English language arts (2013)

Candidates know and understand the English language.

• 1.A – Understand how to integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and thinking
• 1.B – Understand the grammar of standard American English including semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology
• 1.C – Understand the fundamentals of first and second language acquisition and development and that the linguistic/rhetorical patterns of other languages affect the written and oral expression of diverse learners
• 1.D – Understand diversity in language use, e.g., grammar, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, gender, and social roles
• 1.E – Show an understanding of the evolution of the English language and the historical influences on its various forms
• 1.F – Understand root words, suffixes, inflectional endings and how they change meaning

Candidates know and understand reading processes.

• 2.A – Know the essential components of reading (phonics, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension)
• 2.B – Understand and articulate how to use metacognitive processes of reading for a variety of purposes, including strategies useful before, during, and after reading
• 2.C – Discover and construct meaning from a wide variety of culturally relevant literary and expository text including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama
• 2.D – Understand and articulate a wide range of strategies used to comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate a wide variety of literary, argumentative, narrative, and expository texts (e.g., demonstrate an understanding of how elements such as tone, bias, and point of view influence the meaning of text)
• 2.E – Demonstrate knowledge of selecting reading assessment tools to match the instructional purpose
• 2.F – Demonstrate how to use a wide range of reading assessment tools and practices that range from individual and group standardized tests to individual and group informal classroom assessment strategies, including technology-based assessment tools
• 2.G – Demonstrate understanding of the reasons for using a wide range of assessment tools and practices (e.g., individual and group standardized tests, individual and group informal classroom assessments, and technology-based tools)
• 2.H – Demonstrate understanding of interpreting assessment results to inform instruction based on assessment data; identify students’ proficiencies and difficulties

Candidates understand different elements and modes of writing.

• 3.A – Understand how purpose, audience, and perspective shape writing
• 3.B – Understand the writing process, its components (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing), and its recursive, interactive, and collaborative nature
• 3.C – Understand conventions of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, proper word usage, and grammar
• 3.D – Understand how mode (expository, persuasive, and narrative) and form (such as research paper, editorial, memoir) shape writing
• 3.E – Understand methods of developing text that are clear, concise and coherent
• 3.F – Understand strategies for writing informational and persuasive text, including:
  • 3.F.1 – Finding, selecting, and refining topics for research projects in history, science, and technical subjects
  • 3.F.2 – Locating and documenting reliable sources for research
  • 3.F.3 – Developing and supporting arguments for informational and persuasive text

Candidates know and understand an extensive range of literary texts.

• 4.A – Read and understand a broad range of literary texts (such as short stories, novels, poetry, and drama), including:
  • 4.A.1 – Works representing and authored by a range of cultures and ethnicity globally and within the United States.
  • 4.A.2 – Works written specifically for children and young adult readers.
  • 4.A.3 – Works providing both male and female representation and authorship.
• 4.B – Understand the elements of literature, including:
  • 4.B.1 – Structure (e.g., structure, denouement, meter)
  • 4.B.2 – Literary & rhetorical devices (e.g., flashback, foreshadowing, metaphor)
  • 4.B.3 – Points of view, tone, voice, mood
  • 4.B.4 – Style (e.g., diction, register, word choice)
  • 4.B.5 – Development of characters, plot and setting
  • 4.B.6 – Themes
  • 4.B.7 – Formal, stylistic, and thematic characteristics of major literary works, genres, movements, and periods and of major authors of literary texts
  • 4.B.8 – Historical, social, cultural, and political contexts and influences of literary texts

Candidates know and understand a wide range of informational and persuasive texts.

• 5.A – Read and understand a broad range of informational and persuasive texts such as textbooks, newspapers, magazines, maps, atlases, surveys, warranties, print advertisements, propaganda, and multimodal communications from the Internet
• 5.B – Understand key elements in informational texts, such as organizational features & structures (e.g., index, sidebar, appendix)
• 5.C – Identify the main idea and purpose of given informational and persuasive texts
• 5.D – Differentiate between facts and opinions
• 5.E – Judge the relevance, importance, and sufficiency of evidence, examples, and reasons provided as support
• 5.F – Judge the reliability, objectivity, and credibility of sources used in an informational or a persuasive text
• 5.G – Understand author’s purpose or motivation for persuasive influence

Candidates know and understand communication through speaking and listening.

• 6.A – Characteristics of various types of listening and speaking, such as interviewing and empathic listening, and listening to gain knowledge
• 6.B – Barriers to listening, such as listening only to what is considered important, and methods of listening actively, such as restating and encouraging
• 6.C – Types of speech delivery, such as impromptu, and methods of managing speech anxiety and apprehension, such as visualizing success
• 6.D – Understand how linguistic/rhetorical patterns of other languages affect the oral expression of diverse learners.
• 6.E – Forms and functions of verbal and nonverbal interpersonal communication, such as clarifying and validating
• 6.F – Individual, social, and cultural factors that influence interpersonal communication, such as internal and external noise and perceptions of self and others
• 6.G Large and small-group dynamics and factors that influence group communication, such as group composition and group members’ roles
• 6.H – Strategies for managing conflicts, solving problems, and making decisions in large and small groups, such as compromising and collaborating
• 6.I – Understand how to communicate through a wide variety of media and non-print materials (e.g., digital slide shows, web pages, digital portfolios)

Candidates foster a literate environment by utilizing a wide range of instructional practices, approaches, methods, assessments, and curriculum materials to support literacy instruction.

• 7.A – Apply strategies that help students master the grammar of Standard American English
• 7.B – Use strategies for differentiating English Language Arts instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners
• 7.C – Use instructional strategies to help students, including struggling readers, develop reading proficiency (such as semantic mapping, directed reading-thinking activities, comprehension skill-based activities, phonics based instruction, and scaffolding)
• 7.D – Use strategies that enable students to construct meaning from a wide variety of literary and expository text as well as non-print media
• 7.E – Provide students with strategies that enable them to write effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes, including informational and
  persuasive text
• 7.F – Use strategies for helping students master the conventions of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, proper word usage and grammatical sentence structure
• 7.G – Use strategies that enable students to analyze and understand a wide range of literary texts, including basic literary elements such as structure, style, and rhetorical devices
• 7.H – Use strategies that enable students to analyze, understand, and evaluate a wide range of informational and persuasive texts
• 7.I – Use instructional strategies that develop listening proficiency, such as using structured listening activities (SLA) or investigative questioning procedures (InQuest), and speaking proficiency, such as helping students prepare for oral presentations or debates
• 7.J – Demonstrate the use of primary support material in lessons and units
• 7.K – Use classroom-based, informal assessments and assessment tools used for English language arts, such as rubrics, running records, attitude and interest inventories, portfolios, self-assessments, and observation of student work with the use of checklists and anecdotal records
• 7.L – Use assessment, diagnostics etc. to plan instructional strategies