Did You Get the "Text" Message?
Students will work independently and collaboratively to recognize the theme within a variety of texts. Students will create theme topics and theme statements from texts read.
Reading Between the Lines
In this lesson, students will expand their critical thinking skills by making inferences found in a short film and listening to a literary fictional text on tablets. Working collaboratively in groups, students will create anchor charts to demonstrate their understanding of making inferences and present their detailed anchor charts to their classmates.
Inference in the Real World: Using Clues to Identify Key Details
Students will actively read as a critical component; they will infer in expository text.
Inferring Through Imagery and Figurative Language
Students rotate to four posters which contain a single stanza from a common poem (“Digging” by Seamus Heaney), marking key literary elements (imagery, diction, figurative language) before rotating to explain the connotation of the words and phrases selected by the previous group. After text marking, students regroup to discuss the inferential connections between literary terms and their connotative meaning to theorize thematic meaning within the poem.
Making an Inference
The class will review previous learning about how authors describe characters using speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks (STEAL). Students will make annotations on an excerpt using the STEAL strategy. We will talk them through making a guided inference. Students will complete a short-answer response on chart paper with evidence and inference for the focus question
Analyzing Online Sources for Credibility
The students will analyze online sources for credibility and reliability while respecting others opinions through collaboration.
It’s All in the Details
This lesson demonstrates a small group intervention that scaffolds instruction of main idea for native English or Spanish speaking students. This lesson is scripted in both languages.
Sound Effects, Poetic Elements, and Analysis, Oh My! Visualizing the Text to Gain Meaning Out of Poetry
Students will be asked to use metacognition as they analyze a poem, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the overall meaning of a text.
Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions in an Anne Frank Digital Challenge
Students will work collaboratively on a digital challenge activity by reading short excerpts of nonfiction text and explore an online webpage where they will learn more about the life of Anne Frank and the World War II era. By answering inferential and organizational structure questions, regarding those topics, students will be in a race against each other to crack the code to a lockbox.
Stop, Collaborate, and Listen. Poetry is Our Mission! Thinking Deeply About Poetry
Students will actively engage with poetry in a blend of collaborative and independent analysis of poetic devices and an author’s use of devices to communicate a deeper meaning. Students will use their analysis to infer the meaning of a variety of poems.
Thesis Throwdown
After students watch a brief video introducing thesis statements, they will create a class thesis statement checklist, use a prompt to write a personal thesis, compare theirs to others in their group while working to craft and revise a group thesis to present to the class after participating in a Gallery Walk where they provide and incorporate revision suggestions.
Teacher Introducing Lesson
Building Vocabulary with a Morphing Mindset
Students will explore vocabulary words from other content areas and apply their learning of word parts to find meaning.
Teacher working with students
Sound Detectives
Through the application of mentor text, various poetry, cooperative learning, self and peer-evaluation, and sound devices, students will build self-motivation to better appreciate and understand the author’s usage of sound devices in poetry.
Example of What Students Hear
4 Using Reading and Writing to Support Learning Across the Content Areas
This resource presents instructional writing and reading practices that support the content area learning of adolescent learners.
The Write for Texas guiding principles of effective writing instruction, developed for all teachers across disciplines, focus on building every student's understanding and ability to read, write, and think like experts—historians, mathematicians, scientists, and literary critics.
6 OnTRACK English I Reading: Reading and Vocabulary Development Across Genres
OnTRACK English I Reading, Module 1, Lessons 1–5 and Practice Lesson. Students will understand new vocabulary and use it when reading and writing.
4 OnTRACK English I Writing: Writing the Expository and Procedural Essay
OnTRACK English I Writing, Module 3, Lessons 1–4. Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes
15 OnTRACK English II Reading: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Text
OnTRACK English II Reading, Module 3, Lessons 1–12, and Practice Lessons 1–3. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry, drama, fiction, and literary non-ficton, and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
2 Online Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Unit 1
The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies help prepare middle school teachers to design appropriate instruction for all students, including those who are struggling with reading due to limited English proficiency, learning disabilities, dyslexia, and other risk factors for reading difficulties. The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy contains seven units. Units 1–3 are designed for all teachers; Units 4–7 are more appropriate for English Language Arts teachers. Credit-bearing courses are available at the links below. This binder contains Unit 1.
Tier I (Units 1–3)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA1+2016_T1/about
Tiers II/III (Units 4–7)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA2+2016_T1/about
3 Online Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Unit 3
The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies help prepare middle school teachers to design appropriate instruction for all students, including those who are struggling with reading due to limited English proficiency, learning disabilities, dyslexia, and other risk factors for reading difficulties. The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy contains seven units. Units 1–3 are designed for all teachers; Units 4–7 are more appropriate for English Language Arts teachers. Credit-bearing courses are available at the links below. This binder contains Unit 3.
Tier I (Units 1–3)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA1+2016_T1/about
Tiers II/III (Units 4–7)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA2+2016_T1/about
2 Online Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Unit 4
The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies help prepare middle school teachers to design appropriate instruction for all students, including those who are struggling with reading due to limited English proficiency, learning disabilities, dyslexia, and other risk factors for reading difficulties. The Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy contains seven units. Units 1–3 are designed for all teachers; Units 4–7 are more appropriate for English Language Arts teachers. Credit-bearing courses are available at the links below. This binder contains Unit 4.
Tier I (Units 1–3)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA1+2016_T1/about
Tiers II/III (Units 4–7)
http://www.texascourses.org/courses/course-v1:TexasGateway+TALA2+2016_T1/about