CCSF Course Outline Literacy Skills Level 8
Objective that may be problematic for both LIFE and LESLLA learners appear in BLUE
Literacy skills
Word analysis and vocabulary development
1. Identifying common roots o f words used in familiar contexts and expanding
knowledge of prefixes and suffixes
2. Identifying an increasing number o f homonyms, synonyms and antonyms
3. Interpreting common phrasal verbs and idioms in familiar contexts
4. Using contextual clues to determine the meaning o f unfamiliar vocabulary and phrases
5. Using a dictionary to determine the basic meaning o f unfamiliar words
Reading skills
1. Interpreting a variety o f charts, graphs, tables and forms
2. Skimming a form or short letter to determine the organization and general idea
a. Recognizing graphic format of business letters
3. Scanning a form or short passage to find particular details
a. Travel ads
b. Employment forms
c. Rental contracts
4. Identifying the main idea o f a paragraph on a familiar topic
a. Reading for enjoyment
5. Interpreting simple authentic material on familiar topics (e.g. newspaper articles on current events,
public information notices, Web pages)
a. Skimming and scanning increasingly difficult reading passages
6. Identifying relationships within a passage by using syntactic clues, such as transitional words (e.g.
therefore, on the other hand)
a. Finding information that requires drawing from different sections of a reading passage
b. Increasing speed in silent reading
7. Drawing meaning from passages by using syntactic clues, such as pronoun reference
Writing skills
1. Taking notes on information transmitted orally on familiar topics with supporting material (e.g.
previously discussed topics, biographical details, dates, times)
2. Writing an academic or practical composition of at least two paragraphs, with a main idea and
supporting details (e.g. a detailed accident report, daily activities or past events, using chronological
order)
a. Editing for style and meaning
b. Writing under a time limit
3. Editing writing for content, spelling, capitalization, punctuation of varied sentence types and
grammatical form
a. Proofreading for errors
4. Filling out increasingly complex authentic paper and online forms (e.g. authentic job application,
medical forms)
5. Writing personal letters or e-mails for various purposes
6. Writing a simple business letter (e.g. request information about a product, resume)