Topic: Speaking and Listening Standards, Grades 11 and 12.

Review:

.Use topics, texts and issues being studied in class.

.Prepare for discussion by evaluating evidence or information about the material under study.

.Cooperate with peers to set goals.

.Determine ground rules for decision-making.

.Ask questions that test the evidence.

.Summarize comments and claims made on all sides of the issue.

.Determine additional information needed.

.Evaluate whether the team has met its goal.

.Integrate multiple data from various mediums.

.Evaluate reliability and credibility  of each source of information.

.Evaluate the rhetoric and reasoning used by a presenter.

.Plan and deliver focused, coherent presentations.

.Adjust presentations to particular audiences and purposes.

.Make use of visual displays of data to enhance understanding.

.Adapt speech to a variety of contexts.

.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/.