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.
Most children begin school able to use their oral language effectively for many purposes.
Teachers further develop students' oral language and strengthen their powers of observation and memory to help them acquire the concepts and skills essential for learning to read and write. Early literacy programs provide students with a variety of oral language activities, high quality reading materials, systematic phonics instruction, and opportunities to work with others who are reading and writing. Reading to preschool and primary grade children plays an especially critical role in developing the foundation for literacy. Literature is the heart of the English language arts and the touchstone for all language arts activities. All students deserve knowledge of works reflecting a literary heritage that goes back thousands of years.