ELA Weekly:
August 31 - September 4
Curriculum Manager Announcements
ELA Webinar
Diagnostic Essay Trackers
Q1 Testing One-Pager and Video
IDEA Authors
Course Specific
6th Grade ELA
SpringBoard: Students will continue working through SpringBoard Unit 1, with a focus on the Personal Narrative essay. Monday and Tuesday are key days when teachers will implement Lesson 1.6, a "heavy-hitter," to prepare students for the next BWA and the Personal Narrative essay for Embedded Assessment 1.
Revising & Editing Do-Nows: The focus for the week is Capitalization (6.20(A)). Teachers should begin each ELA class with a Revising & Editing Do-Now that prepares students to demonstrate mastery of these skills on the IA. The Do-Nows are developed using the backward design model, focusing on key TEKS that students will need to have mastered for success on IAs and the 7th Grade Writing STAAR. All Do-Nows for Quarter 1 are posted on the Hub, within the Quarter 1 folder.
7th Grade ELA
SpringBoard: Students will begin the week reading a model text in preparation for the crafting of the Personal Narrative. Students will begin writing an essay, participating in writing groups to aid in revision strategies. The focus for the week is revision--and the differentiation between revision and editing. Teachers should make this separation very clear for students, emphasizing the importance of revision when crafting a coherent, thoughtful essay.
Revising & Editing Do-Nows: The focus for the week is Capitalization (7.20(A)). Teachers should begin each ELA class with a Revising & Editing Do-Now that prepares students to demonstrate mastery of these skills on the BWAs and the IA. The Do-Nows are developed using the backward design model, focusing on key TEKS that students will need to have mastered for success on BWAs, IAs, and the 7th Grade Writing STAAR. All Do-Nows for Quarter 1 are posted on the Hub, within the Quarter 1 folder.
Bi-Weekly Assessment: Students will take a Revising & Editing Bi-Weekly Assessment on Friday, September 4th.
8th Grade ELA
- In SB 1.7, students should identify the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) which will help provide a clear example of how strong readers engage with a text. If the student cannot identify the basic content, then they will not be able to apply literary concepts for further application.
- SB 1.8 is heavy with literary concepts connected to poetry. Ensure that you are identifying the concept and explicitly providing examples of the concept within the poem. Students tend to not be confident with poetry; however, by showing how to distinguish the concept, they will gain the skills necessary to confidently engage with poetry.
Revising and Editing Do-Nows: The focus for this week is capitalization (8.20A). Ensure that students can articulate two key items in their response: 1) What is the mistake and 2) Why should this change be made.
- Non-Example: Make the little letter a big letter because it starts the sentence.
- Example: In the statement above, capitalize the T in the because it is the first word of the sentence.
All Do-Now slides for Q1 are posted on The Hub and are aligned to the SpringBoard Grammar Handbook, IAs, and focus on key grammar TEKS that students must master in order to be successful.
Bi-Weekly Assessment 2: Students will have 30 minutes to take a timed multiple choice exam. The scanning deadline is Friday, September 4. Teachers are responsible for printing their assessments and scanning their data.
English I Pre-AP
- Level 1 (Identify): This can be reinforced by a 5 minute entrance quiz assessing students knowledge of the outlined literary devices. Based off of their score on the entrance quiz, you can adjust instruction and/or monitor specific students more closely who may need additional support. This will help troubleshoot at the beginning of the lesson, rather than at the end.
- Level 2 (Apply): Make sure students are annotating the text and providing textual evidence as their support. Set the expectation that students must always have evidence to support their claim or evidence that influenced their inference. Even if the student may generate the right answer, push them to provide evidence and respond with the academic vocabulary needed to push towards the strongest response.
OER Crossover Introduced: The OER Crossover, or OER CO, is a STAAR EOC question that accounts for 9 points of a students overall score. The OER CO challenges students to respond to a question that connects two selections, and requires textual evidence from BOTH selections in order to receive a passing score.
The following strategy can serve as a foundation: APPE
- Answer
- Proof 1
- Proof 2
- Explanation
This strategy is outlined in detail at the end of the Unit Road Map under the Instructional Notes section.
Revising and Editing Do-Nows: The focus for this week is capitalization (8.20A). Ensure that students can articulate two key items in their response: 1) What is the mistake and 2) Why should this change be made.
- Non-Example: Make the little letter a big letter because it starts the sentence.
- Example: In the statement above, capitalize the T in the because it is the first word of the sentence.
All Do-Now slides for Q1 are posted on The Hub and are aligned to the SpringBoard Grammar Handbook, IAs, and focus on key grammar TEKS that students must master in order to be successful.
Bi-Weekly Assessment 2: The scanning deadline for BWA2 is Friday, September 4. Teachers are responsible for scanning their data by the designated deadline.
English II Pre-AP
OER Single Story Introduced (Monday): The OER Single Story, or OER SS, is a STAAR EOC question that accounts for 9 points of a students overall score. The OER SS challenges students to respond to a question from a selection, and requires textual evidence in their response in order to receive a passing score.
The following strategy can serve as a foundation: APE
- Answer
- Proof
- Explanation
This strategy is outlined in detail at the end of the Unit Road Map under the Instructional Notes section.
OER Crossover Introduced (Friday): The OER Crossover, or OER CO, is a STAAR EOC question that accounts for 9 points of a students overall score. The OER CO challenges students to respond to a question that connects two selections, and requires textual evidence from BOTH selections in order to receive a passing score.
The following strategy can serve as a foundation: APPE
- Answer
- Proof 1
- Proof 2
- Explanation
This strategy is outlined in detail at the end of the Unit Road Map under the Instructional Notes section.
Revising and Editing Do-Nows: The focus for this week is capitalization (8.20A). Ensure that students can articulate two key items in their response: 1) What is the mistake and 2) Why should this change be made.
- Non-Example: Make the little letter a big letter because it starts the sentence.
- Example: In the statement above, capitalize the T in the because it is the first word of the sentence.
All Do-Now slides for Q1 are posted on The Hub and are aligned to the SpringBoard Grammar Handbook, IAs, and focus on key grammar TEKS that students must master in order to be successful.
Bi-Weekly Assessment 2: BWA2 is a timed OER Single Story. Students will have only 30 minutes to complete the OER SS. The scanning deadline is Friday, September 4, 2015 by COB. Please plan your time accordingly so that all OERs can be graded, bubbled, and scanned into GradeCam by the stated deadline.
AP Language
SpringBoard: The focus for Unit 1 is preparation for the Synthesis Essay. Students are analyzing texts, summarizing their understandings, and synthesizing interpretations.
AP Exam Preparation: Teachers should begin incorporating Multiple Choice practice, in small chunks, throughout the week. If teachers are not sure how to include MC practice, they will receive support during the 9/2 Webinar.
AP Literature
SpringBoard: Students will work in SpringBoard Unit 1 to analyze poetry in preparation for the poetry analysis essay on IA 1. On Thursday, Students will begin the Writing Workshop 9: Responding to Poetry. Through this workshop, students will be guided by the teacher while crafting a poetry analysis essay.
AP Exam Preparation: Teachers should begin incorporating Multiple Choice practice, in small chunks, throughout the week. If teachers are not sure how to include MC practice, they will receive support during the 9/2 Webinar.