Grades 6-8

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 in oral communications and simple written texts.

use an emerging set of strategies to: identify the main topic in oral communications and simple written texts, and retell a few key details

use a developing set of strategies to: determine the central idea or theme in simple oral presentations or written text, explain how the theme is supported by specific details, and summarize part of the text.

use an increasing range of strategies to: determine two or more central ideas or themes in oral presentations or written text,  explain how the central ideas/themes are supported by specific textual details, and summarize a simple text.

use a wide range of strategies to: determine central ideas or themes in oral presentations or written text, explain how the central ideas/themes are developed by supporting ideas or evidence, and summarize a text

participate in short conversational and written exchanges on familiar topics, present simple information, and respond to simple questions and some wh- questions.

participate in short conversational and written exchanges on familiar topics and texts, present information and ideas, and respond to simple questions and wh- questions.

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

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

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

communicate simple information about familiar texts, topics, and experiences

deliver short oral presentations and compose written narratives or informational texts about familiar texts, topics, experiences, or events.

deliver short oral presentations and compose written narratives or informational texts • develop texts with some details about familiar texts, topics, and experiences.

deliver oral presentations, compose written narratives or informational texts, and develop texts with some specific details about a variety of texts, topics, and experience.

deliver oral presentations, compose written narratives or informational texts, and develop texts with relevant details, ideas, or information about a variety of texts, topics, and experiences.

 express an opinion about a familiar topic.

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

construct a claim about a familiar topic, introduce the topic, provide several supporting reasons or facts in a logical order, and provide a concluding statement.

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

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

gather information from a few provided sources and label collected information.

gather information from provided sources and record some data and information.

gather information from multiple provided print and digital sources, summarize or paraphrase observations, ideas, and information, with labeled illustrations, diagrams, or other graphics, and as appropriate cite sources.

gather information from multiple print and digital sources, use search terms effectively, quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others, using charts, diagrams, or other graphics, as appropriate, cite sources, and use a standard format for citations.

gather information from multiple print and digital sources, use search terms effectively, (at Grade 8) evaluate the credibility of each source, quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others using charts, diagrams, or other graphics, as appropriate, cite sources, and use a standard format for citations.

identify a point an author or a speaker makes.

identify the main argument an author or a speaker makes and identify one reason an author or a speaker gives to support the argument.

explain the argument an author or a speaker makes and distinguish between claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from those that are not.

analyze the argument and specific claims made in texts or speech, determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the claims, and cite textual evidence to support the analysis.

analyze and evaluate the argument and specific claims made in texts or speech/ presentations, determine whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims, and cite textual evidence to support the analysis.

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

with emerging control, adapt language choices according to task and audience, and begin to use frequently occurring general academic and contentspecific words and phrases in conversations and discussions.

with developing ease, adapt language choices and style according to purpose, task, and audience, use an increasing number of general academic and content-specific words and phrases in speech and short written texts, and show developing control of style and tone in oral or written text.

with increasing ease, adapt language choices and style according to purpose, task, and audience, use a wider range of general academic and content-specific academic words and phrases, and maintain consistency in style and tone throughout most of oral or written text.

with ease, adapt language choices and style according to purpose, task, and audience, use a wide variety of complex general academic and content-specific academic words to precisely express ideas, and maintain an appropriate and consistent style and tone throughout an oral or written text.

relying heavily on context, visual aids, and knowledge of morphology in their native language, and recognize the meaning of a few frequently occurring words and simple phrases in texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events.

using context, visual aids, reference materials, and knowledge of morphology in their native language, and determine the meaning of frequently occurring words, phrases, and expressions in texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events.

using context, visual aids, reference materials, and a developing knowledge of English morphology (e.g. affixes and roots words), and determine the meaning of general academic and content-specific words and phrases and frequently occurring expressions in texts about familiar topics, experiences, or events.

using context, reference materials, and an increasing knowledge of English morphology, and determine the meaning of general academic and content-specific words and phrases, and 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, and determine the meanings of general academic and content-specific words and phrases, idiomatic expressions, and figurative and connotative language (e.g., metaphor, personification) in texts about a variety of topics, experiences, or events.

with support (including context and visual aids) and 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 modeled sentences), recount a brief sequence of events in order, introduce an informational topic, present one or two facts about the topic, use some commonly occurring linking words (e.g., next, because, and, also), and provide a concluding statement with emerging control.

recount a short sequence of events, with a beginning, middle, and end,  introduce and develop an informational topic with a few facts and details, use common 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 developing control.

recount a more detailed sequence of events or steps in a process, with a beginning, middle, and end, introduce and develop an informational topic with facts and details, use a variety of transitional words and phrases to connect events, ideas, and opinions (e.g., however, on the other hand, from that moment on), and provide a concluding section with increasingly independent control.

recount a complex sequence of events or steps in a process, with a beginning, middle, and end, introduce and effectively develop an informational topic with facts and details, use a wide variety of transitional words and phrases to show logical relationships between events and ideas, and provide a concluding section.

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 sentences), use nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositional phrases, and produce simple and compound sentences.

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

use an increasing number of intensive/reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves) and verbs in the active and passive voices, place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognize and correct most misplaced and dangling modifiers, and produce and expand simple, compound, and complex sentences.

use intensive/reflexive pronouns, use verbs in the active and passive voices, place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognize and correct misplaced and dangling modifiers, and produce and expand simple, compound, and complex sentences.