Colorado State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 12

CO.1. Oral Expression and Listening

1.1. Effective speaking in formal and informal settings requires appropriate use of methods and audience awareness. Students can:

1.1.a. Prepare and deliver a formal presentation for different purposes and audiences (such as expositive, persuasive, entertaining, inspirational, or recognition)

1.1.b. Identify a central idea or thesis, organize ideas, and develop a speech for an intended purpose and audience

1.1.c. Use examples, illustrations, graphics, quotations, analogies, facts, and statistics to focus and support the content of a presentation

1.1.d. Use grammar and vocabulary appropriate for the situation, audience, topic, and purpose

1.1.e. Choose specific words and word order for intended effect and meaning

1.1.f. Select appropriate technical or specialized language

1.2. Effective collaborative groups accomplish goals. Students can:

1.2.a. Design an effective group effort to accomplish a goal

1.2.b. Implement an effective group effort that achieves a goal

1.2.c. Analyze differences in group perspectives to help bring the group to consensus or to solve a perceived problem

1.2.d. Participate in the preparations of the group activity or product, defining and assuming individual roles and responsibilities

1.2.e. Assume a leadership role in a group that is collaboratively working to accomplish a goal

1.2.f. Self-evaluate roles in the preparation and completion of the group goal

1.2.g. Critique and offer suggestions for improving presentations given by own group and other groups

CO.2. Reading for All Purposes

2.1. Literary criticism of complex texts requires the use of analysis, interpretive, and evaluative strategies. Students can:

2.1.a. Apply understanding of the unique characteristics of literary text (such as literary essay, elegy, sonnet, psalm, short story, history, comedy, or tragedy) to make connections and draw subtle generalizations and conclusions

2.1.b. Describe and contrast characteristics of specific literary movements and perspectives

2.1.c. Evaluate the influence of historical context on the form, style, and point of view of a written work

2.1.d. Analyze and relate a literary work to source documents of its literary period or to critical perspectives

2.1.e. Evaluate how literary components impact meaning (such as tone, symbolism, irony, extended metaphor, satire, hyperbole)

2.1.f. Demonstrate knowledge of classical foundational works of world literature

2.2. Interpreting and evaluating complex informational texts require the understanding of rhetoric, critical reading, and analysis skills. Students can:

2.2.a. Use reading and note-taking strategies (outlining, mapping systems, skimming, scanning, key word search) to organize information and make connections within and across informational texts

2.2.b. Use semantic cues, signal words, and transitions to identify text structures (such as critique, proposition/support, inductive/deductive) and to summarize central ideas and supporting details

2.2.c. Obtain and use information from text and text features (index, bold or italicized text, subheadings, graphics) to answer questions, perform specific tasks, or identify and solve problems

2.2.d. Explain and interpret the visual components supporting the text (maps, complex tables and diagrams, and transitional devices, such as use of white space)

2.2.e. Identify, analyze, and evaluate rhetorical devices and appeals used to advance an author's purpose and viewpoint.

CO.3. Writing and Composition

3.1. Style, detail, expressive language, and genre create a well-crafted statement directed at an intended audience and purpose. Students can:

3.1.a. Use a range of elaboration techniques (such as questioning, comparing, connecting, interpreting, analyzing, or describing) to establish and express point of view and theme

3.1.b. Create a clear and coherent, logically consistent structure appropriate to the chosen literary genre (biographical account, short story, personal narrative, narrative poem or song, parody of particular narrative style, play script)

3.1.c. Develop context, character/narrator motivation, problem/conflict and resolution, and descriptive details/examples to support and express theme

3.1.d. Manipulate elements of style, imagery, tone, and point of view to appeal to the senses and emotions of the reader

3.1.e. Critique own writing and the writing of others from the perspective of the intended audience to guide revisions, improve voice and style (word choice, sentence variety, figurative language) and achieve intended purpose and effect

3.2. Ideas, evidence, structure, and style create persuasive, academic, and technical texts for particular audiences and specific purposes. Students can:

3.2.a. Articulate a position through a sophisticated claim or thesis statement and advance it using evidence, examples, and counterarguments

3.2.b. Select appropriate and relevant information (excluding extraneous details) to set context

3.2.c. Address audience needs and anticipate audience questions or misunderstandings

3.2.d. Select and build context for language appropriate to content (technical, formal)

3.2.e. Control and enhance the flow of ideas through transitional words or phrases appropriate to text structure

3.2.f. Support judgments with substantial evidence and purposeful elaboration

3.2.g. Draw a conclusion by synthesizing information

3.2.h. Revise writing using feedback to maximize effect on audience and to calibrate purpose

3.3. Standard English conventions effectively communicate to targeted audiences and purposes. Students can:

3.3.a. Follow the conventions of standard English to write varied, strong, correct, complete sentences

3.3.b. Deliberately manipulate the conventions of standard English for stylistic effect appropriate to the needs of a particular audience and purpose

3.3.c. Seek and use an appropriate style guide to govern conventions for a particular audience and purpose

CO.4. Research and Reasoning

4.1. Independent research designs articulate and defend information, conclusions and solutions that address specific contexts and purposes. Students can:

4.1.a. Define and narrow a topic for self-designed research for a variety of purposes and audiences

4.1.b. Critique research questions of self and others for bias and underlying assumptions

4.1.c. Critique and defend sources and information based on credibility, relevance and appropriateness relative to context and purpose

4.1.d. Design and defend a set of diverse research strategies (e.g. cross-referencing bibliographies, creating annotated bibliographies, researching source credentials) to identify information appropriate to the needs of a research question, hypothesis, or thesis statement

4.1.e. Critique and defend evidence relative to its use to address a particular context and purpose

4.1.f. Determine and use the appropriate style guide to govern format and documentation of quotations, paraphrases, and other information from a range of research sources

4.2. Logical arguments distinguish facts from opinions, and evidence defines reasoned judgment. Students can:

4.2.a. Synthesize information to support a logical argument

4.2.b. Distinguish between evidence and inferences

4.2.c. Identify false premises or assumptions

4.2.d. Analyze rhetorical devices used in own and others' appeals

4.2.e. Summarize ideas that include alternate views, rich detail, well-developed paragraphs, and logical argumentation

CO.5. Prepared Graduate Competencies in Reading, Writing, and Communicating: The preschool through twelfth-grade concepts and skills that all students who complete the Colorado education system must master to ensure their success in a postsecondary and workforce setting.

5.1. Collaborate effectively as group members or leaders who listen actively and respectfully pose thoughtful questions, acknowledge the ideas of others, and contribute ideas to further the group's attainment of an objective

5.2. Deliver organized and effective oral presentations for diverse audiences and varied purposes

5.3. Use language appropriate for purpose and audience

5.4. Demonstrate skill in inferential and evaluative listening

5.5. Interpret how the structure of written English contributes to the pronunciation and meaning of complex vocabulary

5.6. Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational, literary, and persuasive texts

5.7. Evaluate how an author uses words to create mental imagery, suggest mood, and set tone

5.8. Read a wide range of literature (American and world literature) to understand important universal themes and the human experience

5.9. Seek feedback, self-assess, and reflect on personal learning while engaging with increasingly more difficult texts

5.10. Engage in a wide range of nonfiction and real-life reading experiences to solve problems, judge the quality of ideas, or complete daily tasks

5.11. Write with a clear focus, coherent organization, sufficient elaboration, and detail

5.12. Effectively use content-specific language, style, tone, and text structure to compose or adapt writing for different audiences and purposes

5.13. Apply standard English conventions to effectively communicate with written language

5.14. Implement the writing process successfully to plan, revise, and edit written work

5.15. Master the techniques of effective informational, literary, and persuasive writing

5.16. Discriminate and justify a position using traditional lines of rhetorical argument and reasoning

5.17. Articulate the position of self and others using experiential and material logic

5.18. Gather information from a variety of sources; analyze and evaluate the quality and relevance of the source; and use it to answer complex questions

5.19. Use primary, secondary, and tertiary written sources to generate and answer research questions

5.20. Evaluate explicit and implicit viewpoints, values, attitudes, and assumptions concealed in speech, writing, and illustration

5.21. Demonstrate the use of a range of strategies, research techniques, and persistence when engaging with difficult texts or examining complex problems or issues

5.22. Exercise ethical conduct when writing, researching, and documenting sources