Roget's Thesaurus

Guide to Grammar and Writing

NOTE:  A benchmark or indicator without an asterisk (*) is an Ohio Department of Education requirement.  A benchmark or indicator with an asterisk is an additional West Clermont/National Standard requirement.

Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency

Fluency continues to develop past the primary grades.  Readers increase their rate of oral reading to near conversational pace.  They show in their appropriate use of pauses, pitch, stress and intonation that they are reading in clauses and sentence units to support comprehension.  They gain control over a wider, complex sight vocabulary and over longer syntactic structures, so that they are able to read progressively more demanding texts with greater ease.  Silent reading becomes considerably faster than oral reading and becomes the preferred, more efficient way to process everyday texts.

Acquisition of Vocabulary Benchmarks Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Use context clues and text structures to determine the meaning of new vocabulary.
2. Infer word meaning through identification and analysis of analogies and other word relationships.
3. Apply knowledge of connotation and denotation to learn the meaning of words.
4. Use knowledge of symbols, acronyms, word origins and derivations to determine the meanings of complex words.
5. Use knowledge of roots and affixes to determine the meanings of complex words.
6. Use multiple resources to enhance comprehension of vocabulary.

Fifth Grade Acquisition of Vocabulary Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

Contextual Understanding

1. Determine the meaning of unknown words by using a variety of context clues, the author’s use of definition, restatement and example.
2. Use context clues to determine the meaning of synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms, homographs and multiple meanings of some words.

Conceptual Understanding

3. Identify the connotation and denotation of new words.
4. Identify and understand new uses of words and phrases in text, such as similes and metaphors.

LINK: http://iteslj.org/cw/1/ck-animalsimile.html (simile crossword)

LINK: http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php (list of similes)

LINK: http://www.colorwize.com/MetaphorColorwize.html (similes and metaphors)

Structural Understanding

5. Use word origins to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases.
6. Apply the knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and roots and their various inflections to analyze the meanings of words.

LINK: http://www.quia.com/jg/66094.html (roots and prefixes game)

LINK: http://www.virtualsalt.com/roots.htm (list of common roots and prefixes)

LINK: http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/prefix1.html (common prefixes)

LINK: http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/reading/suffixes.html (suffixes)

7. Identify the meanings of abbreviations.
8. Use knowledge of the element

Tools and Resources

9. Determine the meanings and pronunciations of unknown words by using dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries, technology and textual features, such as definitional footnotes or sidebars.

LINK: http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/ (reference sources)

10. Recognize patterns of word structures (e.g., -ation in nation and information) and use them to determine pronunciation. *

Reading Process:  Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Benchmarks Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Determine a purpose for reading and use a range of reading comprehension strategies to better understand text.
2. Apply effective reading comprehension strategies, including summarizing and making predictions, and comparisons using information in text, between text and across subject areas.
3. Make meaning through asking and responding to a variety of questions related to text.
4. Apply self-monitoring strategies to clarify confusion about text and to monitor comprehension.
5. Achieve a Total Reading score in the fifth stanine or higher on the Stanford Achievement Test or its equivalent. *

LINK: http://www.hio.ft.hanze.nl/thar/reading.htm

LINK: http://www.ucc.vt.edu/lynch/TextbookReading.htm (SQ3R)

Fifth Grade Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

Comprehension Strategies

1. Establish and adjust purposes for reading, including to find out, to understand, to interpret, to enjoy and to solve problems.
2. Predict and support predictions with specific references to textual examples that may be in widely separated sections of text.
3. Make critical comparisons across texts on a topic or theme in both fiction and nonfiction texts.
4. Invoke visual and other sensory images from text during and after reading. *
5. Use schema to assist comprehension, relating text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world. *
6. Ask questions before and during reading to: *
1. clarify meaning;
2. speculate about text yet to be read;
3. determine an author’s style, intent, content and format.
7. Make inferences (using context clues and background knowledge) based on implicit information in texts, and provide justification for those inferences.
8. Determine importance in nonfiction text by: *
1. distinguishing important from unimportant information;
2. using text features to help distinguish important from unimportant information.
9. Synthesize what has been read by: *
1. monitoring overall meaning, important concepts and themes;
2. retelling what they have read;
3. extending the literal meaning of the text to an inferential level;
4. demonstrating their evolution of thinking as they read through a text.
10. Summarize the information in texts, recognizing that there may be several important ideas rather than just one main idea and identifying details that support each.
11. Select, create and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information.

LINK: http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ (graphic organizers-uses Adobe)

12. Demonstrate comprehension of text by keeping reading logs and reading journals, by giving book talks, and by writing book reviews/reports. *
13. Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate print texts and electronic and visual media.
14. Listen to teacher think-alouds as models of comprehension strategies.
15. Read and hear text read aloud from a variety of genres. *
16. Participate in literature circles for the purpose of discussing text with peers. *
17. Read a minimum of 25 self-selected and/or assigned chapter books a year, independently or with assistance. *

Self-Monitoring Strategies

18. Monitor own comprehension by:
1. adjusting speed to fit purpose;
2. skimming and scanning;
3. reading on or looking back;
4. paraphrasing or summarizing.
19. List questions and search for answers within the text to construct meaning.

Independent Reading

20. Use criteria to choose independent reading materials (e.g., personal interest, knowledge of authors and genres or recommendations from others).
21. Independently read books for various purposes (e.g., for enjoyment, for literary experience, to gain information or to perform a task).

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Benchmarks for Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Use text features and graphics to organize, analyze and draw inferences from content and to gain additional information.
2. Recognize the difference between cause and effect and fact and opinion to analyze text.
3. Explain how main ideas connect to each other in a variety of sources.
4. Identify arguments and persuasive techniques used in informational text.
5. Explain the treatment, scope and organization of ideas from different texts to draw conclusions about a topic.
6. Determine the extent to which a summary accurately reflects the main idea, critical details and underlying meaning of an original text.

Fifth Grade Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

1. Use text features (chapter titles, headings and subheadings, parts of the book including the index and table of contents, glossary, appendices, topographical aids) and online tools (search engines) to locate information.
2. Identify, distinguish between and explain examples of cause-and-effect in informational text.
3. Identify and use other organizational patterns (compare/contrast, problem/solution, question/answer) in nonfiction text to assist in comprehension. *
4. Compare important details about a topic, using different sources of information, including books, magazines, newspapers and online resources.
5. Summarize the main ideas and supporting details in nonfiction text.
6. Analyze information found in maps, charts, tables, graphs and diagrams.
7. Clarify steps in a set of instructions or procedures for proper sequencing and completeness and revise if necessary.
8. Analyze the difference between fact and opinion.
9. Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information in a text and identify possible point of confusion for the reader.
10. Identify and understand an author’s purpose for writing, including to explain, to entertain or to inform.
11. Use a strategy such as brackets, S3R, or KWL to comprehend nonfiction text. *
12. Make judgments and draw conclusions about nonfiction text, using evidence from the material.

Reading Applications: Literary Text Benchmarks for Grades 4-7

By the end of the K-3 program, students will be able to:

1. Describe and analyze the elements of character development
2. Analyze the importance of setting.
3. Identify the elements of plot and establish a connection between an element and a future event.
4. Differentiate between the points of view in narrative text.
5. Demonstrate comprehension by inferring themes, patterns and symbols.
6. Identify similarities and differences of various literary forms and genres.
7. Explain how figurative language expresses ideas and conveys mood.

Fifth Grade Reading Applications: Literary Text Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

1. Explain how a character’s thoughts, words and actions reveal his or her motivations.
2. Explain the influence of setting on the selection.
3. Identify the main incidents of a plot sequence and explain how they influence future action.
4. Identify the speaker and explain how point of view affects the text.
5. Summarize stated and implied themes.
6. Describe the defining characteristics of literary forms and genres, including poetry, drama, chapter books, short stories, biographies, fiction and nonfiction.

LINK: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/literature/genres.html (genres: list and definitions)

7. Interpret how an author’s choice of words appeals to the senses and suggests mood.
8. Identify and explain the use of figurative language in literary works, including:
1. idioms
2. similes
3. hyperboles
4. metaphors
5. personification.

LINK: http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php (list of similes)

LINK: http://www.colorwize.com/MetaphorColorwize.html (similes and metaphors)

LINK: http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/ (idioms)

9. Compare works by different authors in the same genre. *

Writing Process Benchmarks for Grades 5-7

By the end of the grades 5-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Generate topics and establish a purpose appropriate for the audience.
2. Determine audience and purpose for self-selected and assigned writing tasks.
3. Clarify ideas for writing assignments by using graphics or other organizers.
4. Use revision strategies to improve the overall organization, the clarity and consistency of ideas within and among paragraphs and the logic and effectiveness of word choices.
5. Select more effective vocabulary when editing by using a variety of resources and reference materials.
6. Edit to improve fluency, grammar and usage.
7. Apply tools to judge the quality of writing.
8. Prepare writing for publication that is legible, follows an appropriate format and uses techniques such as electronic resources and graphics.

LINK: http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html (writing process)

Fifth Grade Writing Process Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

Prewriting

1. Generate writing ideas through discussions with others and from printed material, and keep a list of writing ideas.
2. Conduct appropriate background reading, interviews or surveys when appropriate.
3. State and develop a clear main idea for writing.
4. Determine a purpose and audience.
5. Use organizational strategies (e.g., rough outlines, diagrams, maps, webs and Venn diagrams) to plan writing.

Drafting, Revising and Editing

6. Organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details.
7. Vary simple, compound and complex sentences.
8. Group related ideas into paragraphs, including topic sentences following paragraph form, and maintain a consistent focus across the paragraphs.
9. Vary language and style as appropriate to audience and purpose.
10. Use available technology to compose text.
11. Reread and assess writing for clarity, using a variety of methods (e.g., writer’s circle, author’s chair, conferring with peers or teacher).
12. Add and delete information and details to better elaborate on a stated central idea and to more effectively accomplish purpose.
13. Rearrange words, sentences and paragraphs, and add transitional words and phrases to clarify meaning.
14. Use resources and reference materials (e.g., dictionaries and thesauruses) to select more effective vocabulary.
15. Proofread writing, edit to improve conventions (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization), and identify and correct fragments and run-ons.

LINK: http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/edit.html

16. Apply tools (e.g., rubric, checklist and feedback) to judge the quality of writing.

Publishing

17. Prepare for publication (e.g., for display or for sharing with others) writing that follows a format appropriate to the purpose, using techniques such as electronic resources and graphics to enhance the final product.
18. Write legibly in cursive or print, or word process the final product.
19. Keep a writing portfolio and polish at least 10 major pieces of writing throughout the year.

Writing Applications Benchmarks for Grades 5-7

By the end of the grades 5-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Use narrative strategies (e.g., dialogue and action) to develop characters, plot and setting and to maintain a consistent point of view.
2. Write responses to literature that extend beyond the summary and support judgments through references to the text.
3. Produce letters (e.g., business, letters to the editor, job applications) that address audience needs, stated purpose and context in a clear and efficient manner.
4. Produce informational essays or reports that convey a clear and accurate perspective and support the main ideas with facts, details, examples and explanations.
5. Use persuasive strategies, including establishing a clear position in support of a proposition or a proposal with organized and relevant evidence.

Fifth Grade Writing Applications Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

1. Write personal and fictional narratives with a consistent point of view that:
1. engage the reader;
2. establish a situation, plot, point of view, setting and conflict
3. create an organizing structure;
4. includes sensory details and concrete language to develop plot and character;
5. develop complex characters using a range of strategies such as dialogue, tension or suspense;
6. provides a sense of closure.
2. Write responses to novels, stories and poems that organize an interpretation around several clear ideas, and justify the interpretation through the use of examples and specific textual evidence.
3. Write a response to literature that compares two works on the same theme. *
4. Write letters that state the purpose, make requests or give compliments and use business letter format.

LINK: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/BusinessLetter.html (business letter format)

5. Write informational essays or reports, including research, that contain:
1. a clear introduction, body and conclusion;
2. employ common expository structures when appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, comparison-contrast);
3. facts, details and examples to support important ideas.
6. Produce a persuasive piece that: *
1. engages the reader;
2. develops a controlling idea that makes a clear judgment;
3. creates an organizing structure;
4. includes appropriate information and arguments;
5. supports arguments with detailed evidence, citing sources of information as appropriate;
6. provides a sense of closure.
7. Write summaries that identify the central and supporting details of a selection. *
8. Produce informal writings (e.g., journals, notes and poems) for various purposes.

Writing Conventions Benchmarks for Grades 5-7

By the end of the grades 5-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Use correct spelling conventions.
2. Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work.
3. Use grammatical structures to effectively communicate ideas in writing.

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/ (Guide to Grammar and Writing)

Fifth Grade Writing Conventions Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

Spelling

1. Spell high frequency words correctly.

LINK: http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Dolch.html (Dolch lists)

LINK: http://cctc2.commnet.edu/grammar/misspelled_words.htm (commonly misspelled words)

2. Spell contractions correctly.

LINK: http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_contractions.htm

3. Spell roots, suffixes and prefixes correctly.

Punctuation and Capitalization

4. Use commas, end marks, apostrophes and quotation marks correctly.

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/marks.htm

5. Use capitalization correctly.

LINK: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/caps.html

Grammar and Usage

6. Use various parts of speech, such as nouns, pronouns and verbs (regular and irregular).

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/nouns.htm (nouns)

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm (pronouns)

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm (verbs)

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm (adjectives)

7. Use prepositions and prepositional phrases.

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm (prepositions)

8. Use adverbs.

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm (adverbs)

9. Use objective and nominative cases.

LINK: http://grammar.uoregon.edu/case/objcase.html (objective case)

LINK: http://grammar.uoregon.edu/case/nomcase.html (nominative case)

10. Use indefinite and relative pronouns.
11. Use conjunctions and interjections.

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/conjunctions.htm (conjunctions)

LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/interjections.htm (interjections)

Research Standards Benchmarks for Grades 5-7

By the end of the grades 5-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Formulate open-ended research questions suitable for inquiry and investigation.
2. Locate and summarize important information from multiple sources.
3. Organize information in a systematic way.
4. Acknowledge quoted and paraphrased information and document sources used.
5. Communicate findings orally, visually and in writing or through multimedia.

Fifth Grade Research Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

1. Generate a topic, assigned or personal interest, and open-ended questions for research and develop a plan for gathering information.
2. Locate sources and gather relevant information from multiple sources (e.g., school library catalogs, online databases, electronic resources and Internet-based resources.
3. Identify important information found in sources and paraphrase the findings in a systematic way (e.g., notes, outlines, charts, tables or graphic organizers).
4. Compare and contrast important findings and select sources to support central ideas, concepts and themes.
5. Define plagiarism and acknowledge sources of information.
6. Use a variety of communication techniques, including oral, visual or multimedia to present a written report.

Communications: Oral and Visual Benchmarks for Grades 5-7

By the end of the grades 5-7 program, students will be able to:

1. Use effective listening strategies, summarize major ideas, and draw logical inferences from presentations and visual media.
2. Explain a speaker’s point of view and use of persuasive techniques in presentations and visual media.
3. Vary language choice and use effective presentation techniques, including voice modulation and enunciation.
4. Select an organizational structure appropriate to the topic, audience, setting and purpose.
5. Present ideas in a logical sequence and use effective introductions and conclusions that guide and inform a listener’s understanding of key ideas.
6. Give presentations using a variety of delivery methods, visual materials and technology.

Fifth Grade Communications: Oral and Visual Indicators

By the end of fifth grade, students will be able to:

Listening and Viewing

1. Demonstrate active listening strategies (e.g., asking focused questions, responding to cues, making visual contact).
2. Interpret the main idea and draw conclusions from oral presentations and visual media.
3. Identify the speaker’s purpose in presentations and visual media (e.g., to inform, to entertain, to persuade).
4. Discuss how facts and opinions are used to shape the opinions of listeners and viewers.

Speaking Skills and Strategies

5. Demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language and select language appropriate to purpose and audience.
6. Use clear diction, pitch, temp and tone, and adjust volume and tempo to stress important ideas.
7. Adjust speaking content according to the needs of the situation, setting and audience.

Speaking Applications

8. Deliver informational presentations (e.g., expository, research) that:
1. demonstrate an understanding of the topic and present events or ideas in a logical sequence;
2. support the main idea with relevant facts, details, examples, quotations, statistics, stories and anecdotes;
3. organize information, including a clear introduction, body and conclusion and follow common organizational structures when appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, compare-contrast);
4. use appropriate visual materials (e.g., diagrams, charts, illustrations) and available technology;
5. draw from several sources and identify the sources used.
9. Deliver formal and informal descriptive presentations recalling an event or personal experience that convey relevant information and descriptive details.
10. Deliver persuasive presentations that:
1. establish a clear position;
2. include relevant evidence to support a position and to address potential concerns of listeners;
3. follow common organizational structures when appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution).
11. Participate in group discussions and: *
1. display appropriate turn-taking behavior;
2. actively solicit another person’s opinion;
3. offer opinions forcefully without dominating;
4. respond appropriately to comments and questions;
5. give reasons in support of opinions expressed.