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Reading and Writing Skills
   

Course Description

This course helps students develop the skills and strategies to be successful on the language arts portion of tests such as California Standards Test (CST) and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). This course is aligned with the English/Language Arts Standards, and divided into five units: Unit 1: Reading Standard 1.0—Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development; Written and Oral English Language Conventions 1.0; Unit 2: Reading Comprehension 2.0—Focus on Informational Materials Unit 3: Literary Response and Analysis 3.0; Unit 4: Writing 1.0—Writing Strategies; and Unit 5: Writing Applications: 2.0 Genres and Their Characteristics.

Credits: 5
Released: 2010

State Standards
State Standards 		cahsee
High School Exit Exam

Course Content

Unit 1 — Vocabulary and Writing Conventions
for the CAHSEE

California English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
1.0: Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development

  • 1.1. Identify and use the literal and figurative meanings of words and understand word derivations.
  • 1.2. Distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of words and interpret the connotative power of words.
  • 1.3   Identify Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology and use the knowledge to understand the origin and meaning of new words.

1.0: Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Grammar and Mechanics of Writing:

  • 1.1 Identify and correctly use clauses, phrases, and mechanics of punctuation.
  • 1.2   Understand sentence construction and proper English usage.
  • 1.3   Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of grammar, paragraph and sentence structure, diction, and syntax.

Manuscript Form:

  • Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization.
  • 1.5   Reflect appropriate manuscript requirements, including title page presentation, pagination, spacing and margins, and integration of source and support material with appropriate citations.

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop reading skills through independent reading.
  • Acquire and implement strategies for reading.
  • Practice reading fluency and study strategies to help them improve reading speed.
  • Practice vocabulary strategies, particularly in test-taking situations.
  • Understand the literal and figurative meanings of words, word derivation, and etymology.
  • learn general test-taking strategies
  • Review basic parts of speech.
  • Understand sentence structure and construction, clauses, and phrases.
  • Demonstrate correct English usage in grammar and mechanics.
  • Understand the mechanics of punctuation.
  • Review and understand correct manuscript form.
  • Practice reading passages and answering test questions.


Unit 2 — Reading Comprehension for the CAHSEE: Informational Materials

California English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
2.0:  Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials)

  • 8.2.1 (8th grade) Compare and contrast the features and elements of consumer materials to gain meaning from documents.
  • 2.1 Analyze the structure and format of functional workplace documents, including the graphics and headers, and explain how authors use the features to achieve their purposes.
  • 2.2 Prepare a bibliography of reference materials for a report using a variety of consumer, workplace, and public documents.
  • 2.3 Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be researched.
  • 2.4 Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension.
  • 2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
  • 2.6 Demonstrate use of sophisticated learning tools by following technical directions.
  • 2.7 Critique the logic of functional documents by examining the sequence of information and procedures in anticipation of possible reader misunderstandings.
  • 2.8 Evaluate the credibility of an author’s argument or defense of a claim by critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence, the comprehensiveness of evidence, and the way in which the author’s intent affects the structure and tone of the text.

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop reading skills through independent reading.
  • Acquire and implement strategies for reading.
  • Practice fluency and study strategies to help them improve reading speed.
  • Practice dissecting test questions.
  • Understand how key words in test questions can help determine the answer.
  • learn general test-taking strategies
  • Introduced to each Reading Comprehension Standard, followed by activities to demonstrate their understanding.
  • Practice reading passages and answering test questions.


Unit 3 — Literary Response and Analysis for the CAHSEE

California English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
3.0:  Literary Response and Analysis
Structural Features of Literature

  • 3.1 Articulate the relationship between the expressed purposes and the characteristics of different forms of dramatic literature.
  • 3.2 Compare and contrast the presentation of a similar theme or topic across genres to explain how the selection of genre shapes the theme or topic.

Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text

  • 3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.
  • 3.4 Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic monologue, and soliloquy.
  • 3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to support the ideas expressed in each work.
  • 3.6 Analyze and trace an author's development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary devices.
  • 3.7 Recognize and understand the significance of various literary devices, including figurative language, imagery, allegory, and symbolism, and explain their appeal.
  • 3.8 Interpret and evaluate the impact of ambiguities, subtleties,   contradictions, ironies, and incongruities in a text.
  • 3.9 Explain how voice, persona, and the choice of a narrator affect characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a text.
  • 3.10 Identify and describe the function of dialogue, scene designs, soliloquies, asides, and character foils in dramatic literature.

Literary Criticism

  • 3.11 Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone, mood, and theme, using the terminology of literary criticism. (Aesthetic approach)
  • 3.12 Analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period. (Historical approach)

8th grade standard:

  • 8.3.7 Analyze a work of literature, showing how it reflects heritage, traditions, attitudes, beliefs of author.

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop reading skills through independent reading.
  • Acquire and implement strategies for reading.
  • Practice fluency and study strategies to help them improve reading speed.
  • Practice vocabulary for testing.
  • Understand the Literary Response and Analysis Standards 3.0, particularly how they apply in testing situations.
  • Practice dissecting test questions.
  • Practice reading passages and answering test questions.


Unit 4 — Writing Strategies for the CAHSEE

California English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
Writing Strategies

  • 1.1 Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintains consistent tone and focus throughout writing.
  • 1.2 Use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, active rather than passive voice.
  • 1.3 Use clear research questions and suitable research methods to elicit and present evidence from primary and secondary sources.
  • 1.4 Develop main ideas within the body of composition through supporting evidence.
  • 1.5 Synthesize information from multiple sources; identify complexities and discrepancies in information and different perspectives found in each medium.
  • 1.6 Integrate quotations and citations into written text while maintaining the flow of ideas.
  • 1.7 Use appropriate conventions for documentation in the text, notes, and bibliographies by adhering to those in style manuals.
  • 1.8 Design and publish documents by using advanced publishing software and graphic programs.
  • 1.9 Revise writing to improve logic and coherence of organization and controlling perspective, precision of word choice, and tone by taking into consideration audience, purpose, and formality of context.

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop reading skills through independent reading.
  • Acquire and implement strategies for reading.
  • Practice fluency and study strategies to help them improve reading speed.
  • Practice vocabulary for testing.
  • Develop writing skills by studying Writing Strategies Standards 1.1-1.9.
  • Learn test-taking strategies for a more effective test-taking experience.


Unit 5 — Writing Applications for the CAHSEE

California English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
Writing Applications

  • 2.1 Write biographical or autobiographical narratives or short stories.
  • 2.2 Write responses to literature
  • 2.3 Write expository compositions, including analytical essays and research reports
  • 2.4  Write persuasive compositions
  • 2.5  Write business letters
  • 2.6 Write technical documents (e.g. a manual on rules of behavior for  conflict resolution, procedures for conducting a meeting, minutes of a  meeting, etc.)

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop reading skills through independent reading.
  • Acquire and implement strategies for reading.
  • Practice fluency and study strategies to help them improve reading speed.
  • Practice vocabulary for testing.
  • Review the Writing Process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
  • Learn about writing biographical narratives and demonstrate their understanding by writing a narrative of their own.
  • Review Writing Applications Standards 2.2-2.6 and learn about writing responses to literature, expository essays, and persuasive essays and demonstrate their understanding by writing essays in each genre.
  • Learn about writing business letters and technical directions and demonstrate their understanding by writing an example of each.