McREL Standard 3 Writing

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List of Benchmarks for Language Arts
Standard 3. Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
Level Pre-K (Grades Pre-K)
1. Applies rudimentary rules of grammar
2. Uses phonetic knowledge to spell simple words
Level I (Grades K-2)
1. Uses conventions of print in writing (e.g., forms letters in print, uses upper- and lowercase letters of the
alphabet, spaces words and sentences, writes from left-to-right and top-to-bottom, includes margins
2. Uses complete sentences in written compositions
3. Uses nouns in written compositions (e.g., singular, plural, possessive)
4. Uses verbs in written compositions (e.g., verbs for a variety of situations, action words)
5. Uses adjectives in written compositions (e.g., uses descriptive words)
6. Uses adverbs in written compositions (i.e., uses words that answer how, when, where, and why questions)
7. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (e.g., spells high frequency, commonly misspelled
words from appropriate grade-level list; spells phonetically regular words; uses letter-sound relationships;
spells basic short vowel, long vowel, r-controlled, and consonant blend patterns; uses a dictionary and
other resources to spell words)
8. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (e.g., first and last names, first word of a
sentence, the pronoun "I")
9. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (e.g., uses periods after declarative sentences,
uses questions marks after interrogative sentences, uses commas in a series of words)
Level II (Grades 3-5)
1. Writes in cursive
2. Uses pronouns in written compositions (e.g., substitutes pronouns for nouns, uses pronoun agreement)
3. Uses nouns in written compositions (e.g., uses plural and singular naming words, forms regular and
irregular plurals of nouns, uses common and proper nouns, uses nouns as subjects, uses abstract nouns)
4. Uses verbs in written compositions (e.g., uses a wide variety of action verbs, past and present verb tenses,
simple tenses, forms of regular verbs, verbs that agree with the subject)
5. Uses adjectives in written compositions (e.g., indefinite, numerical and predicate adjectives; uses
conventional patterns to order adjectives)
6. Uses adverbs in written compositions (e.g., to make comparisons)
7. Links ideas using connecting words (e.g., uses coordinating conjunctions in written compositions)
8. Uses negatives in written compositions (e.g., avoids double negatives)
9. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (e.g., spells high frequency, commonly misspelled
words from appropriate grade-level list; uses a dictionary and other resources to spell words; uses initial

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consonant substitution to spell related words; uses vowel combinations for correct spelling; uses
contractions, compounds, roots, suffixes, prefixes, and syllable constructions to spell words)
10. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (e.g., titles of people; proper nouns [names of
towns, cities, counties, and states; days of the week; months of the year; names of streets; names of
countries; holidays]; first word of direct quotations; heading, salutation, and closing of a letter)
11. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (e.g., uses periods after imperative sentences and
in initials, abbreviations, and titles before names; uses commas in dates and addresses and after greetings
and closings in a letter; uses apostrophes in contractions and possessive nouns; uses quotation marks
around titles and with a comma for direct quotations; uses a colon between hour and minutes; use commas
for tag questions, direct address, and to set off words)
Level III (Grades 6-8)
1. Uses pronouns in written compositions (e.g., uses relative, demonstrative, personal [i.e., possessive,
subject, object] pronouns; uses pronouns that agree with their antecedent)
2. Uses nouns in written compositions (e.g., forms possessives of nouns; forms irregular plural nouns)
3. Uses verbs in written compositions (e.g., uses linking and auxiliary verbs, verb phrases, active and passive
voice, appropriate mood [e.g., indicative, conditional, subjunctive], and correct forms of regular and
irregular verbs)
4. Uses adjectives in written compositions (e.g., pronominal, positive, comparative, superlative)
5. Uses adverbs in written compositions (e.g., chooses between forms of adverbs such as positive,
comparative, superlative degrees)
6. Uses prepositions and coordinating conjunctions in written compositions (e.g., uses prepositional phrases,
combines and embeds ideas using conjunctions)
7. Uses interjections in written compositions
8. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (e.g., spells high frequency, commonly misspelled
words from appropriate grade-level list; uses a dictionary and other resources to spell words; uses common
prefixes, suffixes, and root words as aids to spelling; applies rules for irregular structural changes) A
9. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (e.g., titles [books, stories, poems, magazines,
newspapers, songs, works of art], proper nouns [team names, companies, schools and institutions,
departments of government, religions, school subjects], proper adjectives, nationalities, brand names of
products)
10. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (e.g., uses colons, quotation marks, and dashes;
uses apostrophes in contractions and possessives, commas with introductory phrases and dependant
clauses, semi-colons or a comma and conjunction in compound sentences, commas in a series, and ellipsis
to indicate a pause, break, or omission)
11. Uses appropriate format in written compositions (e.g., uses italics [for titles of books, magazines, plays,
movies])
Level IV (Grades 9-12)
1. Uses pronouns in written compositions (e.g., reflexive, indefinite, interrogative, compound personal)
2. Uses nouns in written compositions (e.g., collective nouns, compound nouns, noun clauses, noun phrases)
3. Uses verbs in written compositions (e.g., present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect verb tenses;
progressive verb forms, compound verbs)
4. Uses adjectives in written compositions (e.g., adjective clauses, adjective phrases; relocates adjectives
following nouns they modify)
5. Uses adverbs in written compositions (e.g., adverb clauses, adverb phrases)
6. Uses conjunctions in written compositions (e.g., correlative and subordinating conjunctions, conjunctive
adverbs)
7. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (e.g., spells high frequency, commonly misspelled
words from appropriate grade-level list; uses a dictionary and other resources to spell words)
8. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions ( e.g., within divided quotations; for historical
periods and events, geological eras, religious terms, scientific terms)
9. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (e.g., uses commas with nonrestrictive clauses and
contrasting expressions, uses quotation marks with ending punctuation, uses colons before extended
quotations, uses hyphens for compound adjectives, uses semicolons between independent clauses, uses
dashes to break continuity of thought)
10. Uses commonly confused terms in written compositions (e.g., affect and effect)

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11. Uses standard format in written compositions (e.g., includes footnotes, uses italics [for works of art, for
foreign words and phrases], uses bold or underlined headings)
A = Assessment items available