The following core standards are met by Looking For The Best Grain Project:

CROSS-CONTENT WORKPLACE READINESS

STANDARDS AND PROGRESS INDICATORS
STANDARD 1  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP CAREER PLANNING AND WORKPLACE READINESS SKILLS.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
All students will be able to:
8.  Demonstrate occupational skills developed through structured learning experiences, such as volunteer, community service, and work-based experiences or part-time employment.

STANDARD 2  ALL STUDENTS WILL USE INFORMATION,  TECHNOLOGY, AND OTHER TOOLS.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
All students will be able to:
2.  Select appropriate tools and technology for specific activities.
3.  Demonstrate skills needed to effectively access and use technology-based materials through keyboarding, troubleshooting, and retrieving and managing information.
4.  Develop, search, and manipulate databases.
5.  Access technology-based communication and information systems.
6. Access and assess information on specific topics using both technological (e.g., computer, telephone, satellite) and print resources available in libraries or media centers.
7. Use technology and other tools to solve problems, collect data, and make decisions.
8.  Use technology and other tools, including word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs, and print or graphic utilities, to produce products.
9. Use technology to present designs and results of investigations.

STANDARD 3  ALL STUDENTS WILL USE CRITICAL THINKING,  DECISION--MAKING, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
All students will be able to:
6.  Plan experiments.
7.  Conduct systematic observations.
8.  Organize, synthesize, and evaluate information for appropriateness and completeness.
9. Identify patterns and investigate relationships.
10. Interpret and analyze data to draw conclusions.
11.  Select and apply appropriate solutions to problem-solving and decision-making situations.
12.  Evaluate the effectiveness of various solutions.
13.  Apply problem-solving skills to original and creative/design projects.

STANDARD 4 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE SELF--MANAGEMENT SKILLS.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
All students will be able to:
1.  Set short and long term goals.
2.  Work cooperatively with others to accomplish a task.
9.  Use time efficiently and effectively.
10.  Apply study skills to expand their own knowledge and skills.

STANDARD 5 ALL STUDENTS WILL APPLY SAFETY PRINCIPLES,

Cumulative Progress Indicators
All students will be able to:
4. Demonstrate safe use of tools and equipment.

MATHEMATICS

STANDARDS AND PROGRESS INDICATORS
STANDARD 4.1 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO POSE AND SOLVE MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS IN MATHEMATICS, OTHER DISCIPLINES, AND EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Use discovery-oriented, inquiry-based, and problem-centered approaches to investigate and understand mathematical content appropriate to early elementary grades.
2.  Recognize, formulate, and solve problems arising from mathematical situations and everyday experiences.
3.  Construct and use concrete, pictorial, symbolic, and graphical models to represent problem situations.
6.  Verify the correctness and reasonableness of results and interpret them in the context of the problems being solved.
7.  Know when to select and how to use grade-appropriate mathematical tools and methods (including manipulative, calculators and computers, as well as mental math and paper-and-pencil techniques) as a natural and routine part of the problem-solving process.
8.  Determine, collect, organize, and analyze data needed to solve problems.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
10.  Use discovery-oriented, inquiry-based, and problem-centered approaches to investigate and understand mathematical content appropriate to the middle grades.
11.  Recognize, formulate, and solve problems arising from mathematical situations, everyday experiences, and applications to other disciplines.
12.  Construct and use concrete, pictorial, symbolic, and graphical models to represent problem situations and effectively apply processes of mathematical modeling in mathematics and other areas.
14.  Persevere in developing alternative problem-solving strategies if initially selected approaches do not work.

STANDARD 4.2 ALL STUDENTS WILL COMMUNICATE MATHEMATICALLY THROUGH WRITTEN, ORAL, SYMBOLIC, AND VISUAL FORMS OF EXPRESSION.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1.  Discuss, listen, represent, read, and write as vital activities in their learning and use of mathematics.
2.  Identify and explain key mathematical concepts, and model situations using oral, written, concrete, pictorial, and graphical methods.
3.  Represent and communicate mathematical ideas through the use of learning tools such as calculators, computers, and manipulative.
4.  Engage in mathematical brainstorming and discussions by asking questions, making conjectures, and suggesting strategies for solving problems.
5.  Explain their own mathematical work to others, and justify their reasoning and conclusions.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
6. Identify and explain key mathematical concepts and model situations using geometric and algebraic methods.
7.  Use mathematical language and symbols to represent problem situations, and recognize the economy and power of mathematical symbolism and its role in the development of mathematics.
8.  Analyze, evaluate, and explain mathematical arguments and conclusions presented by others.

STANDARD 4.3  ALL STUDENTS WILL CONNECT MATHEMATICS TO OTHER LEARNING BY UNDERSTANDING THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF MATHEMATICAL ]IDEAS AND THE ROLES THAT MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING PLAY IN OTHER DISCIPLINE AND IN LIFE.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1.  View mathematics as an integrated whole rather than as a series of disconnected topics and rules.
2.  Relate mathematical procedures to their underlying concepts.
3.  Use models, calculators, and other mathematical tools to demonstrate the connections among various equivalent graphical, concrete, and verbal representations of mathematical concepts.
4.  Explore problems and describe and confirm results using various representations.
5.  Use one mathematical idea to extend understanding of another.
6.  Recognize the connections between mathematics and other disciplines, and apply mathematical thinking and problem solving in those areas.
7.  Recognize the role of mathematics in their daily lives and in society.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 1, 2, 3, and 4 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
8.  Recognize and apply unifying concepts and processes which are woven throughout mathematics.
9.  Use the process of mathematical modeling in mathematics and other disciplines, and demonstrate understanding of its methodology, strengths, and limitations.
10. Apply mathematics in their daily lives and in career-based contexts.
11. Recognize situations in other disciplines in which mathematical models may be applicable, and apply appropriate models, mathematical reasoning, and problem solving to those situations.

STANDARD 4.4 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP REASONING ABILITY AND WILL BECOME SELF-RELIANT, INDEPENDENT MATHEMATICAL THINKERS.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1.  Make educated guesses and test them for correctness.
2.  Draw logical conclusions and make generalizations.
3.  Use models, known facts, properties, and relationships to explain their thinking.
4.  Justify answers and solution processes in a variety of problems.
5.  Analyze mathematical situations by recognizing and using patterns and relationships.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 2, 3, and 5 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
6.  Make conjectures based on observation and information, and test mathematical conjectures and arguments.
7.  Justify, in clear and organized form, answers and solution processes in a variety of problems.
8.  Follow and construct logical arguments, and judge their validity.
9.  Recognize and use deductive and inductive reasoning in all areas of mathematics.
10.  Utilize mathematical reasoning skills in other disciplines and in their lives.
11. Use reasoning rather than relying on an answer-key to check the correctness of solutions to problems.

STANDARD 4.5  ALL STUDENTS WILL REGULARLY AND ROUTINELY USE CALCULATORS, COMPUTERS, MANIPULATIVE,, AND OTHER MATHEMATICAL TOOLS TO ENHANCE MATHEMATICAL THINKING, UNDERSTANDING, AND POWER.

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Select and use calculators, software, manipulative, and other tools based on their utility and limitations and on the problem situation.
2. Use physical objects and manipulative to model problem situations, and to develop and explain mathematical concepts involving number, space, and data.
3. Use a variety of technologies to discover number patterns, demonstrate number sense, and visualize geometric objects and concepts.
4. Use a variety of tools to measure mathematical and physical objects in the world around them.
5.  Use technology to gather, analyze, and display mathematical data and information.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
6.Use a variety of technologies to evaluate and validate problem solutions, and to investigate the properties of functions and their graphs.
7. Use computer spreadsheets and graphing programs to organize and display quantitative information and to investigate properties of functions.

STANDARD 4.6  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP NUMBER SENSE AND AN ABILITY TO REPRESENT NUMBERS IN A VARIETY OF FORMS AND USE NUMBERS IN DIVERSE SITUATIONS,

Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 4, students:
1.  Use real-life experiences, physical materials, and technology to construct meanings for whole numbers, commonly used fractions, and decimals.
2.  Develop an understanding of place value concepts and numeration in relationship to counting and grouping.
3.  See patterns in number sequences, and use pattern-based thinking to understand extensions of the number system.
4.  Develop a sense of the magnitudes of whole numbers, commonly used fractions, and decimals.
5.  Understand the various uses of numbers including counting, measuring, labeling, and indicating location.
7.  Use models to relate whole numbers, commonly used fractions, and decimals to each other, and to represent equivalent forms of the same number.
8. Compare and order whole numbers, commonly used fractions, and decimals.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
12. Develop number sense necessary for estimation
14.  Understand and apply ratios, proportions, and percents in a variety of situations.
15. Recognize and describe patterns in both finite and infinite number sequences involving whole numbers, rational numbers, and integers.
16. Develop and apply number theory concepts, such as primes, factors, and multiples, in real-world and mathematical problem situations.
17. Investigate the relationships among fractions, decimals, and percents, and use all of them appropriately.
18. Identify, derive, and compare properties of numbers.

STANDARD 4.7  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP SPATIAL SENSE AND AN ABILITY TO USE GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES AND RELATIONSHIPS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS IN MATHEMATICS AND IN EVERYDAY LIFE.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
13. Understand and apply the concepts of symmetry, similarity and congruence.
14. 16.  Develop, understand, and apply a variety of strategies for determining perimeter, area, surface area, angle measure, and volume.
18.  Explore patterns produced by processes of geometric change, relating iteration, approximation, and fractals.
19.  Investigate, explore, and describe geometry in nature and real-world applications, using models, manipulative, and appropriate technology.

STANDARD 4.8 ALL STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND, SELECT, AND APPLY VARIOUS METHODS OF PERFORMING NUMERICAL OPERATIONS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicator 6 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
8.  Extend their understanding and use of arithmetic operations to fractions, decimals, integers, and rational numbers.
10. Develop, apply, and explain procedures for computation and estimation with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, integers, and rational numbers.
11. Develop, apply, and explain methods for solving problems involving proportions and percents.
12. Understand and apply the standard algebraic order of operations.

STANDARD 4.9  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF AND WILL USE MEASUREMENT TO DESCRIBE AND ANALYZE PHENOMENA.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
7.  Use estimated and actual measurements to describe and compare phenomena.
9. Read and interpret various scales, including those based on number lines and maps.
10. Determine the degree of accuracy needed in a given situation and choose units accordingly.
10.  Understand that all measurements of continuous quantities are approximate.
11.  Develop formulas and procedures for solving problems related to measurement.
12.  Explore situations involving quantities which cannot be measured directly or conveniently.
13.  Convert measurement units from one form to another, and carry out calculations that involve various units of measurement.
14.  Understand and apply measurement in their own lives and in other subject areas.
16.  Apply their knowledge of measurement to the construction of a variety of two- and three-dimensional figures.

STANDARD 4.10  ALL STUDENTS WILL USE A VARIETY OF ESTIMATION STRATEGIES AND RECOGNIZE SITUATIONS IN WHICH ESTIMATION IS APPROPRIATE.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, and demonstrating continued
progress in Indicators 5 and 6 above, by the end of Grade 8, students:
8. Develop, apply, and explain a variety of different estimation strategies in problem situations involving quantities and measurement.
9. Use equivalent representations of numbers such as fractions, decimals, and percents to facilitate estimation.
11.  Determine whether a given estimate is an overestimate or an underestimate.

STANDARD 4.11 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF PATTERNS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND FUNCTIONS AND WILL USE THEM TO REPRESENT AND EXPLAIN REAL-WORLD PHENOMENA.

Opportunities for problem-solving, making and verifying generalizations, and building mathematical understanding and confidence.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:
7.  Represent and describe mathematical relationships with tables, rules, simple equations, and graphs.
8. Understand and describe the relationships among various representations of patterns
 and functions.
9. Use patterns, relationships, and functions to model situations and to solve problems in mathematics and in other subject areas.
10.  Analyze functional relationships to explain how a change in one quantity results in a change in another.
11. Develop, analyze, and explain arithmetic sequences.

STANDARD 4.12  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY AND WILL USE THEM TO DESCRIBE SETS OF DATA, MODEL SITUATIONS, AND SUPPORT APPROPRIATE INFERENCES AND ARGUMENTS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:
9. Generate, collect, organize, and analyze data and represent this data in tables, charts, and graphs.
10. Select and use appropriate graphical representations and measures of central tendency  (mean, mode and median) for sets of data.
11. Make inferences and formulate and evaluate arguments based on data analysis and data displays.
12.  Use lines of best fit to interpolate and predict from data.
13.  Determine the probability of a compound event.
14.  Model situations involving probability, such as genetics, using both simulations and theoretical models.
15.  Use models of probability to predict events based on actual data.
16.   Interpret probabilities as ratios and percents.

STANDARD 4. 13  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF ALGEBRAIC CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES AND WILL USE THEM TO REPRESENT AND ANALYZE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG VARIABLE QUANTITIES AND TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:
2. Represent situations and number patterns with concrete materials, tables, graphs, verbal rules, and standard algebraic notation.
7.  Use graphing techniques on a number line to model both absolute value and arithmetic operations.
8.  Analyze tables and graphs to identify properties and relationships.
9. Draw freehand sketches of, and interpret, graphs which model real phenomena.

STANDARD 4.14  ALL STUDENTS WILL APPLY THE CONCEPTS AND METHODS OF DISCRETE MATHEMATICS TO MODEL AND EXPLORE A VARIETY OF PRACTICAL SITUATIONS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:
6.  Use systematic listing, counting, and reasoning in a variety of different contexts.
8. Explore methods for storing, processing, and communicating information.
9. Devise, describe, and test algorithms for solving optimization and search problems.

STANDARD 4.15  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTUAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF CALCULUS AND WILL USE THEM TO MODEL AND ANALYZE NATURAL PHENOMENA.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade-8, students:
3. Represent, analyze, and predict relations between quantities, especially quantities changing over time.

STANDARD 4.16 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE HIGH LEVELS OF MATHEMATICAL THOUGHT THROUGH EXPERIENCES WHICH EXTEND BEYOND TRADITIONAL COMPUTATION, ALGEBRA, AND GEOMETRY.

SCIENCE

STANDARDS AND PROGRESS INDICATORS
STANDARD 5.1 ALL STUDENTS WILL LEARN TO IDENTIFY SYSTEMS OF INTERACTING COMPONENTS AND UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR INTERACTIONS COMBINE TO PRODUCE THE OVERALL BEHAVIOR OF THE SYSTEM.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
4.  Describe components of a system and how they influence one another.
5.  Recognize that most systems are components of larger systems and that the output of one component can become the input to other components.
6.  Disassemble and reassemble the components of a system, analyzing how they interact with each other.

STANDARD 5.2 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP PROBLEM-SOLVING, DECISION-MAKING, AND INQUIRY SKILLS REFLECTED BY FORMULATING USABLE QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES, PLANNING EXPERIMENTS, CONDUCTING SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS, INTERPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, AND COMMUNICATING RESULTS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
6.  Identify problems that can be solved by conducting experiments.
7.  Design and conduct experiments incorporating the use of a control.
8.  Collect and organize data to support the results of an experiment.
9. Communicate experimental findings using words, charts, graphs, pictures, and diagrams.
10.  Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and data.
11.  Assess the risks and benefits associated with alternative actions.

STANDARD 5.3 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PEOPLE OF VARIOUS CULTURES HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND HOW MAJOR DISCOVERIES AND EVENTS HAVE ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
3.  Recognize that scientific theories emerge over time, depend on the contributions of many people, and reflect the social and political climate of their time.

STANDARD 5.4 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY AS AN APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC
PRINCIPLES.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:

6.  Describe how technology expands the ability of scientists and others to make measurements and observations.

STANDARD 5.5 ALL STUDENTS WILL INTEGRATE MATHEMATICS AS A TOOL FOR
PROBLEM-SOLVING IN SCIENCE, AND AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSING AND/OR  MODELING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
5.  Recognize and comprehend the orders of magnitude associated with large and small physical quantities.
6.  Express experimental data in several equivalent forms such as integers, fractions, decimals, and percents.
7.  Infer mathematical relationships among variables using graphs, tables, and charts.
8.  Express the output units of the calculation in terms of the input units.
9.  Select appropriate measuring instruments based on the degree of precision needed.
10.  Find the mean and median of a set of experimental data.

STANDARD 5.6 ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE, CHARACTERISTICS, AND BASIC NEEDS OF ORGANISMS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
11. Explain how organisms are affected by different components of an ecosystem and the flow
of energy through it.
12. Illustrate and explain life cycles of organisms.

STANDARD 5.7 ALL STUDENTS WILL INVESTIGATE THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
7.  Classify organisms by their internal and external characteristics.
8.  Discuss how changing environmental conditions can result in evolution of a species.
9.  Recognize that individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring.

STANDARD 5.8 ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOR OF MATTER.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
4.  Identify characteristic properties of matter, and use one or more of those properties to separate a mixture of substances.
5.  Show how substances can react with each other to form new substances having characteristic properties different from those of the original substances.

STANDARD 5.9  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF NATURAL LAWS AS THEY APPLY TO MOTION, FORCES, AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:
11. Describe the various forms of energy, including heat, light, sound, chemical, nuclear,
 mechanical, and electrical energy, and that energy can be transformed from one form to another.
12.  Explain how heat flows through materials or across space from warmer objects to cooler ones until both objects are at the same temperature.

STANDARD 5.12 ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT AS A SYSTEM OF INTERDEPENDENT COMPONENTS AFFECTED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY AND NATURAL PHENOMENA.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8,
students:

4.  Evaluate the impact of personal and societal activities on the local and global environment.
7.  Analyze the components of various ecosystems and the effects of those components on organisms.

LANGUAGE LITERACY

Standard 3.1: All Students Will Speak For A Variety Of Real Purposes And Audiences.

By the end of Grade 4, students:
1.  Use listening, writing, reading, and viewing to assist with speaking.
2. Adjust oral communications for different purposes and audiences.
3. Use oral communication to influence the behavior of others.
4. Modify oral communication in response to the reactions of others.
5. Participate in collaborative speaking activities, such as choral reading, plays, and reciting of poems.
6. Participate in discussion by alternating the roles of speaker and listener.
7. Talk with others to identify, explore, and solve problems.
8. Speak before a group to express thoughts and ideas, convey an opinion, present information, and tell a story.
9. Use the conventions of spoken English, such as grammar and appropriate forms of address.
10. Read aloud with meaning.
11. Give directions and/or instructions.
12. Tell, retell, summarize, and paraphrase ideas.
 13. Use visual aids and nonverbal behaviors to support spoken messages.

Standard 3.2: All Students Will Listen Actively In A Variety Of Situations To Information From A Variety Of Sources.

By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Use speaking, writing, reading, and viewing to assist with listening.
 2. Demonstrate comprehension of a story, interview, and oral report of an event or incident.
3. Listen for a variety of purposes, such as enjoyment and obtaining information.
 4. Interpret meaning through sounds, such as how speaking style reveals character in an oral interpretation.
5. Listen attentively and critically to a variety of speakers.
6. Develop listening strategies, such as asking relevant questions, taking notes, and making predictions, to understand what is heard.
7. Follow oral directions.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:

Standard 3.3:  All Students Will Write In Clear, Concise, Organized Language That Varies In Content And Form For Different Audiences And Purposes.

By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Use speaking, listening, reading, and viewing to assist with writing.
2. Write from experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
3. Use writing to extend experience.
4. Write for a variety of purposes, such as to persuade, enjoy, entertain, learn, inform, record, respond to reading, and solve problems.
5. Write on self-selected topics in a variety of literary forms.
6. Write collaboratively and independently.
7. Use a variety of strategies and activities, such as brainstorming, listing, discussion, drawing, role playing, note-taking, and journal writing, for finding and developing ideas about which to write.
8. Write to synthesize information from multiple sources.
9. Use figurative language, such as simile, metaphor, and analogies to expand meaning.
10. Revise content, organization and other aspects of writing, using self, peer, and teacher collaborative feedback (the shared responses of others).
11Edit writing for developmentally appropriate syntax, spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation.
12. Publish writing in a variety of formats.

Standard 3.4: All Students Will Read Various Materials And Texts With Comprehension And Critical Analysis.

By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Use listening, speaking, writing, and viewing to assist with reading.
2. Listen and respond to whole texts.
3. Understand that authors write for different purposes, such as persuading, informing, entertaining, and instructing.
4. Use reading for different purposes, such as enjoyment, learning, and problem solving.
7. Use print concepts in developmentally appropriate ways.
8. Read with comprehension.
9. Use prior knowledge to extend reading ability and comprehension and to link aspects of the text with experiences and people in their own lives.
12. Demonstrate comprehension through retelling or summarizing ideas and following written directions.
14. Identify literary forms, such as fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction.
15. Expand vocabulary using appropriate strategies and techniques, such as word analysis and context clues.
16. Read and use printed materials and technical manuals from other disciplines, such as science, social studies, mathematics, and applied technology.
21. Analyze text using patterns of organization, such as cause and effect, comparison and contrast.
25. Gather and synthesize data for research from a variety of sources, including print materials, technological resources, observation, interviews, and audiovisual media.

Standard 3.5: All Students Will View, Understand, And Use Nontextual Visual Information.

By the end of Grade 4, students:
1. Use speaking, listening, writing, and reading to assist with viewing.
2. Demonstrate the ability to gain information from a variety of media.
4. Articulate information conveyed by symbols such as those found in pictorial graphs, map keys, and icons on a computer screen.
5. Respond to and evaluate the use of illustrations to support text.
6. Recognize and use pictorial information that supplements text.
7. Use symbols, drawings, and illustrations to represent information that supports and/or enhances their writing.
8. Use simple charts, graphs, and diagrams to report data.
9. Distinguish between factual and fictional visual representations.
10. Take notes on visual information from films, presentations, observations, and other visual media, and report that information through speaking, writing, or their own visual representations.