Communication, both oral and written, is an integral part of a society's foundation. With this in mind, it is more important than ever that students become effective communicators possessing strong literacy skills. The English Language Arts Curriculum is a process designed to introduce students to core concepts that are further developed and expanded as students progress through each grade level. This process allows students to develop the skills necessary to: 1) comprehend and interpret texts, including written as well as audio and visual texts; 2) compose a variety of types of texts, including those critical to the workplace; 3) effectively communicate and interact with others in group situations; and 4) effectively communicate information through different modes of presentation. The English Language Arts curriculum integrates the processes of reading, writing, and listening/speaking/viewing in order to help students effectively communicate and interpret information in a variety of modes.

Printer-Friendly Standards: Good news! Printer-friendly versions of the standards are currently available on GeorgiaStandards.Org. Now, you can access the standards by individual grade level as well. Keep in mind, to understand the goals of the ELA curriculum, educators will still want to look at standards across the various grade levels, particularly those which are a grade level prior to and after the grade that they teach.

Bible Courses

• Bible Course: Old Testament
• Bible Course: New Testament

Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition

Thank you to students and teachers who participated in this year’s Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition. We had many engaging and well-written entries. Click on the link below to see the list of the 2008-09 State-Level and RESA-Level Winners. The State-Level Winners will be recognized at the October State Board of Education Meeting, and they will be receiving more information in the mail about this special recognition ceremony. Also, you may want to begin planning for next year. You may access the official rules for the competition by clicking on the link below. Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity!

• 2009-10 Official Rules Booklet
• Winners of 2008-09 School Year
• Young Georgia Authors Winning Entries 2009

Searchable Standards

An exciting new tool is available on GeorgiaStandards.Org. Educators can now search for standards and/or resources related to specific concepts. The first step is to type in a key word, such as theme or conflict. The next steps include selecting a subject and grade level (one option includes an all grade search). The search will present the standards linked to the keyword according to the criteria typed into the subject and grade choices. Educators may then select one of these standards. The tool will link to the full length version of the standard and any available units or tasks related to that particular standard. This tool is located in the upper right-hand corner of each GeogiaStandards.Org page.