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Texas Standards

English IV ELA TEKS

All 64 Texas English language arts standards for English IV, each explained in plain English. The official wording is one click away under each one.

64 standards

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language

4 standards
The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.
E4.1(A)
Hold respectful discussions that assess how clear and coherent a speaker is and critique the effect of word choice, syntax and rhetorical strategies.
Official wording
engage in meaningful and respectful discourse when evaluating the clarity and coherence of a speaker's message and critiquing the impact of a speaker's use of diction, syntax, and rhetorical strategies;
E4.1(B)
Give and carry out complex directions, asking on-point questions to clarify and responding well, like running a peer review session.
Official wording
follow and give complex instructions, clarify meaning by asking pertinent questions, and respond appropriately;
E4.1(C)
Build a sound argument and deliver it as a classical speech, with introduction, transitions, body and conclusion, persuasive devices, eye contact and a clear voice.
Official wording
formulate sound arguments and present using elements of classical speeches such as introduction, first and second transitions, body, conclusion, the art of persuasion, rhetorical devices, employing eye contact, speaking rate such as pauses for effect, volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively; and
E4.1(D)
Collaborate productively, steering the team toward goals, asking probing questions, accepting disagreement and uncertainty and rating group work by set criteria.
Official wording
participate collaboratively, offering ideas or judgments that are purposeful in moving the team toward goals, asking relevant and insightful questions, tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision making, and evaluating the work of the group based on agreed-upon criteria.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--vocabulary

3 standards
The student uses newly acquired vocabulary expressively.
E4.2(A)
Check dictionaries and digital tools to pin down the multiple meanings of sophisticated words, like how cleave can mean split or cling.
Official wording
use print or digital resources to clarify and validate understanding of multiple meanings of advanced vocabulary;
E4.2(B)
Study context to reach conclusions about subtle meanings, like what dark, stormy imagery suggests in a Gothic novel.
Official wording
analyze context to draw conclusions about nuanced meanings such as in imagery; and
E4.2(C)
Explain the meaning of foreign phrases common in English, like in loco parentis, laissez-faire and caveat emptor.
Official wording
determine the meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in English such as ad nauseum, in loco parentis, laissez-faire, and caveat emptor.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading

1 standard
The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently.
E4.3
Find a text worth the time, such as a classic novel or a long magazine piece, and give it sustained, independent attention.
Official wording
self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.

Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

9 standards
The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
E4.4(A)
Settle on a reason for reading each assigned or chosen text, like preparing for a seminar or comparing two critics' views.
Official wording
establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts;
E4.4(B)
Keep generating questions before opening a text, while reading and after finishing, like asking what a poem's title is hinting at.
Official wording
generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information;
E4.4(C)
Anticipate where a text is heading from its features, genre and organization, then adjust or confirm that guess as evidence comes in.
Official wording
make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures;
E4.4(D)
Build mental images while reading, like seeing the moors in a Gothic novel, to grasp a text's meaning more completely.
Official wording
create mental images to deepen understanding;
E4.4(E)
Draw links between a text and personal life, other works and society, like connecting a satire to modern politics.
Official wording
make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society;
E4.4(F)
Figure out implied meanings in a text and defend each one with well-chosen evidence from the passage.
Official wording
make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;
E4.4(G)
Weigh the importance of details in a text to analyze its key ideas and how they connect.
Official wording
evaluate details read to analyze key ideas;
E4.4(H)
Blend ideas from varied text types, like an essay, a documentary and a poem, to reach an original understanding.
Official wording
synthesize information from a variety of text types to create new understanding; and
E4.4(I)
Track comprehension and, when it breaks down, reread, annotate, question, draw on background knowledge or check an outside source.
Official wording
monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, annotating, and using outside sources when understanding breaks down.

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

10 standards
The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
E4.5(A)
Describe links between personal experience and many kinds of sources, including texts chosen for independent reading.
Official wording
describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts;
E4.5(B)
Write responses that analyze texts, including comparisons within a genre and across genres, like an essay and a poem.
Official wording
write responses that demonstrate analysis of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres;
E4.5(C)
Support an evaluation of a text, judging its quality or effect, with evidence from it and original commentary.
Official wording
use text evidence and original commentary to support an evaluative response;
E4.5(D)
Reword and summarize complex texts without distorting their meaning or scrambling the logical order of ideas.
Official wording
paraphrase and summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order;
E4.5(E)
Interact closely with sources by annotating, taking structured notes, freewriting or illustrating key ideas.
Official wording
interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating;
E4.5(F)
Respond with precise academic and content vocabulary acquired in class, like syntax, paradox or rhetorical situation.
Official wording
respond using acquired content and academic vocabulary as appropriate;
E4.5(G)
Examine in talk and writing both the literal meaning of a text and the deeper meanings it implies.
Official wording
discuss and write about the explicit and implicit meanings of text;
E4.5(H)
Speak or write responses with the right formality and deliberately chosen words, tone and voice for the purpose.
Official wording
respond orally or in writing with appropriate register and purposeful vocabulary, tone, and voice;
E4.5(I)
Review earlier responses and update them whenever strong evidence justifies a change in thinking.
Official wording
reflect on and adjust responses when valid evidence warrants; and
E4.5(J)
Take a position for or against an author's claims and back it with relevant text evidence.
Official wording
defend or challenge the authors' claims using relevant text evidence.

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements

4 standards
The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.
E4.6(A)
Examine how a work's theme connects with its characters, narrator's perspective, setting and plot, like in a Victorian novel.
Official wording
analyze relationships among thematic development, characterization, point of view, significance of setting, and plot in a variety of literary texts;
E4.6(B)
Examine how characters' actions and hidden motives lead to moral dilemmas that drive plot and theme, like Macbeth's ambition.
Official wording
analyze how characters' behaviors and underlying motivations contribute to moral dilemmas that influence the plot and theme;
E4.6(C)
Critique how complex plot structures, like subplots running beside the main story, move the action forward.
Official wording
critique and evaluate how complex plot structures such as subplots contribute to and advance the action; and
E4.6(D)
Evaluate the ways the history, social life and economy of a setting affect plot, characters and theme, like industrial England.
Official wording
evaluate how the historical, social, and economic context of setting(s) influences the plot, characterization, and theme.

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

6 standards
The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.
E4.7(A)
Read and analyze British literature across the centuries, from Beowulf and Shakespeare to Romantic poets and modern writers.
Official wording
read and analyze British literature across literary periods;
E4.7(B)
Analyze the effects of sound, form, figurative language, visual layout and dramatic structure in poems from different eras and cultures.
Official wording
analyze the effects of sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure in poetry across literary time periods and cultures;
E4.7(C)
Analyze and judge how a play's elements, like character, dialogue, staging and conflict, interact to drive the plot, like in Macbeth.
Official wording
analyze and evaluate how the relationships among the dramatic elements advance the plot;
E4.7(D)
Critique how well informational texts build a thesis, support it with effective evidence, examples and commentary, sum up and conclude, and match structure to purpose.
Official wording
critique and evaluate characteristics and structural elements of informational texts such as:iclear thesis, effective supporting evidence, pertinent examples, commentary, summary, and conclusion; andiithe relationship between organizational design and author's purpose;
E4.7(E)
Critique and evaluate arguments, judging thesis, appeals, structure, ending, call to action, evidence, handling of counterarguments and audience.
Official wording
critique and evaluate characteristics and structural elements of argumentative texts such as:iclear arguable thesis, appeals, structure of the argument, convincing conclusion, and call to action;iivarious types of evidence and treatment of counterarguments, including concessions and rebuttals; andiiiidentifiable audience or reader; and
E4.7(F)
Critique and evaluate how well multimodal and digital texts, like documentaries or interactive sites, use their features to communicate.
Official wording
critique and evaluate the effectiveness of characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

7 standards
The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.
E4.8(A)
Evaluate an author's purpose, intended audience and message, judging how well the text serves them.
Official wording
evaluate the author's purpose, audience, and message within a text;
E4.8(B)
Judge how effectively an author's choice of structure, like a frame story or a classical argument, achieves the purpose.
Official wording
evaluate use of text structure to achieve the author's purpose;
E4.8(C)
Evaluate whether an author's print and graphic choices, like typography, tables and illustrations, serve the intended purpose.
Official wording
evaluate the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes;
E4.8(D)
Critique and evaluate how an author's language informs readers and shapes their perception, like in a persuasive pamphlet.
Official wording
critique and evaluate how the author's use of language informs and shapes the perception of readers;
E4.8(E)
Judge how effectively writers use paradox, satire and allegory for specific purposes, like Swift's satire of British policy toward Ireland.
Official wording
evaluate the use of literary devices such as paradox, satire, and allegory to achieve specific purposes;
E4.8(F)
Evaluate how an author's diction and syntax make a text more effective, like precise words and balanced sentences in a speech.
Official wording
evaluate how the author's diction and syntax contribute to the effectiveness of a text; and
E4.8(G)
Analyze how rhetorical techniques and faulty reasoning shape a reader's understanding of a text, like in a parliamentary debate.
Official wording
analyze the effects of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies on the way the text is read and understood.

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process

5 standards
The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and use appropriate conventions.
E4.9(A)
Map out writing for varied audiences and aims, sparking ideas by brainstorming, keeping a journal, reading or debating with classmates.
Official wording
plan a piece of writing appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, journaling, reading, or discussing;
E4.9(B)
Build drafts into focused, unified writing with or without a time limit, choosing structure strategically and developing deep ideas with rhetorical devices and examples.
Official wording
develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing in timed and open-ended situations by:iusing strategic organizational structures appropriate to purpose, audience, topic, and context; andiideveloping an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with effective use of rhetorical devices, details, examples, and commentary;
E4.9(C)
Rework drafts to sharpen clarity, development, structure, style and diction, making sentences read smoothly and connect fluidly.
Official wording
revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence fluency, both within and between sentences;
E4.9(D)
Polish drafts to show full command of standard English, consulting a style guide such as MLA or APA where it applies.
Official wording
edit drafts to demonstrate a command of standard English conventions using a style guide as appropriate; and
E4.9(E)
Publish finished work for real audiences that fit it, like a senior portfolio or an op-ed in a local paper.
Official wording
publish written work for appropriate audiences.

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

6 standards
The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful.
E4.10(A)
Compose creative works like fiction and poems that use their genre's conventions and polished craft, like a dramatic monologue.
Official wording
compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;
E4.10(B)
Produce informational writing like a resume, a research report, an explanatory essay or a personal essay using genre traits and craft.
Official wording
compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, resumes, and personal essays using genre characteristics and craft;
E4.10(C)
Produce argumentative writing, like a policy proposal or debate brief, that uses the genre's structure and craft.
Official wording
compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft;
E4.10(D)
Write professional and personal correspondence in the right structure, like a scholarship inquiry or a letter to a friend.
Official wording
compose correspondence in a professional or friendly structure;
E4.10(E)
Compose essays that analyze literature with the form and craft of literary criticism, like tracing a motif through a play.
Official wording
compose literary analysis using genre characteristics and craft; and
E4.10(F)
Compose rhetorical analyses that explain how a text persuades its audience, like examining the strategies in a wartime address.
Official wording
compose rhetorical analysis using genre characteristics and craft.

Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

9 standards
The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.
E4.11(A)
Craft focused questions for both informal inquiry and formal, extended research.
Official wording
develop questions for formal and informal inquiry;
E4.11(B)
Judge the progress of research at each stage and revise the approach as needs arise, like finding a source too narrow.
Official wording
critique the research process at each step to implement changes as needs occur and are identified;
E4.11(C)
Write and refine a research plan as the inquiry unfolds.
Official wording
develop and revise a plan;
E4.11(D)
Rework the guiding research question when needed to refocus the research, like narrowing a topic that is too broad.
Official wording
modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan;
E4.11(E)
Locate sources that truly fit the topic, like scholarly journals, archives and expert interviews.
Official wording
locate relevant sources;
E4.11(F)
Weave together evidence from a wide range of sources to build a coherent understanding.
Official wording
synthesize information from a variety of sources;
E4.11(G)
Test each source's credibility, accuracy and bias, and flag faulty reasoning like straw man, false dilemma, weak analogies and non sequiturs.
Official wording
examine sources for:icredibility, bias, and accuracy; andiifaulty reasoning such as straw man, false dilemma, faulty analogies, and non-sequitur;
E4.11(H)
Credit every quoted and paraphrased source in a standard citation style and handle source material ethically to avoid plagiarism.
Official wording
display academic citations, including for paraphrased and quoted text, and use source materials ethically to avoid plagiarism; and
E4.11(I)
Deliver research findings through the best-suited format, like a research paper, a podcast episode or a recorded presentation.
Official wording
use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.

The official Texas documents

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 110, adopted by the Texas State Board of Education.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.