Fall Trimester     Reading Students will demonstrate the ability to: Determine a purpose for their reading Generate questions before, during and after reading to enhance understanding and recall Make logical predictions Compare and contrast (i.e. author's purpose) Describe characters' physical characteristics, personality traits or interactions identify main ideas and summarize in writing Use context clues to understand new vocabulary Identify the characteristics of various genre Writing Students will demonstrate the ability to: Organize ideas into more than one paragraph Recognize and employ figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification) Support ideas/topics with details to advance the story or plot line Use a writing process Employ revising, editing and proofreading strategies Effectively use capitalization, punctuation and proper word usage Correctly spell priority words in written work Write personal narratives Speaking and Listening Students will demonstrate the ability to: Use and understand spoken language appropriate to the topic Contribute to verbal discussions Present, support and defend their ideas and points of view Interactively listen to others

Winter Trimester     Reading In addition to the skills taught in the first trimester, students will demonstrate the ability to: Describe characters' personality changes over time by providing thoughts, words or actions Compare/contrast informational texts Use text structure such as subheadings, table of contents, glossary, citations and diagrams to enhance comprehension Identify cause and effect including character's motives Identify and differentiate fact from opinion Develop reasoned inferences about problem/ conflict and solution Read to acquire information for different purposes Summarize and retell text both orally and in writing Use strategies to unlock meaning of words (prefixes and suffixes) Use comprehension strategy of taking notes Identify the characteristics of various genres Writing In addition to the skills taught in the first trimester, students will demonstrate the ability to: Use transitions between sentences and paragraphs Write more than one paragraph with expanded ideas which support the topic Develop writing voice Employ revising, editing and proofreading strategies Effectively use capitalization, punctuation and proper word usage Correctly spell priority words in written work Write memoirs Write about their reading

Spring Trimester     Reading In addition to the skills taught in the first and second trimester, students will demonstrate the ability to: Provide relevant details to support conclusions made Develop reasoned inferences about the relationship among plot/character/setting Identify implied author’s message or theme Make connections and synthesize information within or across text to improve comprehension Summarize or paraphrase, in written form, key ideas/plot with major events sequenced Explain the use of words in context Use literary element to analyze text Identify the characteristics of various genres Writing In addition to the skills taught in the first and second trimester, students will demonstrate the ability to: Use transitions between sentences and paragraphs and write a conclusion that provides closure Recognize organizational structures within paragraphs Develop writing voice Employ revising, editing and proofreading strategies Use punctuation to clarify meaning Correctly spell priority words in written work Write informational text   Speaking and Listening In addition to concepts taught in the first and second trimester, students will demonstrate the ability to: Use and understand spoken language appropriate to the topic Contribute to verbal discussions Present, support and defend their ideas and points of view Interactively listen to others