Middle School English Language Arts (0049)

III. Composition and Rhetoric

1. Understanding strategies for teaching writing
   1. Individual and collaborative approaches to teaching writing, e.g., writing processes (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, evaluating) and how those processes work recursively
   2. Common research and documentation techniques, e.g., gathering and evaluating data, using electronic and print media, and evaluating sources
   3. Evaluating and assessing student writing, including knowledge of various assessment tools and response strategies

2. Recognizing, understanding, and evaluating rhetorical features of writing
   1. Thesis statements and appropriate support, e.g., evidence, examples, arguments
   2. Audiences and purposes within varying contexts
   3. Types of discourse, e.g., narrative, expressive/poetic, expository, persuasive, reflective, informational, and descriptive
   4. Coherence and organization, e.g., chronological order, transitions, cause/effect, compare/contrast
   5. Critical reasoning, e.g., recognition of bias and fallacies, distinctions between fact and opinion, and identification of stereotypes, inferences, and assumptions