ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES

• Explain and use new concepts and information in own words.
• Increase oral and written vocabulary by listening, discussing, and composing text when responding to literature that is read and heard.
• Begin to use formal language and/or literary language patterns, in place of oral language patterns, as appropriate.
• Use oral communication to identify, organize, and analyze information.
• Read aloud with fluency and comprehension any text appropriate for early independent readers.
• Respond appropriately when participating in group discourse by adapting language and communication behaviors to the situation to accomplish a specific purpose.
• Use expanded vocabulary to generate synonyms for commonly over-used words to increase clarity of oral and written communication.

Listen actively by:

• facing the speaker.
• making eye contact.
• asking questions to clarify the message.
• asking questions to gain additional information and ideas.

Read aloud grade-appropriate text with fluency, comprehension, and expression.

Participate in creative responses to texts such as discussions, dramatizations, oral presentations, and plays.

Use oral language to:

• present information in a sequenced, logical manner.
• discuss.
• sustain conversation on a topic.
• share information and ideas.
• recount or narrate.
• answer open-ended questions.
• Report information on a topic.
• explain own learning.

Share oral products in a variety of ways (e.g., discussions, presentations, etc.).

Draw conclusions, make generalizations, and gather support by referencing the text.

Summarize main idea(s) from written or spoken text in succinct language.

• Listen actively by:
  • asking questions.
  • araphrasing what was said.
  • interpreting speaker's verbal and non-verbal messages.
  • interpreting speaker's purposes and/or intent.
• Read aloud grade-appropriate text with fluency, comprehension, and expression demonstrating an awareness of volume and pace.
• Use oral and written language to:
  • present information and ideas in a clear, concise manner.
  • discuss.
  • interview.
  • solve problems.
  • make decisions.
• Make oral and written presentations using visual aids with an awareness of purpose and audience.
• Share self-selected texts from a variety of genres (e.g., poetry, letters, narratives, essays, presentations).
• Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by appropriate usage of:
  • pronouns.
  • subject/verb agreement.
  • verb tense consistency.
  • subject consistency.
• Elaborate information and ideas in writing and speaking in using:
  • simple and compound sentences.
  • regular and irregular verbs.
  • adverbs.
  • prepositions.
  • coordinating conjunctions.

• Listen actively and critically by:
  • asking questions.
  • delving deeper into the topic.
  • elaborating on the information and ideas presented.
  • evaluating information and ideas.
  • making inferences and drawing
  • conclusions.
  • making judgments.
• Identify strategies used by a speaker or writer to inform, entertain, or influence an audience.
• Read aloud grade-appropriate text with fluency, comprehension, expression, and personal style demonstrating an awareness of volume, pace, audience, and purpose.
• Use oral and written language to:
  • formulate hypotheses.
  • evaluate information and ideas.
  • present and support arguments.
  • influence the thinking of others.
• Make oral and written presentations to inform or persuade selecting vocabulary for impact.
• Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by using:
  • troublesome verbs.
  • nominative, objective, and possessive pronouns.
• Elaborate information and ideas in speaking and writing by using:
  • prepositional phrases.
  • transitions.
  • coordinating and/or subordinating conjunctions.
• Determine the impact of word choice on written and spoken language.

Functions

• Language to get what we want
• Asserting personal rights/needs
• Asserting positive/ negative expressions
• Requesting an opinion
• Incidental expressions

• Language to represent the world to others
• Language to impart what one knows
• Labeling, noting details
• Noting incidents, sequences
• Making generalizations
• Comparing

• Language to develop and maintain one's own unique identity

Examples

• I want some milk.
• I'm first because I'm the oldest.
• I need a pencil.
• It tastes good to me.
• Do you like my new shirt?
• My goodness!
• You're too loud.

• That's a Lexus.
• It's green and blue.
• My cookie is bigger than yours.
• My sister is in the hospital.
• I have twenty dollars.
• I'm taller than anyone else my age.

• My name is Anne Catherine.
• I'm good at music.
• I like Siamese cats.
• I'm the only child in my family.
• I want to be a teacher when I grow up.
• I'm smart at language.

Ways to Promote Oral Language

• Encourage children to state their requests clearly.
• Help children become aware of how people use language to get what they want.
• Encourage children to provide assistance to and seek assistance from peers.

• Engage children in experiences which require them to observe, record, summarize, and draw conclusions.
• Use open-ended questions.
• Collect data over time. Interpret and draw conclusions from records.
• Have children revise reports and presentations (their own and others').
• Encourage children to share what they know in a variety of formats and settings.

• Provide opportunities for children to share personal opinions, interpretations, and experiences.
• Listen to and talk with the students personally.
• Create opportunities for students to listen to and talk with others.

Functions

• Language to speculate and predict what will happen
• Noting cause/effect relationships
• Noting an event
• Drawing conclusions
• Requesting a reason
• Problem solving

• Language to control others and the world around us
• Requesting directions
• Requesting others' attention
• Controlling self

• Language to establish and maintain relationships with others.

• Language for its own sake, to express imagination, to entertain

Examples

• The airplane crashed because the landing gear didn't work.
• The rock is too heavy to float.
• It might rain tomorrow.
• We better not run away from home.
• Why can't I go?
• Why does this happen?

• Do it this way (to self).
• Give me the biggest one.
• Give me your paper and I'll give it to the teacher.
• Give me a blue crayon.
• Show me how to do it.
• Where shall I put it?
• Watch this.
• Look at me.

• Let's be friends.
• Tell me about...
• I like you because...
• Will you play with me?
• Would you like for me to help you?

• Let me tell you a story.
• Let's pretend.
• Let's sing a song.
• Let's play house.
• Once upon a time...
• Peter Piper picked...

Ways to Promote Oral Language

• Engage children in problem solving.
• Create an environment that encourages inquiry, promotes investigations, and generates new questions.
• Invite predictions when reading fiction or non-fiction and in content area studies.

• Talk about why, where, and when people use regulatory language.
• Let children give directions and explain class rules.
• Encourage children to use more appropriate regulatory language as teachers use less.
• Let children be in charge of large and small groups.

• Schedule opportunities for students to share their strengths with others.
• Provide opportunities for students to work in collaborative groups. Provide opportunities for students to read and write together.

• Provide opportunities for students to use their imaginations through drama, poetry, role playing, puppetry, music, dance, mime, and discussion.
• Schedule storytelling, read alouds, and performances.
• Schedule reading and writing workshops as a part of the instructional routine.