Indiana Academic Standards

The standards describe a connected body of linguistic understandings and competencies and are a comprehensive foundation that all students should learn. They describe the knowledge and skills that students should acquire from Kindergarten through high school.

Standard 1: READING:

Word Recognition, Fluency, and Vocabulary Development

Word Recognition involves the understanding of the basic features of words: word parts, patterns, relationships, and origins. Students use phonics, context clues, and a growing knowledge of English and other languages to determine the meaning of words and become fluent readers.

Standard 2: READING:

Comprehension

Comprehension involves understanding grade-level-appropriate material. Students develop strategies such as asking questions; making predictions; and identifying and analyzing structure, organization, perspective, and purpose. After Grade 5, the focus is on informational texts.

Standard 3: READING:

Literary Response and Analysis

Response to grade-level-appropriate literature includes identifying story elements such as character, theme, plot, and setting, and making connections and comparisons across texts. Literary response enhances students’ understanding of history, culture, and the social sciences.

Standard 4: WRITING:

Process

The writing process includes prewriting, drafting, editing, and revising. Students progress through these stages to write clear, coherent, and focused paragraphs and essays.

Standard 5: WRITING:

Applications

Through the exploration of different types of writing and the characteristics of each, students become proficient at narrative (stories), expository (informational), descriptive (sensory), persuasive (emotional appeal), argumentative (logical defense), and technical writing. Writing demonstrates an awareness of the audience (intended reader) and purpose for writing.

Standard 6: WRITING:

English Language Conventions

Conventions include the grade-level-appropriate mechanics of writing, such as penmanship, spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, and manuscript form.

Standard 7: LISTENING AND SPEAKING:

Skills, Strategies, and Applications

Response to oral communication includes careful listening and evaluation of content. Speaking skills, such as phrasing, pitch, and tone are developed in conjunction with such strategies as narration, exposition, description, and persuasion and are applied to students’ delivery of oral presentations.

 Science

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

It is the union of science and technology that forms the scientific endeavor and that makes it so successful. Although each of these human enterprises has a character and history of its own, each is dependent on and reinforces the other. This first standard draws portraits of science and technology that emphasize their roles in the scientific endeavor and reveal some of the similarities and connections between them. In order for students to truly understand the nature of science and technology, they must model the process of scientific investigation through inquiries, fieldwork, lab work, etc. Through these experiences, students will practice designing investigations and experiments, making observations, and formulating theories based on evidence.

SCIENTIFIC THINKING

There are certain thinking skills associated with science, mathematics, and technology that young people need to develop during their school years. These are mostly, but not exclusively, mathematical and logical skills that are essential tools for both formal and informal learning and for a lifetime of participation in society as a whole. Good communication is also essential in order to both receive and disseminate information and to understand others’ ideas as well as have one’s own ideas understood. Writing, in the form of journals, essays, lab reports, procedural summaries, etc., should be an integral component of students’ experiences in science.

THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT

People have long been curious about living things - how many different species there are, what they are like, how they relate to each other, and how they behave. Living organisms are made of the same components as all other matter, involve the same kinds of transformations of energy, and move using the same basic kinds of forces. Thus, all of the physical principles discussed in Standard 3 - The Physical Setting, apply to life as well as to stars, raindrops, and television sets. This standard offers recommendations on basic knowledge about how living things function and how they interact with one another and their environment.

Information Literacy

Standard 1: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.

Standard 2: The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.

Standard 3: The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.

Standard 4: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests.

Standard 5: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.

Standard 6: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.

Standard 7: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.

Standard 8: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology.

Standard 9: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.