By the end of the school year, all students should be able to:
■ Question a writer’s beliefs, intentions, assumptions, and biases to decide whether information is valid and accurate.
■ Recognize different types of language that friends and associates use to communicate. For example, they should recognize jargon (technical terms, teen slang, or other kinds of words that mean something to a specific group or profession but not to outsiders) and colloquialisms (informal, everyday language).
■ Know and use the conventions of debate, panel discussion, mock trial, and other formats for presenting information.
■ Write essays of three or more pages that compare and contrast elements, such as characters, setting, mood, and voice, in two or more literary texts (novels, plays, etc.).
■ Read and understand at least 25 books, including at least four books about one subject or by the same author or in one genre of literature.
■ Ask and respond to questions to clarify an interpretation of a literary text or performance.
■ Recognize persuasive techniques in presentations, such as emotional and ethical appeals.
■ Demonstrate comprehension of a topic by exploring it through different literary activities, such as writing, drama, oral presentation, and mixed-media performance.
■ Recognize at sight a large body of high-frequency words and words related to specific content. For example, recognize words related to science, economics, sports, or computer games.
■ Read silently and aloud from a variety of genres.
Learning at Home
The following strategies can be done in the families’ native languages as well as in English.
Encourage your child to submit original poems or short stories for publication in WordSmiths, an anthology of teen writing on the New York Public Library’s Teenlink Web site, teenlink.nypl.org/WordSmiths-Current.cfm.
Encourage your child to spell words correctly—on paper as well as in e-mail communications. Keep a dictionary at home or check spelling online at www.m-w.com.
Choose a current local story or issue and challenge your child to compare its treatment by different New York publications, such as The New York Times, www.nytimes.com; the New York Daily News, www.nydailynews.com; and New York Magazine, nymag.com.
Make family discussions a priority. Even if you’re always on the go, dedicate a time, like Sunday dinner, when you all sit down together and have a real conversation. Encourage everyone to contribute.