Language Arts: Writing

• Standard 1: Reading/Literature
• Standard 3: Language/Communication
• Standard 4: Inquiry/Research
• Introduction to Language Arts
• Table of Contents - All Standards

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Content Standard: Writing

Students in Wisconsin will write clearly and effectively to share information and knowledge, to influence and persuade, to create and entertain.

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Fourth Grade Performance Standards: Writing

By the end of grade Four, students will:

Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• Write nonfiction and technical pieces (summaries, messages, informational essays, basic directions, instructions, simple reports) that convey essential details and facts and provide accurate representations of events and sequences
• Write expressive pieces in response to reading, viewing, and life experiences (narratives, reflections, and letters) employing descriptive detail and a personal voice
• Write creative pieces (poetry, fiction, and plays) employing basic aesthetic principles appropriate to each genre
• Write in a variety of situations (timed and untimed, at school and at home) and adapt strategies, such as revision and the use of reference materials, to the situation
• Use a variety of writing technologies, including pen and paper as well as computers
• Write for a variety of readers, including peers, teachers, and other adults, adapting content, style, and structure to audience and situation

Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing.

• Produce multiple drafts, including finished pieces, that demonstrate the capacity to generate, focus, and organize ideas and to revise the language, organization, and content of successive drafts in order to fulfill a specific purpose for communicating with a specific audience
• Explain the extent and reasons for revision in conference with a teacher
• Given a writing assignment to be completed in a limited amount of time, produce a well developed, well organized, and effective response in correct English and an appropriate voice

Understand the function of various forms, structures, and punctuation marks of standard American English and use them appropriately in communications.

• Understand and use parts of speech effectively, including nouns, pronouns, and adjectives
• Use adverbials effectively, including words and phrases
• Employ principles of agreement related to number, gender, and case
• Capitalize proper nouns, titles, and initial words of sentences
• Use punctuation marks and conjunctions, as appropriate, to separate sentences and connect independent clauses
• Use commas correctly to punctuate appositives and lists
• Spell frequently used words correctly
• Use word order and punctuation marks to distinguish statements, questions, exclamations, and commands

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Kindergarten: Writing

Understand that print carries a message.

Write stories:

• apply knowledge of how language is written down (e.g., write from left to right, space between words)
• select topics for writing
• convey meaning whether using scribble, pictures, letter strings, beginning sounds or phonetically spelled words
• use personal voice

Revise own writing:

• read back own writing
• recognizes when own writing makes sense
• add a new idea when appropriate

Edit own writing:

• use spelling approximations
• use end punctuation and capital letters

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade One: Writing

Write to communicate ideas:

• write for various purposes, audiences, and topics
• plan for own writing
• generate ideas
• focus on one topic
• apply knowledge of how ideas are organized and written down
• use descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and events
• use personal voice
• use complete sentences

Revise own writing:

• share writing with others
• respond with appropriate comments to another's work
• add words/ideas to clarify meaning

Edit final copies:

• capitalize names and beginning of sentences
• use ending punctuation
• use correct spelling for frequently used words and phonetically regular words

Print legibly:

• form letters
• space between words and sentences
• use upper and lower case letters appropriately

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Two: Writing

Write stories, letters, and information pieces:

• write for a variety of purposes, audiences, and topics
• use a variety of planning strategies
• generate ideas before writing
• organize writing to include a beginning, middle and end
• use words that make writing interesting and personal
• use declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences

Revise own writing:

• read own writing
• respond with appropriate comments to another's work
• use feedback from others to revise writing when appropriate

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Three: Writing

Write stories, letters, simple explanations, and short reports across all content areas:

• use a variety of strategies to develop a plan for writing
• organize information according to the type of writing
• focus on a central idea
• group related ideas
• use descriptive details that elaborate the central idea
• use complete sentences that are varied in length
• write fluently

Revise own writing:

• share writing discussing insights, accepting advice, and giving suggestions to others
• revise writing for clarity and accurate information
• revise writing for specific vocabulary, information, and organization

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Use available technology.

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Four: Writing

Write narrative and information pieces:

• focus on one aspect of a topic
• choose various planning strategies for various purposes
• write to explain, describe, inform and persuade
• choose precise, descriptive, and vivid words
• connect sentences in related and logical sequence
• utilize elements of style, including voice and sentence variation
• revise writing to clarify meaning

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Use available technology.

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Eighth Grade Performance Standards: Writing

By the end of grade Eight, students will:

Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• Write a coherent and complete expository piece, with sufficient detail to fulfill its purpose, sufficient evidence to support its assertions, language appropriate for its intended audience, and organization achieved through clear coordination and subordination of ideas
• Write a persuasive piece (such as a letter to a specific person or a script promoting a particular product) that includes a clear position, a discernible tone, and a coherent argument with reliable evidence
• Write a narrative based on experience that uses descriptive language and detail effectively, presents a sequence of events, and reveals a theme
• Write clear and pertinent responses to verbal or visual material that communicate, explain, and interpret the reading or viewing experience to a specific audience
• Write creative fiction that includes major and minor characters, a coherent plot, effective imagery, descriptive language, and concrete detail
• Write in a variety of situations (during an exam, in a computer lab) and adapt strategies, such as revision, technology, and the use of reference materials, to the situation
• Use a variety of writing technologies including pen and paper as well as computers
• Write for a variety of readers, including peers, teachers, and other adults, adapting content, style, and structure to audience and situation

Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing.

• Produce multiple drafts, including finished pieces, that demonstrate the capacity to generate, focus, and organize ideas and to revise the language, organization, content, and tone of successive drafts in order to fulfill a specific purpose for communicating with a specific audience
• Identify questions and strategies for improving drafts in writing conferences with a teacher
• Given a writing assignment to be completed in a limited amount of time, produce a well developed, well organized, and effective response in correct English and an appropriate voice

Understand the function of various forms, structures, and punctuation marks of standard American English and use them appropriately in communications.

• Understand the function of words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence and use them effectively, including coordinate and subordinate conjunctions, relative pronouns, and comparative adjectives
• Use correct tenses to indicate the relative order of events
• Understand and employ principles of agreement, including subject-verb, pronoun-noun, and preposition-pronoun
• Punctuate compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences correctly
• Employ the conventions of capitalization
• Spell frequently used words correctly and use effective strategies for spelling unfamiliar words

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Five: Writing

Write for a variety of purposes to describe, to inform, to entertain, and to explain across content areas:

• choose planning strategies for various writing purposes
• organize information focusing on central idea
• use simple, compound and complex sentences
• use vocabulary effectively
• express personal voice
• vary sentence structure
• use a variety of writing forms
• revise writing for clarity

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Use available technology.

Publish some pieces of own writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Six: Writing

Write in a variety of forms for a variety of purposes to describe, to inform, to entertain, and to explain across content areas:

• use a variety of planning strategies to generate and organize ideas
• establish central idea, organization, elaboration, and unity
• select vocabulary and information to enhance the central idea, tone, and voice
• expand ideas
• use transition words to connect ideas
• use a balance of simple and complex sentences
• revise writing for clarity

Use writing as a tool for learning in all subjects:

• make lists
• paraphrase what is heard or read
• summarize what is heard or read
• hypothesize
• connect knowledge within and across disciplines
• synthesize information

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Use a word processor to plan, draft, revise, and publish writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Seven: Writing

Develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writings:

• write for a variety of purposes and audiences to describe, inform, entertain, explain, and persuade, in all content areas
• apply knowledge of pre-writing strategies
• elaborate the central idea in an organized manner
• choose vocabulary and information that will effectively communicate the author's intent and voice
• revise for clarity, style, vocabulary and accurate information

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Use a word processor to plan, draft, revise, and publish some writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Grade Level Performance Standards: Grade Eight: Writing

Write in a variety of forms, including narrative, expository, and persuasive:

• use pre-writing strategies to generate and organize ideas
• focus on elaboration and organization
• select specific vocabulary and information
• use personal voice
• use standard sentence formation
• write fluently
• revise writing for word choice, appropriate organization, consistent point of view, and transitions among paragraphs

Edit final copies for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Use a word processor to plan, draft, revise, and publish writing.

These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern.

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Twelfth Grade Performance Standards: Writing

By the end of grade Twelve, students will:

Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• Write a coherent argument that takes a position, accurately summarizes an opposing position, refutes that position, and cites persuasive evidence
• Compose and publish analytic and reflective writing that conveys knowledge, experience, insights, and opinions to an intended audience
• Use rhetorical structures that divide complex thoughts into simpler ones, logical transitions from one thought to another, and language appropriate to the intended audience
• Write creative fiction that includes an authentic setting, discernible tone, coherent plot, distinct characters, effective detail, believable dialogue, and reasonable resolution of conflict
• Write summaries of complex information (such as information in a lengthy text or a sequence of events), expand or reduce the summaries by adding or deleting detail, and integrate appropriately summarized information into reviews, reports, or essays, with correct citations
• Write autobiographical and biographical narratives in a mature style characterized by suitable vocabulary, descriptive detail, effective syntax, an appropriate voice, a variety of sentence structures, clear coordination and subordination of ideas, and rhetorical devices that help establish tone and reinforce meaning
• Prepare and publish technical writing such as memos, applications, letters, reports and resumes for various audiences, attending to details of layout and format as appropriate to purpose
• Write in a variety of situations (impromptu, over time, in collaboration or alone) and adapt strategies, such as revision, technology, and the use of reference materials, to the situation
• Use a variety of writing technologies, including pen and paper as well as computers
• Write for a variety of readers, including peers, teachers, and other adults, adapting content, style, and structure to audience and situation

Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing.

• Write essays demonstrating the capacity to communicate knowledge, opinions, and insights to an intended audience through a clear thesis and effective organization of supporting ideas
• Develop a composition through a series of drafts, using a revision strategy based on purpose and audience, personal style, self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and feedback from peers and teachers
• Given a writing assignment to be completed in a limited amount of time, produce a well developed, well organized, clearly written response in effective language and a voice appropriate for audience and purpose

Understand the function of various forms, structures, and punctuation marks of standard American English and use them appropriately in oral and written communications.

• Understand the form and function of words, phrases, and clauses, including inter-related clauses in complex sentences, and use them effectively
• Use correct tenses, including conditionals, to indicate the relative order and relationship of events,
• Employ principles of agreement, including subject-verb, pronoun-noun, and preposition-pronoun
• Punctuate compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences correctly, including appropriate use of dialogue, citations, colons, hyphens, dashes, ellipses, and italics
• Employ the conventions of capitalization
• Spell frequently used words correctly and use effective strategies for spelling unfamiliar words
• Recognize common errors in the use of language and know how (and when) to correct them

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