| Language Arts
Arkansas' Learning Standards are defined in the Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks, discipline-based documents which clearly describe what students must know and be able to do in the area of Language Arts at three critical levels: grades 4, 8, and 12. The rigorous academic content standards and the student learning expectations within each document provide the focus for instruction for each local school district, without rigidly prescribing every element of the local curriculum. Student demonstration of the standards and learning expectations within the Arkansas Frameworks is the anchor for the entire education system, with instructional programs, state-level assessments, professional development, school improvement planning, teacher/administrator licensure, and accountability sharing the common goal of improved student learning and performance around these standards.
The Language Arts portion of the ACTAAP is based on standards in the Arkansas Language Arts Curriculum Framework.
The Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (SAT-9) contains six subtests for Language Arts levels Primary 1 through Primary 3. At the higher levels, there are seven subtests.
Listening
This unit includes identifying and distinguishing between sounds and patterns in sounds, constructing meaning from information delivered verbally, and understanding and responding to verbal information.
STRAND 3: LISTENING, SPEAKING, AND VIEWING
Content standard: Students will develop and apply the communication skills of listening, speaking and viewing through a variety of informal and formal opportunities.
GRADES K-4 (Student learning expectations:)
LSV.1.1. Listen for a variety of purposes such as enjoyment, information and details.
LSV.1.2. Listen selectively and attentively to a variety of speakers.
LSV.1.3. Listen to reinforce and extend learning through the use of technology.
LSV.1.4. Listen to improve reading, oral and written performance.
LSV.1.5. Develop strategies such as asking relevant questions, taking notes and making predictions for understanding what is heard.
LSV.1.6. Listen to follow directions sequentially.
LSV.1.7. Respond to artistic performances both verbal and musical.
LSV.1.8. Share ideas in discussion, conversation and presentation.
LSV.1.9. Respond appropriately to the thoughts and ideas of others.
LSV.1.10. Contribute to class and small group discussions.
LSV.1.11. Speak in complete sentences.
LSV.1.12. Give reasons in support of opinions expressed.
LSV.1.13. Tell and retell stories from writing, reading and pictures.
LSV.1.14. Participate in collaborative speaking activities, such as choral reading, plays and reciting poems.
LSV.1.15. Initiate and participate in conversations about reading.
LSV.1.16. Read orally with meaning and expression.
LSV.1.17. Explain directions for a particular purpose.
LSV.1.18. Make and respond to introductions.
LSV.1.19. Confirm understanding by paraphrasing ideas.
LSV.1.20. Collaborate with others to solve and resolve problems.
LSV.1.21. Use technology to enhance and evaluate oral performances and presentations.
LSV.1.22. Check information for accuracy.
LSV.1.23. Participate in discussion by alternating the roles of speaker and listener.
LSV.1.24. Present work completed in subject areas to large and small groups in and out of the classroom for discussion.
LSV.1.25. Discuss current events.
LSV.1.26. Speak to a variety of audiences in a variety of places for a variety of reasons.
LSV.1.27. Engage the audience with eye contact and appropriate verbal cues.
LSV.1.28. Recognize when audiences do not understand the message and adapt speaking to clarify.
LSV.1.29. Use clear, concise, organized language when speaking.
LSV.1.30. Respond to questions from the audience.
LSV.1.31. Give immediate, respectful, detailed feedback to a variety of speakers.
LSV.1.32. Receive and use constructive feedback to improve speaking abilities.
LSV.1.33. Make informed judgments about television, radio and film productions.
LSV.1.34. Demonstrate an awareness of the presence of media in daily life.
LSV.1.35. Evaluate the role media plays in focusing attention and forming opinions.
LSV.1.36. Judge the extent to which media provide a source of entertainment as well as a source of information.
LSV.1.37. Interpret the role of advertising as a part of media.
This unit includes identifying and distinguishing between sounds and patterns in sounds, constructing meaning from information delivered verbally, and understanding and responding to verbal information.
Genres
This unit includes identifying and comparing key characteristics of literary genres, as designated by a work's subject, theme, style, and time period. Some example of genres are: science fiction, poetry, drama, British literature, and multicultural literature.
Speaking
This unit focuses on techniques and strategies (voice modulation, body language, ordering of ideas, visual aids, etc.) to convey meaning and to present information and opinions to groups. This unit includes: formal and informal communication, debate skills, and verbal/nonverbal communication.
Writing
STRAND 1: WRITING
CONTENT STANDARD 1:
Students will employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
GRADES K-4 (Student learning expectations:)
W.1.1. Move from visual and spoken experiences to written language through positive modeling.
W.1.2 Understand the relationship between letters and words, words and sentences, sentences and paragraphs, and paragraphs and whole pieces.
W.1.3. Follow patterns from predictable books, poems and stories.
W.1.4. Use individual and collective strategies for finding and developing ideas about which to write.
W.1.5. Write from experiences and thoughts.
W.1.6. Write in one or more subject areas daily.
W.1.7. Recognize and express cultural diversity in writing.
W.1.8. Respond appropriately to the writing of others.
W.1.9. Use the responses of others to review writing for clarity, style and content.
W.1.10. Acquire information with the use of computers and other available technology to gather, write and revise texts.
W.1.11. Write in a variety of modes, such as journals, stories, poems, letters, interviews and notes.
W.1.12. Write for a variety of audiences, such as peers, parents, teachers and community.
W.1.13. Write for a variety of purposes, such as to persuade, to enjoy, to entertain, to inform, to record, to respond to reading and to solve problems.
W.1.14. Develop a collection of writings.
CONTENT STANDARD:
Students will apply knowledge of language structure and language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation) to print and nonprint texts.
GRADES K-4 (Student learning expectations:)
W.2.1. Write independently on self-selected topics.
W.2.2. Organize information according to criteria for importance and impact rather than according to availability.
W.2.3. Work in cooperative groups to produce a written product.
W.2.4. Monitor progress of self and others.
W.2.5. Accept responsibility for completing writing tasks.
W.2.6. Edit writing for developmentally appropriate spelling, usage, mechanics, grammar, vocabulary, handwriting and content accuracy.
W.2.7. Publish writing in a variety of ways, such as class anthologies, public readings, newsletters, newspapers, bulletin boards, sharing with others and books.
This unit focuses on each stage of the writing process: prewriting, writing, revising, and publishing. It includes skills covering a variety of organizational formats and purposes for writing (communicating ideas, opinions, and feelings, clarifying thoughts, and solving problems). Some example writing formats are: expository, narrative, poetry, and drama.
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