WRITTEN CONVENTIONS STANDARDS BY GRADE LEVEL (Student Version) PRIOR TO FIFTH GRADE Write complete simple and compound sentences with correct subject and verb agreement. Write the complete subject and the complete predicate in a sentence. Vary sentence length for reasons of craft. Write a range of sentence types (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory). Write sentences in past, present, and future tenses. Parts of Speech Use the following parts of speech correctly in writing: Verbs (part, present, future; irregular) Nouns (singular/plural, common/proper) Adjectives (descriptive, articles, comparative/superlative forms) Adverbs (time, manner, frequency, intensity) Prepositions and prepositional phrases to convey location, time, direction, or provide details Pronouns (possessive, reflexive) Conjunctions (coordinating and correlative) Transition words (time order transition, transitions that indicate a conclusion) Capitalization Use capitalization for o first letter in a sentence o pronoun I o names of people o proper nouns o official titles of people o months and days of the week o geographical names and places o historical periods, events, and documents o greeting and closing of a letter o titles of books, stories, and essays o languages, races and nationalities Punctuation Recognize and use punctuation marks, including o ending punctuation in sentences o apostrophes in contractions and possessives o commas in series and dates o commas in compound sentences o quotation marks o Indent paragraphs Spelling Use knowledge of letter sounds, word parts, word segments, and syllables to spell. Spell words using common patterns and rules, including o consonant/vowel/consonant o consonant/vowel/consonant/silent e o complex consonants Spell words using o consonant blends o digraphs o diphthongs o vowel pairs o silent letters Plural rules including irregular plurals Spell high frequency and compound words from a commonly used list. Spell words with common syllable construction, including o closed o open o silent e o final stable syllable o r-controlled vowels
Spell base words and roots with affixes, including o dropping final e o changing y to i o doubling final consonants Spell commonly used homophones. Spell simple and complex contractions. Use print and electronic resources to correct spelling. Handwriting Write legibly using cursive or manuscript.
FIFTH GRADE Write the complete subject and the complete predicate in a sentence. Write simple and compound sentences with correct subject-verb agreement. Write declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. Write dialogue with correct punctuation. Maintain consistency of tense. Parts of Speech Use the following parts of speech correctly in writing: o Verbs (active voice) o Collective nouns (e.g., class) o Adjectives (e.g., descriptive, including origins) and their comparative and superlative forms o Adverbs (e.g., frequency; intensity) o Prepositions and prepositional phrases (for telling location, time, direction, details) o Indefinite pronouns o Subordinating conjunctions (e.g., while, because, although, if) o Transitional words between sentences and ideas (e.g., also, therefore) Use nouns and pronouns that agree (e.g., Mike/he). Use verbs correctly that are often misused (e.g., lie, lay). Use verbs and objects correctly that are often misused (e.g., she and I). Capitalization Use capitalization for abbreviations initials and acronyms organizations Punctuation Recognize and use punctuation marks, including o commas in compound sentences o proper punctuation and spacing for quotations o italics and underlining for titles and emphasis Spelling Differentiate between commonly confused terms (its/it s and affect/effect, and others). Use spelling patterns, rules, or/and print resources to check spellings. Use the spell-check function in word processing while understanding its limitations.
SIXTH GRADE Write simple and compound sentences with correct subject-verb agreement. Maintain consistency of tense. Write simple, compound, and complex sentences. Parts of Speech Use the following parts of speech correctly in writing: o Verbs (active and passive voice) o Non-count nouns (e.g. rice, paper) o Predicate adjectives and their comparative and superlative forms o Conjunctive adverbs (e.g. furthermore) o Prepositions and prepositional phrases (to convey location, time, or direction; provide details) o Indefinite pronouns o Subordinating conjunctions (e.g. while, because, although) o Transitional words and phrases to appropriately connect ideas (e.g. on the contrary, in addition to) Use correct pronoun/antecedent agreement. Use verbs correctly that are often misused (e.g., rise, raise). Use dependent and independent clauses appropriately. Capitalization Use capitalization for o abbreviations o initials and acronyms o organizations o headings o titles o emphasis within quotation marks. Punctuation Recognize and use punctuation marks, including o commas in compound sentences o proper punctuation and spacing for quotations o italics and underlining for titles of books Understand and use ellipses to show pause or anticipation. Use brackets to set aside a different idea or kind of information. Use commas and parentheses (20Biii) to set off parenthetical information. Use semi-colons to divide related parts of a compound sentence. Spelling Differentiate between commonly confused terms (its/ it s, affect/effect, and others). Use spelling patterns, rules, or/and print resources to check spellings. Use the spell-check function in word processing while understanding its limitations.
SEVENTH GRADE Use a variety of simple, compound, complex sentences that include modifiers, antecedents, parallel structures, and consistent tenses. Use transitions for sentence to sentence or paragraph to paragraph coherence. Use appositive, adverbial, adjectival phrases and clauses to add depth to sentences. Differentiate between main vs. subordinate clauses in complex sentences. Parts of Speech Use a variety of complete sentences that include properly placed modifiers, correctly identified antecedents, parallel structures, and consistent tenses (e.g., perfect and progressive) and participles. Use conjunctive adverbs. Understand and use prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement. Use relative pronouns. Use subordinating conjunctions (e.g., because, since). Use a variety of transitions and connections (sentence-to-sentence and paragraph-to-paragraph). Appositive phrases Adverbial and adjectival phrases and clauses Capitalization Use conventions of capitalization with increasing accuracy. Punctuation Appropriately use semicolons, colons, and hyphens. Use commas after introductory words, phrases, and clauses.
EIGHTH GRADE Vary sentence length. Simple, compound, complex sentences. Write a variety of sentence beginnings with use of gerund phrases, participial phrases, and infinitive phrases. Use appositive, adverbial, adjectival phrases and clauses to add depth and meaning to sentences. Use a variety of simple, compound, complex sentences that include modifiers, antecedents, parallel structures, and consistent tenses. Write complex sentences and differentiate between main vs. subordinate clauses. Use appropriate signal phrases for quotations and give proper documentation to sources used. (Use MLA style of documentation and punctuation.) Parts of Speech Use correct forms of perfect tenses and progressive forms of verbs Use more complex active and passive tenses and verbals (gerunds, participles, and infinitives). Use restrictive and non restrictive adjectival (relative) clauses. Use appropriate subordinating conjunctions for context and effect. Use reciprocal pronouns correctly (e.g., each other/ one another). Use pronouns correctly in both the nominative and objective cases. Capitalization Use more complex capitalization with increasing accuracy, such as for geographical locations, first word in a line of poetry, and seasons. Punctuation Use parentheses to enclose an author s last name and the page number for a source quoted and/or paraphrased. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce an example or an elaboration. Use brackets when adding words or clarification within a quotation. Use ellipses when using part of a quotation to indicate the section/words omitted. Use commas after introductory structures and dependent adverbial clauses; use correct punctuation for complex sentences. Appropriately use apostrophes.