This strand focuses on the elements of effective writing. Good writing instruction incorporates multiple performance objectives into an integrated experience of learning for the student. The order of the concepts and performance objectives is not intended to indicate a progression or hierarchy for writing instruction. Instructional activities may focus on just one concept or many.
Concept 6: Conventions
Conventions addresses the mechanics of writing, including capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar and usage, and paragraph breaks.
Grade 6
PO 1. Use capital letters correctly for:
a. proper nouns
• holidays
• product names
• languages
• historical events
• organizations
• academic courses (e.g., algebra/Algebra I)
• place
• regional names (e.g., West Coast)
b. words used as names (e.g., Grandpa, Aunt Lyn)
c. literary titles (i.e., story, poem, play, song)
d. titles
e. abbreviations
f. proper adjectives
PO 2. Use commas to correctly punctuate:
a. items in a series
b. greetings and closings of letters
c. introductory words
d. direct address
e. interrupters
f. compound sentences
PO 3. Use quotation marks to punctuate:
a. dialogue
b. titles of short works (e.g., chapter, story, article, song, poem)
c. exact words from sources
PO 4. Use italics (in typed copy) and underlining (in handwriting) to indicate titles of longer works (e.g., books, plays, magazines, movies, TV series).
PO 5. Use colons to punctuate business letter salutations.
PO 6. Use apostrophes to punctuate:
a. contractions
b. singular possessives
PO 7. Spell high-frequency words correctly.
PO 8. Use common spelling patterns/ generalizations to spell words correctly.
PO 9. Use homonyms correctly in context.
PO 10. Use resources to spell correctly.
PO 11. Use paragraph breaks to indicate an organizational structure.
PO. 12. Use the following parts of speech correctly in simple sentences:
a. nouns
b. action/linking verbs
c. personal pronouns
d. adjectives
e. adverbs
f. conjunctions
g. prepositions
h. interjections
PO 13. Use subject/verb agreement in simple and compound sentences.
Grade 7
PO 1. Use capital letters correctly for:
a. proper nouns
• holidays
• product names
• languages
• historical events
• organizations
• academic courses (e.g., algebra/Algebra I)
• place
• regional names (e.g., West Coast)
b. words used as names (e.g., Grandpa, Aunt Lyn)
c. literary titles (i.e., book, story, poem, play, song)
d. titles
e. abbreviations
f. proper adjectives
PO 2. Use commas to correctly punctuate:
a. items in a series
b. greetings and closings of letters
c. introductory words and clauses
d. direct address
e. interrupters
f. compound sentences
g. appositives
PO 3. Use quotation marks to punctuate:
a. dialogue
b. titles of short works (e.g., chapter, story, article, song, poem)
c. exact words from sources
PO 4. Use italics (in typed copy) and underlining (in handwriting) to indicate titles of longer works (e.g., books, plays, magazines, movies, TV series).
PO 5. Use colons to punctuate business letter salutations.
PO 6. Use apostrophes to punctuate:
a. contractions
b. singular possessives
c. plural possessives
PO 7. Spell high-frequency words correctly.
PO 8. Use common spelling patterns/ generalizations to spell words correctly.
PO 9. Use homonyms correctly in context.
PO 10. Use resources to spell correctly.
PO 11. Use paragraph breaks to indicate an organizational structure.
PO. 12. Use the following parts of speech correctly in simple sentences:
a. nouns
b. action/linking verbs
c. personal pronouns
d. adjectives
e. adverbs
f. conjunctions
g. prepositions
h. interjections
PO 13. Use subject/verb agreement in simple, compound, and complex sentences.
Grade 8
PO 1. Use capital letters correctly for:
a. proper nouns
• holidays
• product names
• languages
• historical events
• organizations
• academic courses (e.g., algebra/Algebra I)
• place
• regional names (e.g., West Coast)
b. words used as names (e.g., Grandpa, Aunt Lyn)
c. literary titles (i.e., book, story, poem, play, song)
d. titles
e. abbreviations
f. proper adjectives
PO 2. Use commas to correctly punctuate:
a. items in a series
b. greetings and closings of letters
c. introductory words and clauses
d. direct address
e. interrupters
f. compound sentences
g. appositives
h. dialogue
PO 3. Use quotation marks to punctuate:
a. dialogue
b. titles of short works (e.g., chapter, story, article, song, poem)
c. exact words from sources
PO 4. Use italics (in typed copy) and underlining (in handwriting) to indicate titles of longer works (e.g., books, plays, magazines, movies, TV series).
PO 5. Use colons to punctuate business letter salutations.
PO 6. Use apostrophes to punctuate:
a. contractions
b. singular possessives
c. plural possessives
PO 7. Spell high-frequency words correctly.
PO 8. Use common spelling patterns/ generalizations to spell words correctly.
PO 9. Use homonyms correctly in context.
PO 10. Use resources to spell correctly.
PO 11. Use paragraph breaks to indicate an organizational structure.
PO. 12. Use the following parts of speech correctly in simple sentences:
a. nouns
b. action/linking verbs
c. personal pronouns
d. adjectives
e. adverbs
f. conjunctions
g. prepositions
h. interjections
PO 13. Use subject/verb agreement in simple, compound, and complex sentences.
High School
PO 1. Use capitals correctly for:
a. proper nouns:
• holidays
• place/regional names
• languages
• historical events
• organizations
• academic courses (e.g., algebra/Algebra I)
• product names
b. words used as names (e.g., Grandpa, Aunt Lyn)
c. literary titles (i.e., book, story, poem, play, song)
d. titles
e. abbreviations
f. proper adjectives (e.g., German shepherd, Chinese restaurant)
PO 2. Use commas to correctly punctuate:
a. items in a series
b. greetings and closings of letters
c. introductory words, phrases and clauses
d. direct address
e. interruptors
f. compound sentences
g. appositives
h. dialogue
PO 3. Use quotation marks to punctuate:
a. dialogue
b. titles
c. exact words from sources
PO 4. Use underlining or italics to correctly identify titles and vessels (e.g., ships, spacecrafts, planes, trains).
PO 5. Use colons to punctuate business letter salutations and sentences introducing lists.
PO 6. Use semicolons to punctuate compound and compound-complex sentences when appropriate.
PO 7. Use apostrophes to punctuate:
a. contractions
b. singular possessives
c. plural possessives
PO 8. Use hyphens, dashes, parentheses, ellipses and brackets correctly.
PO 9. Spell words correctly.
PO 10. Use paragraph breaks to reinforce the organizational structure, including dialogue.
PO 11. Demonstrate control of grammar and usage in writing:
a. parts of speech
b. verb forms and tenses
c. subject/verb agreement
d. pronoun/antecedent agreement
e. parallel structure
f. comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives
g. modifier placement
h. homonyms
PO 12. Use appropriate format, according to type of writing, to cite sources (i.e., Chicago, APA, MLA, UPI, any other recognized style manual).