sound, imagery, personification) | | | 8. | Understands relationships between literature and its historical period, culture, and society (e.g., influence of historical context on form, style, and point of view; influence of literature on political events; social influences on author’s description of characters, plot, and setting; how writer’s represent and reveal their cultures and traditions) | | | 9. | Makes connections between his or her own life and the characters, events, motives, and causes of conflict in texts A | | | 10. | Uses language and perspectives of literary criticism to evaluate literary works (e.g., evaluates aesthetic qualities of style, such as diction, tone, theme, mood; identifies ambiguities, subtleties, and incongruities in the text; compares reviews of literature, film, and performances with own response) | | | |
A = Assessment items available |
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