1. (a) Introduction.

   1. (1) The study of writing allows high school students to earn one-half to one credit while developing skills necessary for composing business letters and requests for information, as well as for completing job applications and resumes. This course emphasizes skill in the use of conventions and mechanics of written English, the appropriate and effective application of English grammar, and the effective use of vocabulary. Students are expected to understand the recursive nature of the writing process. Evaluation of students' own writing as well as the writing of others insures that students completing this course are able to analyze and evaluate their writing. For high school students whose first language is not English, the students' native language serves as a foundation for English language acquisition and language learning.
   2. (2) The essential knowledge and skills as well as the student expectations for Practical Writing Skills, an elective course, are described in subsection (b) of this section.

2. (b) Knowledge and skills.

   1. (1) The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) compose business letters with accuracy and clarity;
      2. (B) compose inquiries and requests;
      3. (C) write for authentic, persuasive purposes;
      4. (D) complete written tasks associated with job application such as application form, letters of application, and resume;
      5. (E) complete order forms; and
      6. (F) take notes.

   2. (2) The student relies increasingly on the conventions and mechanics of written English to communicate clearly. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) produce legible written work, including handwritten, word processed, and typed documents;
      2. (B) employ written conventions appropriately such as capitalizing and punctuating for various forms such as business letters and resumes; and
      3. (C) use correct spelling for final products.

   3. (3) The student appropriately applies the rules of usage and grammar to communicate clearly and effectively. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) produce error-free writing by demonstrating control over grammatical elements such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and appropriate verb forms;
      2. (B) use varied sentence structures to express meanings and achieve desired effect; and
      3. (C) use appropriate vocabulary.

   4. (4) The student selects and uses recursive writing processes as appropriate for self-initiated and assigned writing. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) select and apply prewriting strategies to generate ideas, develop voice, and plan;
      2. (B) develop drafts by organizing ideas such as paragraphing, outlining, adding, and deleting;
      3. (C) use vocabulary, sentence structure, organization, and rhetorical devices appropriate to audience and purpose;
      4. (D) use effective sequence and transitions to achieve coherence and meaning;
      5. (E) revise drafts by rethinking content, organization, and style to better accomplish the task;
      6. (F) edit as appropriate for the conventions of standard written English such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure in the final draft;
      7. (G) use resources such as texts and other people as needed for editing;
      8. (H) proofread writing; and
      9. (I) use available technology for creating, revising, editing, and publishing texts.

   5. (5) The student evaluates his/her own writing and the writing of others. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) evaluate how well his/her own writing achieves its purposes;
      2. (B) analyze and discuss published pieces as writing models;
      3. (C) apply criteria generated by self and others to evaluate writing; and
      4. (D) accumulate and review his/her own written work to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to set goals as a writer.

Source Note:The provisions of this §110.54 adopted to be effective September 1, 1998, 22 TexReg 7549.