Analyzing Author’s Purpose: Argumentative Text
Students will read a pre-Civil War speech and write author’s purpose statements using the argumentative verbs explain, urge, convince, and encourage.
2 Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment: Administering and Interpreting Results
This binder details how to score and interpret the results of the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA). This course is Unit 4 of the Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy (TALA). These materials are available for view only; no credit or certificate is provided.
Paired Passages with a Purpose
Students will make inferences about the author’s purpose after reading paired passages involving the same subject.
Poetry With Purpose
Students collaborate in small groups to discuss their peers’ poetry and assess the poetry according to the student-created rubric. The rubric assesses students’ ability to make meaningful connections to the poetic devices in their poetry. Through collaboration, they are building a culture of receptiveness among their peers.
Evaluating Inferences
Students will evaluate a set of inferences to determine if they are valid or invalid and use text evidence to support their stance. The lesson incorporates best practices for English learners (ELs) and at-risk students such as the use of graphic organizers, anchor charts, and cooperative learning.
Santa Timeline Breakout
Students collaborate and critically-think to analyze resources from informational texts of various disciplines and unlock a breakout box. Once the box is unlocked, students receive a final text to summarize.
Understanding New Vocabulary within Context
You will learn how to find the meanings of words through analogy and other word relationships.
Understand New Vocabulary Using Roots and Affixes
You will learn how to determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes.
Compare/Contrast Themes and Genres in Literary Texts
You will learn how to analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support your understanding.
Synthesize Ideas in Informational/Expository Text
You will learn how to synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or different genres and support with textual evidence.
Edit Drafts for Grammar, Mechanics, and Spelling
You will learn how to edit a draft for grammar, mechanics, and spelling using editing strategies.
Revise Your Writing
You will learn strategies to help you revise your writing to achieve clarity, coherence, and transition in order to address purpose, audience, and genre.
Write a Persuasive Text that Supports a Position
You will learn to write a persuasive text that responds to the views of others by using evidence that differentiates between fact and opinion to support your viewpoint.
Writing Literary Text with an Engaging Story Line
You will learn how to write an imaginative story that sustains reader interest and includes well-paced action, an engaging story line, and a believable setting.
Write Literary Text That Develops Interesting Characters
You will learn how to write an imaginative story that develops interesting characters and believable dialogue.
Write Literary Text That Uses Literary Strategies/Devices to Enhance the Style and Tone
You will learn how to write an imaginative story that uses literary strategies/devices to enhance style and tone.
Write a Personal Narrative
You will learn how to write a personal narrative that has a defined focus and includes reflections about decisions, actions, and/or consequences.
Write Expository Text That Is Logically Organized
You will learn how to write an expository text that is logically organized, with a controlling idea and an effective introduction and conclusion.
Write Expository Text That Uses a Variety of Sentence Structures, Rhetorical Devices, and Transitions
You will learn how to write an expository/procedural text that uses a variety of sentence structures, rhetorical devices, and transitions.
Write Expository Text That Synthesizes Ideas
You will learn how to write an expository text that synthesizes ideas.