The Write Way
Students will use a graphic organizer to draft the introduction paragraph of their expository essays.
Analyzing and Using Organizational Patterns
Students used organizational patterns (compare and contrast, argumentative, cause and effect, problem and solution, chronological) to create anchor charts. Students then worked in groups to analyze text and plan a composition, using the anchor charts to complete the tasks. Ultimately, students created a plan from a self-generated topic to demonstrate an understanding of the use of organizational patterns.
Which Organizational Pattern Is It?
Students will read a text, identify its organizational pattern, highlight signal words, create a visual representation/graphic organizer, and present to the class.
Students during Task
Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA)
Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.006(c-1) requires that students who do not meet the passing standard on the Grade 6 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading test must be administered a reading assessment at the beginning of grade 7. The Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA) was developed with Texas students to be a valid and reliable instrument for determining students’ areas of instructional need.
The TMSFA is based on valid and reliable scientific research, thoroughly measures each domain of development, and is user-friendly. The following three domains of development are assessed using the TMSFA.
- Text Comprehension (Reading)
- Word Analysis
- Fluency
Crime Scene Inferences
In learning stations, students use textual evidence and personal schema to generate inferences, make generalizations, and draw conclusions to support understanding about expository text.
Inferring: It’s a Beast!
Using a digital forum, seventh-grade students will collaboratively generate authentic inferences about character motivation. Students will utilize textual evidence and draw from personal schema in order to make logical connections across multiple genres.
Remembering Leaders
Students will read expository text, categorize findings, and reformulate the text into an obituary.
Teacher poised for modeling
Are You Speaking Greek?
Students will be able to determine the meaning of words using Greek, Latin, or other linguistic roots and affixes.
Can You Summarize?
Students will work with partners, as well as independently, to create and evaluate summaries of expository text.
The Golden Touch
Students will practice using a protocol to create a summary of an expository text.
A Lesson in Kindness and Thematic Complexity
Students explore their internal definition of kindness, using visual and textual evidence to collaboratively expand that definition and perform a close reading of a poem. Students then use internal text to express the author’s complex and subtle thematic message.
Catch Me If You Can—Retelling "The Gingerbread Man"
Students retell or re-enact events in sequence from "The Gingerbread Man" using pictures.
Explain the Influence of the Setting on Plot Development in Literary Text/Fiction (English 7 Reading)
You will learn how the setting in a story can influence the development of the plot.
Analyze Point of View in Literary Texts/Fiction (English 7 Reading)
You will learn how to analyze different points of view, including first person, third-person omniscient, and third-person limited.
Understanding Drama (English 7 Reading)
You will learn how to explain a playwright’s use of dialogue and stage directions.
Understanding Poetry (English 7 Reading)
You will learn the importance of graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line length, word position) in the meaning of a poem.
Imagery and Figurative Language (English 7 Reading)
You will be able to identify figurative language and understand how it creates imagery, appeals to the senses, and suggests mood.
Make Connections Between and Across Literary Texts (English 7 Reading)
You will learn how to make connections between and across texts, including other media (e.g., film, play), and provide textual evidence.
Tone is in the Fear of the Beholder: Reading and Writing Using Multimodal Mentor Texts
This resource is a demonstration lesson presented at the 2014 Write for Texas Summer Institute. It provides a snapshot of a four to five week unit that engages students in the reading and writing workshop model.
Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Administrator Overview
The Texas Adolescent Academy Administrator Overview is designed to prepare school leaders to implement a schoolwide approach to reading intervention consistent with a response to intervention, or RtI, model.