Content Standards & Benchmarks

The content provided in The Power of Words supports the goals and objectives of your state content standards. These lessons may be used to address the academic standards that are listed below. The standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, 3rd Edition.

Language Arts
Writing
Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Benchmark, Grades 9-12
2. Uses a variety of print and electronic sources to gather information for research topics (e.g., news sources such as magazines, radio, television, newspapers; government publications; microfiche; telephone information services; databases; field studies; speeches; technical documents; periodicals; Internet)
5. Synthesizes information from multiple research studies to draw conclusions that go beyond those found in any of the individual studies

Listening and Speaking
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
Benchmarks, Grades 9-12
1. Uses criteria to evaluate own and others' effectiveness in group discussions and formal presentations
3. Uses a variety of strategies to enhance listening comprehension
4. Adjusts message wording and delivery to particular audiences and for particular purposes
5. Makes formal presentations to the class (e.g., includes definitions for clarity; supports main ideas using anecdotes, examples, statistics, analogies, and other evidence; uses visual aids or technology, such as transparencies, slides, electronic media; cites information sources)
9. Understands influences on language use (e.g., political beliefs, positions of social power, culture)
11. Understands reasons for own reactions to spoken texts (e.g., emotional appeals)

History
Historical Understanding
Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective
Benchmarks, Grades 9-12
2. Analyzes the influences specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history and specifies how events might have been different in the absence of those ideas and beliefs
10. Understands how the past affects our private lives and society in general

United States History
Era 10 - Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Standard 31: Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States
Benchmarks, Grades 9-12
5. Understands major contemporary social issues and the groups involved

Civics
Standard 11: Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society
Benchmarks, Grades 9-12
Knows different viewpoints regarding the role and value of diversity in American life

Standard 19: Understands what is meant by "the public agenda," how it is set, and how it is influenced by public opinion and the media
Benchmark, Grades 9-12
1. Understands how political institutions and political parties shape the public agenda

Behavioral Studies
Standard 1: Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior
Benchmarks, Grades 9-12
1. Understands that cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it, and that people have different responses to these influences