Mississippi State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 4

MS.1. The student will use word recognition and vocabulary (word meaning) skills to communicate.

1.a. The student will use syllabication types (e.g., open, closed, r-controlled, vowel team, vowel -consonant + e, consonant + le) for decoding words. (DOK 1)

1.b. The student will identify roots and affixes (e.g., non-, trans-, over-, anti-, -tion, -or, -ion, -ity, -ment, -ic) in words. (DOK 2)

1.c. The student will develop and apply expansive knowledge of words and word meanings to communicate. (DOK 1)

1.d. The student will identify and produce grade level appropriate synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. (DOK 2)

1.e. The student will use definitional, synonym, or antonym context clues to infer the meanings of unfamiliar words. (DOK 2)

1.f. The student will apply knowledge of simple figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole) to determine the meaning of words and to communicate. (DOK 2)

1.g. The student will use reference materials (e.g., dictionary, glossary, teacher or peer [as a resource], thesaurus, electronic dictionary) to determine the meaning, pronunciation, syllabication, synonyms, antonyms, and parts of speech for unknown words. [Note: These reference materials are not available during the administration of state tests.] (DOK 1)

MS.2. The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or evaluate a variety of texts of increasing levels of length, difficulty, and complexity.

2.a. The student will apply knowledge of text features, parts of a book, text structures, and genres to understand, interpret, or analyze text. (DOK 2)

2.a.1. Text features - titles, headings, captions, illustrations, graphs, charts, diagrams, bold-faced print, italics, maps, icons, pull down menus, key word searches, etc.

2.a.2. Parts of a book - title page, table of contents, glossary, index, appendix, footnotes, etc.

2.a.3. Text structures - sequential order, description, simple cause and effect, simple procedure, compare/contrast, etc.

2.a.4. Genres - Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

2.b. The student will analyze texts in order to identify, understand, infer, or synthesize information. (DOK 2)

2.b.1. Identify the stated main idea or supporting details in a paragraph.

2.b.2. Apply knowledge of transitions or cue words to identify and sequence major events in a narrative.

2.b.3. Identify stated causes and effect relationships in paragraphs and short passages.

2.b.4. Synthesize information stated in the text with prior knowledge and experience to draw a conclusion.

2.b.5. Predict a logical outcome based upon information stated in a paragraph or short passage and confirm or revised based upon subsequent text.

2.c. The student will recognize or generate a summary or paraphrase of the events or ideas in text, citing text-based evidence. (DOK 2)

2.d. The student will interpret increasingly complex literary text, literary nonfiction, and informational text to compare and contrast information, citing text-based evidence. (DOK 3)

2.d.1. Story elements (e.g., setting, characters, character traits, events, resolution, point of view)

2.d.2. Literary devices (e.g., imagery, exaggeration, dialogue)

2.d.3. Sound devices (e.g., rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance)

2.d.4. Author's purpose (e.g., inform, entertain, persuade)

2.e. The student will identify facts, opinions, or tools of persuasion in text. (DOK 2)

2.e.1. Distinguish between fact and opinion.

2.e.2. Identify tools of persuasion (e.g., name calling, endorsement, repetition, air and rebut the other side's point of view).

MS.3. The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.

3.a. The student will use and reflect on an appropriate composing process (e.g., planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing/ sharing) to express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas with a focus on texts increasing complexity and length. [Note: Editing will be tested under competency four.] (DOK 3)

3.a.1. Planning: Plan for composing using a variety of strategies (e.g., brainstorming, drawing, graphic organizers, peer discussion, reading, viewing).

3.a.2. Drafting: Draft with increasing fluency.

3.a.3. Revising: Revise selected drafts by adding, elaborating, deleting, and rearranging text based on teacher/peer feedback, writer's checklist, or rubric.

3.a.4. Editing: Edit/proofread drafts to ensure standard usage, mechanics, spelling, and varied sentence structure.

3.a.5. Publishing/Sharing: Share writing with others formally and informally using a variety of media.

3.b. The student will compose descriptive texts using specific details and vivid language. (DOK 3)

3.c. The student will compose narrative text relating an event with a clear beginning, middle, and end. (DOK 3)

3.c.1. Stories and retellings

3.c.2. Narrative poems

3.c.3. PowerPoint presentations

3.d. The student will compose informational text clearly expressing a main idea with supporting details, including but not limited to, text containing chronological order, cause and effect, compare and contrast, or simple procedure. (DOK 3)

3.d.1. Reports

3.d.2. Letters

3.d.3. Functional texts

3.d.4. Presentations

3.d.5. Poems

3.e. The student will compose simple persuasive text clearly expressing a main idea with supporting details for a specific purpose and audience. (DOK 3)

3.e.1. Letters

3.e.2. Speeches

3.e.3. Advertisements

3.f. The student will compose text based on inquiry and research. (DOK 3)

3.f.1. Generate questions.

3.f.2. Locate sources (e.g., books, interviews, Internet) and gather relevant information.

3.f.3. Identify and paraphrase important information from sources.

3.f.4. Present the results.

MS.4. The student will apply Standard English to communicate.

4.a. The student will apply Standard English grammar to compose or edit. (DOK 1)

4.a.1. Nouns (e.g., singular, plural [including irregular forms], common, proper, singular possessive, plural possessive, appositives)

4.a.2. Verbs (e.g., helping verbs, irregular verbs, linking verbs)

4.a.3. Verb tense(conjugation and purpose for past, present, future, present perfect)

4.a.4. Subject-verb agreement

4.a.5. Articles and coordinating conjunctions

4.a.6. Adjectives (e.g., possessive, comparative, superlative)

4.a.7. Prepositions

4.a.8. Pronouns (e.g., subject pronouns, singular pronouns, plural pronouns, singular possessive pronouns, plural possessive pronouns, object pronouns, reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns)

4.a.9. Pronoun-antecedent agreement (number and gender)

4.a.10. Adverbs (avoiding double negatives; comparative forms)

4.a.11. Interjections

4.b. The student will apply Standard English mechanics to compose or edit. (DOK 1)

4.b.1. End punctuation (e.g., period, question mark, exclamation point)

4.b.2. Periods in common abbreviations (e.g., titles of address, days of the week, months of the year)

4.b.3. Commas (e.g., dates, series, addresses, greetings and closings of friendly letters, quotations, introductory prepositional phrases, and nonessential appositive phrases)

4.b.4. Apostrophes (e.g., possessives; contractions)

4.b.5. Quotation marks (e.g., quotations; titles of poems, titles of songs, titles of short stories)

4.b.6. Underlining/Italics (e.g., titles of books and movies)

4.b.7. Colons (e.g., time, before lists introduced by independent clauses)

4.b.8. Capitalization (e.g., first word in a sentence, proper nouns, days of the week, months of the year, holidays, titles, initials, the pronoun ''I,'' first word in greetings and closings of friendly letters, proper adjectives)

4.b.9. Spell words commonly found in fourth grade level text.

4.b.10. Produce legible text.

4.c. The student will apply knowledge of sentence structure in composing or editing. (DOK 2)

4.c.1. Analyze the structure of sentences (e.g., simple sentences including those with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; compound sentences; and complex sentences, including independent and dependent clauses).

4.c.2. Compose simple sentences with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; compound sentences; and complex sentences.

4.c.3. Avoid sentence fragments and run-on sentences, and comma splices.

4.c.4. Analyze sentences containing descriptive adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and appositive phrases.

4.c.5. Compose sentences containing descriptive, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases (functioning as adjectives or adverbs), and appositive phrases.