LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS
BY LEVEL: ESSENTIALS (Grades 4-8)
W-E1. Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage,
along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete
effectively a variety of writing tasks
(Grades 6-8)
PO 1. Spell correctly
PO 2. Punctuate correctly (e.g., sentence endings, commas in a series, commas in
compound sentences, abbreviations, quotation marks, colon in a business letter
greeting, apostrophes)
PO 3. Apply rules of capitalization (e.g., sentence beginnings, titles, abbreviations,
proper nouns, direct quotations)
PO 4. Apply standard grammar and usage (e.g., subject-verb agreement; simple,
compound and complex sentences; appropriate verb tense; plurals; prepositions)
PO 5. Organize paragraphs with a variety of sentence structures (e.g., simple,
compound, complex)
W-E5. Write a report that conveys a point of view and develops a topic with
appropriate facts, details, examples and descriptions from a variety of cited sources
(Grades 6-8)
PO 1. Write a report in own words (except for material quoted) that states, develops and
provides a concluding statement for a point of view (perspective) about a topic
that is narrow enough to be adequately covered
PO 2. Organize a report with a clear beginning, middle and end including use of smooth
transitions
PO 3. Provide support through facts, details, examples or descriptions that are appropriate,
directly related to the topic, and from a variety of cited sources
PO 4. Use personal interpretation, analysis, evaluation or reflection to evidence understanding
of subject
W-E8. Demonstrate research skills using reference materials such as a dictionary,
encyclopedia and thesaurus to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks
(Grades 6-8)
PO 1. Implement a research strategy that includes
- selecting best source for specific research purpose
- taking notes that summarize and paraphrase information relevant to the topic
- incorporating notes into a finished product
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS
BY LEVEL: ESSENTIALS (Grades 4-8)
STANDARD 1: HISTORY
FOCUS: World History (Ancient Civilizations through the Age of Exploration)
1SS-E9. Describe the geographic, political, economic, and social characteristics of the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China and their contributions to later civilizations, with emphasis on:
PO 3. the religious traditions and how they shaped culture
3T-E1. Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and
illustrating
PO 1. Use word processing editing tools to revise a document (e.g., cut and paste, tabs and
margins, font size, font style, delete and undo, selecting, spell check, click and drag)
PO 2. Design a word processing document with graphical elements (e.g., clip art, digital
photographs, symbols, using text wrap, cropping, sizing, drawing tools)
STANDARD 4: TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS
4T-E1. Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of facilitated and independent learning
PO 1. Communicate independently via e-mail, Internet, and/or videoconference with people
in a remote location (For Internet safety see Technology 2T-E1)
STANDARD 5: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TOOLS
5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources
PO 1. Identify electronic research resources
PO 2. Define subject searching and devise a search strategy to locate information using
available electronic research resources (i.e., electronic card catalog, online or
CD-ROM reference sources, grade level appropriate Internet resources)
PO 5. Identify the author, copyright date and publisher of information located in electronic
resources, including Internet resources
5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources
PO 1. Create citations for electronic research sources following a prescribed format
PO 2. Gather research from a variety of electronic sources and identify the most appropriate information for answering the research question
PO 3. Obtain permission, when appropriate, to use the work of others
PO 4. Identify the components of a URL to determine the source of the information
PO 5. Identify the author of the information found from electronic resources and determine whether the author is an authority, displays bias and is a primary or secondary source