Grades 4-5

An ELL can construct meaning from oral presentations and literary and informational text through grade-appropriate listening, reading, and viewing.

An ELL can participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and questions.

An ELL can speak and write about grade-appropriate complex literary and informational texts and topics.

An ELL can construct grade-appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence.

An ELL can conduct research and evaluate and communicate findings to answer questions or solve problems.

An ELL can analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing.

An ELL can adapt language choices to purpose, task, and audience when speaking and writing.

An ELL can determine the meaning of words and phrases in oral presentations and literary and informational text.

An ELL can create clear and coherent grade-appropriate speech and text.

An ELL can make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade-appropriate speech and writing.

use a very limited set of strategies to: identify a few key words and phrases from read-alouds, simple written texts, and oral presentations.

use an emerging set of strategies to: identify the main topic and retell a few key details from read-alouds, simple written texts, and oral presentations.

use a developing set of strategies to: determine the main idea or theme, and • retell a few key details, and also retell familiar stories from read-alouds, simple written texts, and oral presentations.

use an increasing range of strategies to: determine the main idea or theme, explain how some key details support the main idea or theme, and  summarize part of a text from read-alouds, written texts, and oral presentations.

use a wide range of strategies to: determine two or more main ideas or themes, explain how key details support the main ideas or themes, and summarize a text from read-alouds, written texts, and oral presentations

participate in short conversations, participate in short written exchanges, actively listen to others, and respond to simple questions and some whquestions about familiar topics.

participate in short conversations, participate in short written exchanges, actively listen to others, and respond to simple questions and whquestions about familiar topics and texts.  

participate in short conversations and discussions, participate in short written exchanges, respond to others’ comments, add some comments of his or her own, and ask and answer questions about familiar topics and texts. 

participate in conversations and discussions, participate in written exchanges, build on the ideas of others, express his or her own ideas, ask and answer relevant questions, and add relevant information and evidence about a variety of topics and texts.

participate in extended conversations and discussions, participate in extended written exchanges, build on the ideas of others, express his or her own ideas clearly, pose and respond to relevant questions,  add relevant and detailed information using evidence, and summarize the key ideas expressed about a variety of topics and texts.

communicate simple information about familiar texts, topics, events, or objects in the environment.

deliver short oral presentations and compose written texts about familiar texts, topics, and experiences.

including a few details, deliver short oral presentations, compose written narratives or informational texts about familiar texts, topics, and experiences. 

including some details, deliver short oral presentations, and compose written narratives or informational texts about a variety of texts, topics, and experiences.

including details and examples to develop a topic, deliver oral presentations, and compose written narrative or informational texts about a variety of texts, topics, and experiences.

express an opinion about a familiar topic.

construct a simple claim about a familiar topic and give a reason to support the claim.

construct a claim about familiar topics, introduce the topic, and provide a few reasons or facts to support the claim.

construct a claim about a variety of topics, introduce the topic, provide several reasons or facts to support the claim, and provide a concluding statement.

construct a claim about a variety of topics, introduce the topic, provide logically ordered reasons or facts to support the claim, and provide a concluding statement.

recall information from experience, gather information from a few provided sources, and label some key information.

recall information from experience, gather information from provided sources, and record some information.

recall information from experience, gather information from print and digital sources to answer a question, and identify key information in orderly notes.

recall information from experience,  gather information from print and digital sources to answer a question, record information in organized notes, with charts, tables, or other graphics, as appropriate, and provide a list of sources.

recall information from experience, gather information from print and digital sources, summarize key ideas and information in detailed and orderly notes, with graphics as appropriate, and provide a list of sources.

identify a point an author or speaker makes.

identify a reason an author or speaker gives to support a main point and agree or disagree with the author or speaker.

tell how one or two reasons support the specific points an author or speaker makes or fails to make.

describe how reasons support the specific points an author or speaker makes or fails to make

explain how an author or speaker uses reasons and evidence to support or fail to support particular points, and  (at grade 5) identify which reasons and evidence support which points.

recognize the meaning of some words learned through conversations, reading, and being read to.

with emerging control, adapt language choices to different social and academic contents, and use some words learned through conversations, reading, and being read to.

with developing control, adapt language choices according to purpose, task, and audience, and use an increasing number of general academic and content-specific words, phrases, and expressions in conversation, discussions, and short written text.

with increasing ease, adapt language choices and style (includes register) according to purpose, task, and audience, and use a wider range of general academic and content-specific words and phrases in speech and writing.

adapt language choices and style according to purpose, task, and audience, and use a wide variety of general academic and content-specific words and phrases in speech and writing.

relying heavily on context, visual aids, and knowledge of morphology in his or her native language, and recognize the meaning of a few frequently occurring words, phrases, and formulaic expressions in simple oral discourse, read-alouds, and written texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events.

using context, some visual aids, reference materials, and knowledge of morphology in his or her native language, and determine the meaning of some frequently occurring words, phrases, and expressions in simple oral discourse, read-alouds, and written texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events. 

using context, visual aids, reference materials, and a developing knowledge of English morphology, determine the meaning of frequently occurring words and phrases, and determine the meanings of some idiomatic expressions in texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events.

using context, reference materials, and an increasing knowledge of English morphology, determine the meaning of general academic and content-specific words, phrases, and determine the meaning of a growing number of idiomatic expressions in texts about a variety of topics, experiences, or events.

using context, reference materials, and knowledge of English morphology, determine the meaning of general academic and content-specific words and phrases, and determine the meaning of figurative language (e.g., metaphors, similes, adages, and proverbs) in texts about a variety of topics, experiences, or events. 

with support (including context and visual aids), and using non-verbal communication, communicate simple information about an event or topic, and use a narrow range of vocabulary and syntactically simple sentences with limited control.

with support (including visual aids and modeled sentences), communicate simple information about a topic, recount a simple sequence of events in order, and use frequently occurring linking words (e.g., and, then) with emerging control.

with support (including modeled sentences), introduce an informational topic, present one or two facts about the topic, recount a short sequence of events in order, use an increasing range of temporal and other linking words (e.g., next, because, and, also), and provide a concluding statement with developing control.

introduce an informational topic • develop the topic with facts and details, recount a more detailed sequence of events, with a beginning, middle, and end, use transitional words and phrases to connect events, ideas, and opinions (e.g., after a while, for example, in order to, as a result), and provide a conclusion with increasingly independent control.

introduce an informational topic, develop the topic with facts and details, recount a more detailed sequence of events, with a beginning, middle, and end, use a variety of linking words and phrases to connect ideas, information, or events, and provide a concluding statement or section.

with support (including context and visual aids), recognize and use a small number of frequently occurring nouns, noun phrases, and verbs, and understand and respond to simple questions.

with support (including visual aids and modeled sentences), recognize and use some frequently occurring nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions, and produce simple sentences in response to prompts.

with support (including modeled sentences), use some relative pronouns (e.g., who, whom, which, that), use some relative adverbs (e.g., where, when, why), use some prepositional phrases, and  produce and expand simple and compound sentences.

 use relative pronouns (e.g., who, whom, which, that), use relative adverbs (e.g., where, when, why), use prepositional phrases, use subordinating conjunctions, and produce and expand simple, compound, and a few complex sentences.

use relative pronouns (e.g., who, whom, which, that), use relative adverbs (e.g., where, when, why), use prepositional phrases, use subordinating conjunctions, use the progressive and perfect verb tense, and produce and expand simple, compound, and complex sentences.