ESL 1A EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts on adult themes written
at an elementary school level (1st - 3rd grades), including short descriptive and narrative
articles, simplified novels or stories, or whole books.
 Read 25 - 50 words per minute.
 Develop reading skills such as previewing, guessing meaning from context, making
predictions, and determining the main idea of a text.
 Summarize the main points of readings and describe principal characters.
 Relate reading material to personal knowledge and experiences using simple English
vocabulary.
 Read aloud in class (answers to exercises, student written sentences and paragraphs).
Writing
 Produce informal in-class writings of at least 50-75 words in response to in-class
discussions and reading material.
 Compose lists, letters, and simple narratives and descriptions.
 Write simple dictations of short sentences and paragraphs with 75% accuracy.
Writing Process
 Generate ideas and vocabulary in the pre-writing stage by brainstorming, listing, writing
about pictures, and interviewing classmates.
 Monitor penmanship and spelling.
Grammar and Syntax
 Produce simple sentences in specified tense: simple present, present continuous, simple
past, and going-to future.
 Generate statements, negative statements, commands, negatives commands, and yes-no
and wh- questions.
 Transform on construction into another.
 Demonstrate some facility in the simple use of such grammatical structures as parts of
speech (noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and
interjection), singular and plural noun and verb endings, and rudimentary sentence
patterns.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Demonstrate appropriate use of upper and lower case letters, periods, and question marks.
 Mark sentence boundaries in own writing with 50% accuracy or better.
 Spell simple words in active vocabulary accurately.
 Utilize standard format and writing mechanics (format includes use of standard paper;
knowledge of front vs. back, top vs. bottom of paper; appropriate indentation of
paragraphs; and observance of left and right margins).
Computer Literacy
 Demonstrate knowledge of the location and purposes of the English/ESL Department
Computer Lab.
 Recognize and use simple computer terminology such as e-mail, print, save, disk, data,
keyboard, monitor, and Internet.
March 3, 2005
ESL 1B EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts on adult themes written
at an elementary school level (1st - 3rd grades), including short descriptive and narrative
articles, simplified novels or stories, or whole books.
 Read 25 - 50 words per minute.
 Identify characters, main ideas, and supporting details and examples.
 Scan advertisements, schedules, telephone book entries, and simple brochures for specific
information.
 Relate reading material to personal knowledge and experiences using simple English
vocabulary.
Listening
 Identify the main idea, identify details, answer simple content questions, and retain
general information from a short spoken passage (50 - 100 words).
 Accurately record simple dictations of familiar material.
 Take simple notes on oral presentations with the help of peer groups or outlines.
 Discriminate among a variety of English sounds, including past tense and plurals.
 Discriminate some minimal pairs, numbers, and simple consonant clusters.
 Discriminate the number of syllables in a word, simple stress patterns, and simple
intonation patterns.
Speaking
 Respond appropriately to average, typically-paced American speech using simple
vocabulary and uncomplicated structures (statements, questions, commands, short
answers).
 Give brief (3-5 sentence) oral summary of a short listening passage (50 - 100 words).
 Understand the relationship between basic English spelling and pronunciation rules.
 Recognize and produce long and short vowels (mat/mate, etc.).
 Produce common reductions (wanna, etc.) and link words together in speech.
 Produce “s”, “ty”, “teen” endings.
 Recognize stressed and unstressed syllables in words and phrases.
 Be familiar with English as stress-timed sentence rhythm.
Non-Verbal Communication
 Recognize different cultures’ use of gestures and body language.
 Demonstrate knowledge of group dynamics by such activities as turn-taking, active
listening, and appropriate classroom behavior.
March 3, 2005
ESL 2A EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Interpret works of fiction and expository texts on adult themes written at the elementary
school level (3rd - 5th grades).
 Read 50 - 75 words per minute.
 Fine tune reading skills such as previewing, guessing meaning from context, making
predictions, and determining the main idea of a text.
 Summarize the main points of reading and describe principal character.
 Relate the reading to their personal knowledge and experiences using simple English
vocabulary.
 Recognize common prefixes and suffixes and contextual clues to word form and
meaning.
Writing
 Write focused informal writings of at least 100 words that summarize reading material
and show a connection with personal experience.
 Construct a simple dialogue.
 Conclude dictated paragraphs with their own imaginative responses.
Writing Process
 Record diary and journal entries that lead to ideas and vocabulary for longer writing
assignments.
 Group sentences together about a related idea.
 Edit (self, peer, teacher) in order to understand the concept of making revisions to written
work.
 Use pre-writing strategies such as brainstorming, idea mapping, and listing.
Grammar and Syntax
 Construct many simple sentences in a specified simple tense--present, past, and future.
 Formulate questions, statements, negatives, and commands.
 Incorporate the following grammatical structures in writing assignments: future time,
present continuous for future, past continuous, object pronouns, “wh” questions, and
simple modals.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Mark sentence boundaries with 80% accuracy.
 Format academic papers: size, margins, titles, identification (name, date, class).
 Begin sentences with capital letters and end sentences with proper punctuation.
 Develop paragraphing skills: leave a space between sentences and indent new paragraphs.
 Spell words in their active vocabulary with 80% accuracy.
Computer Literacy
 Demonstrate a familiarity with basic keyboarding skills.
 Recognize basic computer terminology such as tab, shift, backspace, arrow keys, insert,
delete, and escape.
March 3, 2005
ESL 2B EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Interpret works of fiction and expository texts on adult themes written at the elementary
school level (3rd - 5th grades).
 Read 50 - 75 words per minute.
 Apply various reading skills such as previewing, guessing meaning from context, making
predictions, and determining the main ideas of a text.
 Summarize the main points of readings and describe principal characters.
 Relate the reading to their personal knowledge and experiences using simple English
vocabulary.
Listening
 Discriminate among a variety of English sounds, including past tense markers, plurals,
long and short vowels, and contractions.
 Identify the main idea in a short spoken paragraph or story (125 - 150 words).
 Recall details in a short passage (100 - 150 words) and respond to basic true/false and/or
wh-questions (who, what, where, when, why, how much, how many).
 Recall general information from a short passage (100 - 150 words) that has been repeated
twice.
 Repeat verbatim information in sentences or phrases of 5 - 7 words.
 Record dictated information containing simple sentences using past, present, future, and
progressive tenses, and singular and plural words.
Speaking
 Speak about personal information including native country, language, length of time in
U.S. , and educational/career goals in a simple conversation with minimal rephrasing
and/or repetition.
 Express opinions, ideas, likes, and dislikes about a controlled topic of conversation
(relationships, discrimination, gender roles, environmental concerns, etc.).
 Recognize and produce past tense markers, singular and plural words, long/short vowel
sounds, and vowel diphthongs.
 Produce statement and question patterns of simple present, past, future, present and past
continuous in spoken form.
 Recognize and repeat common intonation patterns, including statements (falling),
questions (rising) and emphasis.
 Use basic conversational gambits, (What time is it? Do you have the time? Could you
please tell me what time it is?).
 Give an oral summary of a short aural passage (100 - 150 words).
Non-Verbal Communication
 Use the dynamics of large/small groups discussions including turn-taking skills, listening
while not interrupting and respecting others’ opinions.
 Recognize common non-verbal signals in order to maximize comprehension and
minimize cultural misunderstandings (awareness of facial/body gestures, proxemics, and
eye contact).
March 3, 2005
ESL 3A EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written on adult themes
at the 5th - 6th grade level, including whole, abridged or unabridged novels as well as
abridged articles from newspapers and magazines.
 Read 75 to 100 words per minute.
 Summarize the main points in texts and identify characters accurately.
 Relate reading material to personal knowledge and experiences using simple English
vocabulary.
Writing
 Write focused formal papers outside of class of 150 - 200 words that summarize reading
material or a discussion topic and relate it to personal experience.
 Produce an informal in-class writing of 100 - 150 words in response to a topic.
 Write paragraphs that include a topic sentence, supporting examples and details, and clear
transitions with coherence and unity.
 Write personal and formal letters.
Writing Process
 Use pre-writing techniques such as brainstorming.
 Use proper paragraph format for academic writing.
 Write multiple drafts of a piece of writing.
 Evaluate (self, peer, and teacher) and edit work.
Grammar and Syntax
 Identify and produce comparative and superlative forms, perfect tenses, and modals.
 Identify and write compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions.
 Accurately generate simple statements and yes/no and basic information (wh) questions.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Properly format information on papers (size, margins, titles, name, date, class).
 Demonstrate complete command of sentence-ending punctuation.
 Apply basic spelling rules.
 Spell words in active vocabulary accurately.
Computer Literacy
 Produce at least one simple document on the computer using basic word processing
functions.
March 3, 2005
ESL 3B EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written at the 5th - 6th
grade level, including whole, unabridged novels (although abridged novels may also be
used), and abridged articles from newspapers and magazines.
 Read 75 - 100 words per minute.
 Apply reading skills such as previewing, guessing meaning from context, making
predictions, and determining the main idea of a text.
 Summarize main points and identify character.
 Relate reading to personal knowledge and experience using simple English vocabulary.
Reading Process
Before Reading
 Apply basic previewing strategies such as reading chapter introduction first, reading endof-chapter questions before reading text, reviewing key vocabulary, looking at
pictures/graphics, and predicting content.
 Use scanning to find specific information from graphs and charts.
During Reading
 Identify the main idea and locate details in a written passage of approximately 200 words.
 Answer basic true/false and wh-questions in response to readings.
 Make inferences about the author’s point of view.
 Distinguish fact from opinion.
 Identify common cultural references.
 Predict the story’s outcome.
After Reading
 Restate the author’s ideas using their own words.
 Summarize a written passage of approximately 200 words in 3-5 sentences.
 Relate reading to personal knowledge and experience using simple English vocabulary.
Vocabulary Development
 Utilize textual clues such as sentence connectors and transitional devices to understand
meaning and structure of a text.
 Use common prefixes (in, un, il, ir, dis) and suffixes (ness, ment, tion, able, ize, ical) as
textual clues.
Dictionary Skills
 Transfer dictionary skills from bilingual to monolingual learner’s dictionary.
 Use an English-English dictionary as a regular reference tool.
March 3, 2005
ESL 3C EXIT SKILLS
Listening
 Identify details in a short spoken passage at the 5th - 6th grade level (150 - 200 words).
 Answer basic true/false and wh- questions based on a short spoken passage.
 Recall general information from a short passage that has been repeated twice.
 Record verbatim information in sentences or phrases of 8 - 12 words.
 Answer inference questions and predict outcomes based on audio and/or video passages.
Listening Process
 Apply basic previewing strategies (listening to excerpts of recorded information,
watching a video without the sound, reviewing key vocabulary) to predict content.
 Record notes on topics of general interest in order to identify the main ideas, supporting
ideas, and details and recognize the relationship between them.
 Outline recorded information in written form.
Speaking
 Participate in informal discussions on current events and reading topics.
 Apply appropriate conversational gambits used for agreeing/disagreeing, relating,
persuading, and reaching consensus.
 Relate arguments in an informal debate.
 Conduct in-class interviews with classmates and outside interviews with native speakers.
 Produce basic tenses as well as conditional, modals, and perfect tenses in the spoken
form.
 Deliver a 3-5 minute speech on a familiar topic.
 Pronounce words within their vocabulary sufficient enough to avoid breakdowns in
communication.
Non-Verbal Communication
 Use the dynamics of large/small group discussions, including turn-taking skills, listening
while not interrupting, and respecting others’ opinions.
 Incorporate common non-verbal signals in order to maximize comprehension and
minimize cultural misunderstandings (awareness of facial/body gestures, proxemics, eye
contact).
March 3, 2005
ESL 4A EXIT SKILLS
Reading
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written on adult themes
at the 6th - 8th grade level, including whole, unabridged novels and/or unabridged articles
in daily newspapers and magazines.
 Read 100 - 150 words per minute.
 Summarize the main points in texts.
 Relate reading material to personal knowledge and experiences using appropriate
vocabulary.
Writing
 Produce focused formal papers of 200 - 300 words outside of class in response to reading
and discussion material.
 Produce informal writings in class of at least 150 - 200 words within a two-hour time
period.
 Compose well-developed paragraphs with topic sentences, supporting details, and
concluding sentences.
 Recognize the function and parts of multi-paragraph essays.
 Write multi-paragraph essays that include and attempt at an introduction, body, and
conclusion.
 Use transitional words and phrases.
 Distinguish between vague and specific supporting details.
 Cite relevant examples from reading.
Writing Process
 Use a variety of pre-writing techniques such as brainstorming, freewriting, and outlining.
 Revise and edit paragraphs and essays, incorporating teacher and/or peer feedback.
 Recognize content and grammar editing symbols.
Grammar and Syntax
 Write most questions and statements in proper syntactical order, although word form
distinctions may not be fully developed.
 Distinguish between and use simple, progressive, and perfect tenses.
 Distinguish between and use active and passive voice.
 Use gerunds and infinitives.
 Combine independent clauses to form compound sentences using coordinating
conjunctions.
 Recognize complex sentences using relative and adverbial clauses.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Mark sentence boundaries for most simple questions and statements using periods and
question marks.
 Know basic spelling rules.
 Spell words in active vocabulary accurately.
March 3, 2005
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Recognize various uses of commas and semicolons in writing.
Locate and correct common trouble spots such as run-ons, commas splice, and fragments.
Computer Literacy
 Demonstrate familiarity with various word processing function by producing several
typed documents.
 Save and retrieve documents on disks and edit own assignments on the computer.
 Recognize and use computer terminology such as spell check, single/double space, page
up, and page down.
March 3, 2005
ESL 4B EXIT SKILLS
General Reading Skills
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written at the 6th - 8th
grade level, including whole unabridged novels, articles from newspapers and magazine,
and/or textbooks written at this level.
 Read 100 - 150 words per minute.
 Summarize main points and identify characters and setting accurately.
 Relate reading to personal knowledge and experiences using appropriate vocabulary.
 Use an English dictionary as a reference tool.
Reading Process
Before Reading
 Preview material with strategies such as reading introductions, end of chapter questions,
reviewing key vocabulary, reviewing pictures and graphics, and predicting content.
 Scan for specific information from texts.
 Skim material to get the general idea of appropriate texts.
During Reading
 Identify the main idea in a written passage of approximately 400 words.
 Identify the elements of an expository text (introduction, main ideas, supporting details,
conclusion).
 Locate details.
 Make inferences about the author’s point of view.
 Distinguish fact from opinion.
 Paraphrase text.
 Understand some cultural references.
 Predict outcomes.
After
 Summarize a written passage of 400 words in 5-7 sentences using student’s own words.
 Relate readings to personal knowledge and experience.
 Cite text to support conclusions.
 Compare aspects of one work with another.
 Describe main characters, their motivation, and author’s intent.
Vocabulary Development
 Recognize common prefixes, suffixes, and Greek and Latin roots as textual clues.
 Recognize suffixes that change words into different parts of speech.
Dictionary Skills
 Use monolingual learner’s dictionary.
 Choose correct form of word for intended meaning.
 Recognize dictionary labels for offensive language, slang, and formal vs. informal.
 Understand dictionary grammatical labels
 Understand word families, synonyms, and antonyms.
March 3, 2005
ESL 5A EXIT SKILLS
General Reading Skills
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository text written on adult themes
at the 8th - 10th grade level, including whole, unabridged novels, articles from newspapers
and magazines, and/or textbooks written at this level.
 Read 150 - 200 words per minute.
 Summarize main points of text and identify characters, settings, and plots accurately.
 Identify themes or main ideas of appropriate novels and/or expository texts.
 Relate readings to their personal knowledge and experiences using appropriate
vocabulary.
 Use an English dictionary as a reference tool.
Writing
 Write focused formal papers of 300 - 400 words outside of class that summarize and
analyze reading and discussion materials and relate these to personal experiences.
 Write approximately 350 words (2-3 pages) in a class during a 2-hour period in response
to a topic from a reading.
 Write essays that include a clear thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion that
summarizes and/or completes the main idea.
 Recognize the function of paragraphs within essay.
 Use common transition words and phrases.
Writing Process
 Use a variety or pre-writing techniques.
 Use teacher and/or peer feedback to improve subsequent drafts of essays.
 Recognize and use content and grammar editing symbols.
Grammar and Syntax
 Generate compound and complex sentences.
 Use reported speech.
 Use most verb tenses consistently, with occasional errors.
 Use sentences with real and unreal conditions.
 Use passive voice.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Mark sentence boundaries clearly and consistently, with only occasional errors. Use
periods, commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes with some accuracy.
 Know basic spelling rules.
 Spell words in active vocabulary accurately.
Computer Literacy
 Recognize and use basic computer terminology such as cut, paste, and edit.
 Revise and edit work on the computer.
March 3, 2005
ESL 5B EXIT SKILLS
General Reading Skills
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository text written on adult themes
at the 8th - 10th grade level, including whole, unabridged novels, articles from newspapers
and magazines, and/or textbooks written at this level.
 Read 150 -200 words per minute.
 Summarize main points of text and identify characters, settings, and plots accurately.
 Identify themes or main ideas of appropriate novels and/or expository text.
 Relate readings to their personal knowledge and experiences using appropriate
vocabulary.
 Use an English dictionary as a reference tool.
Reading Process
Before
 Preview material.
 Scan for specific information.
 Skim to get the main idea.
During
 Identify main idea and important details.
 Make inferences about the author’s point of view.
 Distinguish fact from opinion.
Make notes that paraphrase text.
 Understand some cultural references.
 Predict outcomes.
 Recognize transitional words and phrases as keys to organization.
After
 Summarize a written passage of 600 words in 8 - 10 sentences using student’s own
words.
 Cite text to support conclusions.
 Compare aspects of one work with another.
 Distinguish between literary and figurative language.
Vocabulary Development
 Recognize common prefixes, suffixes, and commonly used Greek and Latin roots as
textual clues to figure out a word’s meaning.
 Recognize common suffixes that change words into different parts of speech.
 Utilize context to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words.
 Recognize the difference between denotation and connotation of commonly used words.
Dictionary Skills
 Use monolingual dictionary.
 Choose correct form of word for intended meaning.
 Use word families and collocations.
March 3, 2005
ESL 6A EXIT SKILLS
General Reading Skills
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written at the 11th - 12th
grade level, including whole, unabridged novels and abridged articles from newspapers
and magazines.
 Read about 200 wpm.
 Read approximately one novel per month.
 Summarize main points and identify characters accurately.
 Relate reading material to their personal knowledge and experience using appropriate
English vocabulary.
Writing
 Write focused formal papers outside of class of 400 - 600 words that summarize reading
and discussion material and relate these to personal experiences.
 Write in-class papers of at least 400 words (2-3 pages) in response to a topic from a
reading assignment.
 Understand paragraph form and function.
 Use thesis statements that control the content of essays.
 Use paragraphing techniques, including introductory and concluding paragraphs.
Writing Process
 Use brainstorming, listing, clustering, and other important pre-writing techniques. Use
peer and/or teacher feedback to improve subsequent drafts of essays.
 Recognize and use content and grammar editing symbols.
Grammar and Syntax
 Use verb tenses correctly.
 Employ significant control of English sentence structure in simple, compound, and
complex sentences.
 Use noun, adjective, and adverbial clauses.
Mechanics and Spelling
 Spell words in active vocabulary correctly.
 Demonstrate knowledge of spelling rules.
 Demonstrate control of most basic punctuation conventions.
Computer Literacy
 Use a word processor to compose, edit, and revise work.
 Use the internet as a research tool.
ESL 6B EXIT SKILLS
March 3, 2005
General Reading Skills
 Comprehend and respond to works of fiction and expository texts written at the 11th - 12th
grade level, including whole, unabridged novels and abridged articles from newspapers
and magazines.
 Read about 200 wpm.
 Read approximately one novel per month.
 Summarize main points and identify characters accurately.
 Relate reading material to their personal knowledge and experience using simple English
vocabulary.
Reading Process
Before
 Preview reading material using basic strategies such as chapter introduction and
summaries.
 Reading end-of-unit questions before reading text.
 Reviewing key vocabulary.
 Looking at pictures/graphics.
 Predicting content.
During
 Write questions in the margins.
 Determine the main idea.
 Identify key elements.
 Predict the outcome of a story.
 Paraphrase.
 Make inferences.
 Locate details.
 Recognize transitional word as keys to interpreting meaning or as organizational clues.
After
 Summarize main points.
 Analyze author’s intent.
 Relate readings to personal knowledge and experience.
 Use standard format for quoting text to support conclusions.
 Compare one work with another.
 Interpret use of figurative language.
Vocabulary Development
 Use Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots to figure out the meaning of a word and
syllabification to figure out the pronunciation of a word.
 Determine the meaning from context.
 Use suffixes to change words into different parts of speech.
 Use English dictionary effectively.
March 3, 2005