The following ten principles are philosophical statements about learning and teaching in the English language arts. They should guide the construction and evaluation of English language arts curricula. They underlie every strand and learning standard in this curriculum framework.
Effective language use both requires and extends thinking.
As learners listen to a speech, view a documentary, respond to a literary work, or convey their ideas in an essay, they engage in thinking processes. The learning standards in this framework specify the intellectual processes that students must draw on as they learn through and about language. Students develop their ability to remember, understand, analyze, evaluate, and apply the ideas they encounter in the English language arts and in all the other disciplines when they undertake increasingly challenging assignments that require them to write or talk about what they are learning. Schools must provide a strong and well-balanced instructional program for developing reading and writing skill in the primary grades, with materials appropriate for their students. The roots of successful beginning reading and writing lie in oral language development.