Colorado State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 4

CO.1. Oral Expression and Listening

1.1. A clear communication plan is necessary to effectively deliver and receive information. Students can:

1.1.a. Carry out, evaluate, and reflect on roles in small group discussions

1.1.b. Listen to and paraphrase key ideas expressed by self and others

1.1.c. Ask questions to clarify understanding

1.1.d. Deliver planned informal oral presentations

CO.2. Reading for All Purposes

2.1. Comprehension and fluency matter when reading literary texts in a facile way. Students can:

2.1.a. Identify and draw inferences about setting, characters (such as motivations, personality traits), and plot

2.1.b. Describe the development of plot (such as the origin of the central conflict, the action of the plot, and how the conflict is resolved)

2.1.c. Summarize text by identifying important ideas and sequence and by providing supporting details, while maintaining sequence

2.1.d. Read familiar texts orally with fluency, accuracy, and prosody (expression)

2.2. Comprehension and fluency matter when reading informational and persuasive texts in a facile way. Students can:

2.2.a. Skim materials to develop a general overview of content

2.2.b. Scan to locate specific information or to perform a specific task (finding a phone number, locating a definition in a glossary, identifying a specific phrase in a passage)

2.2.c. Separate main ideas from details

2.2.d. Identify conclusions

2.2.e. Recognize cause and effect relationships

2.2.f. Use text features (bold type, headings, visuals, captions, glossary) to organize or categorize information

2.2.g. Identify common organizational structures (paragraphs, topic sentences, concluding sentences) and explain how they aid comprehension

2.3. Knowledge of complex orthography (spelling patterns), morphology (word meanings), and word relationships to decode (read) multisyllabic words contributes to better reading skills. Students can:

2.3.a. Read and understand words with common prefixes (un-, re-, dis-) and derivational suffixes (-ful, -ly, -ness)

2.3.b. Read and understand words that change spelling to show past tense: write/wrote, catch/caught, teach/taught

2.3.c. Read multisyllabic words with and without inflectional and derivational suffixes

2.3.d. Infer meaning of words using explanations offered within a text

CO.3. Writing and Composition

3.1. The recursive writing process is used to create a variety of literary genres for an intended audience. Students can:

3.1.a. Create personal and fictional narratives with a coherent storyline

3.1.b. Use relevant and descriptive details to enhance narratives

3.1.c. Use a variety of transition words or phrases to establish chronology

3.1.d. Write poems that express ideas or feelings using imagery, figurative language, and sensory details

3.1.e. Choose planning strategies to support text structure and intended outcome

3.2. Informational and persuasive texts use the recursive writing process. Students can:

3.2.a. Identify a text structure appropriate to purpose (sequence, chronology, description, explanation, comparison-and-contrast

3.2.b. Organize relevant ideas and details to convey a central idea or prove a point

3.2.c. Develop paragraphs with clear topics, sufficient supporting details, and conclusions

3.2.d. Group related ideas and place them in logical order when writing paragraphs or summaries

3.2.e. Use a variety of transition words based on genre

3.2.f. Use appropriate language for different audiences (students, parents)

3.2.g. Decide if supporting visuals will enhance the final product (illustration, photo, diagram)

3.2.h. Choose planning strategies to support text structure and intended outcome

3.3. Correct sentence formation, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling are applied to make the meaning clear to the reader. Students can:

3.3.a. Edit for correct mechanics (capital letters, quotation marks, punctuation, contractions)

3.3.b. Edit for correct standard English spelling

3.3.c. Edit for simple and compound sentences with correct subject-verb relationships

3.3.d. Use compound subjects (Tom and Pat went to the store) and compound verbs (Harry thought and worried about the things he said to Jane) to create sentence fluency in writing

3.3.e. Use correct format (indenting paragraphs, parts of a letter, poem, etc.) for intended purpose

3.3.f. Write with precise nouns, active verbs, and descriptive adjectives and adverbs to enhance writing

CO.4. Research and Reasoning

4.1. Comprehending new information for research is a process undertaken with discipline both alone and within groups. Students can:

4.1.a. Identify a topic and formulate open-ended research questions for further inquiry and learning

4.1.b. Identify relevant sources for locating information

4.1.c. Locate information using text features, (appendices, indices, glossaries, and table of content)

4.1.d. Gather information using a variety of resources (reference materials, trade books, online resources, library databases, print and media resources)

4.1.e. Read for key ideas, take notes, and organize information read (using graphic organizer)

4.1.f. Interpret and communicate the information learned by developing a brief summary with supporting details

4.1.g. Develop relevant supporting visual information (charts, maps, diagrams, photo evidence, models)

4.1.h. Present a brief report of the research findings to an audience

4.2. Identifying implications, concepts, and ideas enriches reasoning skills. Students can:

4.2.a. Consider negative as well as positive implications of their own thinking or behavior, or others thinking or behavior

4.2.b. State, elaborate, and give an example of a concept (for example, state, elaborate, and give an example of friendship or conflict)

4.2.c. Identify the key concepts and ideas they and others use

4.2.d. Ask primary questions of clarity, significance, relevance, accuracy, depth, and breadth

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