Topic: Standards for Speaking and Listening, Grade 6.

Review:

.Engage actively in group discussion on topics studied in class.

.Prepare for discussions by reading or research.

.Cooperate with peers to set clear goals.

.Build on ideas by asking relevant questions.

.Review key ideas.

.Interpret information presented in visual or multimodal formats.

.Delineate claims made by a speaker and detail evidence to support those claims.

.Present information using eye contact, volume and clear pronunciation.

.Incorporate visual displays when helpful.

.Demonstrate command of formal English.

Comment: How do I define “formal English?” Eliminating certain characteristics of conversation like needless repetition, especially with words like “it,” “there,” “get,” “thing”; making clear the antecedents of the demonstrative pronouns “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those”; eliminating sexist language by using the plural to avoid such constructions as “his and her,” “he and she”; carefully using parallel structure, preferring  the active voice to the passive voice and correcting dangling and misplaced modifiers. RayS.

Source:  “CCSSI (Common Core State Standards Initiative) for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science.” March 10, 2010. You will find the standards at http://www.corestandards.org/.