English Language Arts Example Ddms: Core Course Objectives

Pre-K and HS English Language Arts/Literacy

Core Course Objectives

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) partnered with WestEd to convene panels of expert educators to review and develop statements of essential curriculum content, Core Course Objectives (CCOs), for approximately 100 different grades/subjects and courses.

In conjunction with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, the CCOs were used by a team of WestEd evaluators to ensure content alignment in the identification and evaluation of example assessments suitable for use as District-Determined Measures (DDMs). Districts can utilize the CCOs themselves or the process of developing CCOs in their own work when selecting DDMs.

At each meeting, educators developed high-quality CCOs that met the following criteria:

· Scope: The CCO describes an overarching learning goal.

· Assess-ability: The CCO describes knowledge, skills, or abilities that are readily able to be measured.

· Centrality: The CCO describes a critically important concept, skill, or ability that is central to the subject/grade or course.

· Relevance: The CCO represents knowledge, skills, and abilities that are consistent with Massachusetts’s values and goals.

After public review, WestEd’s content specialists reviewed the comments submitted by educators and other stakeholders. The CCOs that emerged from this process are presented below.

Massachusetts District-Determined Measures
Core Course Objectives (CCOs)

English Language Arts/Literacy – Grade: Pre-K

# / Objective /
1 / With prompting and support, students dramatize and retell a sequence of events or recall important facts from a text read aloud, a recording, or a video.
2 / With prompting and support, students “read” the illustrations in a picture book by describing a character or place depicted, telling how a sequence of events unfolds, and describing facts learned from the pictures.
3 / With guidance and support, students demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes):
a. Recognize and produce rhyming words (e.g., identify words that rhyme with /cat/, such as /bat/ and /sat/).
b. Segment words in a simple sentence by clapping and naming the number of words in the sentence.
c. Identify the initial sound of a spoken word and generate several other words that have the same initial sound.
Begins in kindergarten or when the individual child is ready:
a. Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
b. Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
4 / Students demonstrate beginning understanding of phonics and word analysis skills:
a. Link an initial sound to a picture of an object that begins with that sound and, with guidance and support, to the corresponding printed letter (e.g., link the initial sound /b/ to a picture of a ball and, with support, to a printed or written “B”).
b. Recognize one’s own name and familiar common signs and labels (e.g., STOP).
Begins in kindergarten or when the individual child is ready:
c. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
d. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
5 / Students use a combination of dictating and drawing to explain information about a topic and to tell a real or imagined story.
6 / Students participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play. Students speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
7 / Students speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
8 / Students demonstrate use of oral language in informal everyday activities.
a. (Begins in kindergarten).
b. Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
c. Form regular plural nouns.
d. Understand and use question words (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
e. Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).
f. Demonstrate the ability to speak in complete sentences.
g. Use vocabulary in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework Pre-Kindergarten standards to express concepts related to length, area, weight, capacity, and volume.
9 / With prompting and support, students ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words or phrases introduced through activities, play, stories, poems, and informational texts read aloud.

Note: These Core Course Objectives were developed by Massachusetts educators in summer 2013. They are intended to provide districts with information about the content taught in this course. Source document used is as follows: Massachusetts English Language Arts and Literacy Curriculum Framework (2011).

English Language Arts/Literacy – American Literature – Grade: HS

# / Objective /
1 / Students explain how a particular point of view or cultural experience is reflected in a work (or works) of American literature, supporting their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence, as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2 / Students interpret how an American author draws on and transforms themes, characters, settings, or plots from older/historical source material (such as myths, legends, the Bible, classical literature, etc.) in a specific work, supporting their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence, as well as inferences drawn from the text.
3 / Students generate ideas for and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners about grade-appropriate topics in American literature, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own ideas clearly and persuasively.
4 / Students identify an essential theme (or themes) in a work of American literature; explain how it is developed through the author’s use of specific details, structure, or word choice; and support their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence, as well as inferences drawn from the text.
5 / Students analyze multiple interpretations of an American drama, story, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production) by comparing and contrasting how each version interprets the source text.
6 / Students analyze how various literary techniques (e.g., tone, word-choice, figurative language, point of view, etc.) impact the meaning of a work of literature or literary nonfiction.
7 / Students will interpret a work of American literature by comparing it to another text with similar themes or topics.
8 / Students engage in the research process (short, as well as more sustained) to answer a question or solve a problem that demonstrates their ability to:
· narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
· synthesize multiple sources on the subject; and
· demonstrate understanding of the subject under investigation.
9 / Students evaluate seminal U.S. texts (e.g., U.S.Supreme Court majority opinion and dissents, The Federalist, presidential addresses, work of public advocacy), by analyzing the point of view, evidence, use of rhetoric, and reasoning, and by considering the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone.
10 / Students will express complex ideas in a well-organized, clear, and coherent piece of writing about American literature that uses precise language and techniques, such as similes, metaphors, and analogy.

English Language Arts/Literacy – Creative Writing – Grade: HS

# / Objective /
1 / Students write narratives for different purposes that describe real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, well-structured events, and well-chosen details.
2 / Students develop and strengthen their writing by engaging in the writing process. The process might include:
· brainstorming ideas;
· pre-writing and drafting;
· seeking and incorporating feedback from peers and adults;
· revising;
· writing multiple drafts; and
· editing.
3 / Students evaluate the impact of specific word choices, including the use of figurative language, in their own and others’ creative writing; and they defend their opinions, referring to particular words, phrases, and passages in a text by explaining how they contribute to meaning or purpose.
4 / Students write and perform readings of their own poems using a range of forms (such as lyric, ballad, free verse, etc.) and techniques (such as imagery, figurative language, rhythm and sound devices, graphic elements, etc.).
5 / Students initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative interactions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led), most notably in the revision process, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
6 / Students write and perform readings of their own prose using a range of forms (such as reflection, short narrative, vignette, etc.) and techniques (such as imagery, figurative language, sensory details, graphic elements, etc.).
7 / Students use effective and appropriate technology, digital media tools and techniques to produce, publish and present individual and collaborative writing products.
8 / Students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings by:
a. Interpreting figures of speech in context and analyze their roles in the text; and
b. Analyzing nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
9 / Students apply their knowledge of literary elements, (such as point of view, figurative language, narrative structure, dialogue, etc.) in an effective piece of original work.
10 / Students conduct short and more sustained research projects to gain understanding of a writer's style, draw inspiration, add depth and verisimilitude, and answer a question involved in the creative process.

Note: These Core Course Objectives were developed by Massachusetts educators in summer 2013. They are intended to provide districts with information about the content taught in this course. Source documents used are as follows: Massachusetts English Language Arts and Literacy Curriculum Framework (2011); Common Core State Standards; The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Curriculum Map for English (2011).

English Language Arts/Literacy – World Literature – Grade: HS

# / Objective /
1 / Students explain how a particular point of view or cultural experience is reflected in a work (or works) of world literature, supporting their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence.
2 / Students analyze a key complex character in a work of world literature that represents a specific cultural perspective by (1)explaining how the character develops over the course of a text, interacts with other characters, and advances the plot or theme; and (2)supporting their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence, as well as inferences drawn from the text.
3 / Students compare and contrast in writing the way two or more texts from different cultures treat similar themes, supporting their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence.
4 / Students initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (e.g., one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners about appropriate, grade-level texts and topics in world literature, in which they demonstrate:
· thorough preparation for the discussion;
· posing and responding to questions to deepen the discussion;
· responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; and
· summarizing points of agreement and disagreement.
5 / Students identify a theme (or themes) in a work of world literature; explain how it is developed through the author’s use of specific details, structure, or word choice; and support their analysis with strong and thorough textual evidence, as well as inferences drawn from the text.
6 / Students create and present a well-researched, formal, and accurately cited multimedia presentation, which conveys an understanding of a specific world culture (e.g., art, music, history, geography, social structures, etc.) and how these are reflected in a specific piece (or pieces) of world literature.
7 / Students engage in a research process focused on an important and universal theme in world literature during which they:
· develop research questions;
· identify appropriate sources to answer questions;
· gather and synthesize information from these sources; and
· present synthesis of findings in a logical and organized manner, using standard conventions of English when appropriate.
8 / Students will apply knowledge of historical time periods and literary elements to analyze an important piece of literature from world history by writing an effective argument about how the work influenced or was influenced by events, issues, or people of that time or later.
9 / Students will acquire and routinely use academic, literary, cultural, and domain-specific words in their writing, analysis, and discussion of world literature texts.
10 / Students will read informational texts related to world literature topics to (1) determine an author’s point(s) of view or purpose(s), and (2) analyze how the author uses rhetoric to advance that/those point(s) of view or purpose(s).