Text Features Nonfiction and Text Structures

Explicitly teaching Nonfiction Text Features and Informational and Nonfiction Text Structures helps students analyze text, find key details quicker, gain greater background knowledge and deepens reading comprehension.

Flocabulary Text Features

Nonfiction Text Features Chart - Teaching Made Practical
PDF Nonfiction Text Features Chart. Text Feature. Purpose. Example. Title. Identifies the topic of the text/tells what the text will be about. Title Page. Tells a book's title,.

Nonfiction Text Features
PDF Text Feature Scavenger Hunt. This can be done individually or in pairs. Give students a copy of the scavenger hunt paper. They should choose a nonfiction book ...

Using Text Features
PDF For example the title page and table of contents are text features found at the beginning of a textbook. Headings, graphics, main idea boxes and bolded words are some of the text featuresfound in the chapters of their book, while glossaries and indexes are some text features found at the end of a textbook.

Using Text Features
PDF For example the title page and table of contents are text features found at the beginning of a textbook. Headings, graphics, main idea boxes and bolded words are some of the text featuresfound in the chapters of their book, while glossaries and indexes are some text features found at the end of a textbook.

Text Feature Definitions and Examples
PDF Table 1.2: Text Feature Definitions and Examples. Type of text feature and definition. How this feature helps readers. Visual example of feature. Print Features.

Nonfiction Text Features Study Guide Text Feature Purpose
PDF Use the study guide to help your child review Nonfiction Text. Features. Encourage your child to look for text features in. Nonfiction books and discuss the ...

Nonfiction Text Features Chart
PDF Nonfiction Text Features Chart. Text Feature. Purpose. Example. Title. Identifies the topic of the text and tells what the text will be about. Subtitle. Gives the reader.

Text Features Chart Title Appendix Captions Charts or tables ...
PDF Text Features Chart. Text Feature. Definition. Example. Title. Name of a literary work. It gives the reader an idea about what will be read in the book. Appendix.

Nonfiction Text Features
PDF Nonfiction Text Features. Text Feature. What Is It? Purpose. Photographs and. Illustrations. Visual Images. Help readers understand exactly what something ...

Informational Text Features
PDF Florida Sunshine State Standards: LA.910.2.2.1 – The student will analyze and evaluate information from text features (e.g., transitional devices, table of.

Is inclusion the best way? Pull-out vs. Push-in Special Ed?

Push-in vs. Pull-out in Special Ed starts with highly effective instruction for all students with disabilities! 

OPINION: Push-in Special Education models INCLUSION using a collaborative co-teaching model are best when the teaching professionals are highly trained. Special education gives us a great opportunity to improve teaching skills and a place to test best teaching practices for all students. Sean Taylor M.Ed

Two Perspectives on Inclusion In The United States - ERIC PDF
inclusion, equity, deficit perspective on inclusion, social constructivist stance on inclusion. Introduction. As we began ... who wrote in 1950s,. “in general, it is best not to segregate any ... In much the same way it is assumed that a relatively small ...

Ingredients for Inclusion: Lessons from the Literature - ERICPDF
of inclusion; a process of learning reflecting best evidence ... very effective way that New Zealand schools can ... DevelopingInclusive_Education_Systems.pdf.

What is Inclusion? - Core PDF
inclusion should be geared towards everyone with a disability, while others believe it should be ... needs in a classroom without proper support and services. ... This includes being able to adapt materials and change methods in order to help a.

Ten Top Tips for Inclusion in Schools PDF
TIP: The best way to be sure of anything is through good communication. This means communicating with students about their needs and feelings, communicating ...

Dispelling the Myths of Inclusive Education - Tash.org PDF
Inclusive education is the practice of educating students with disabilities in ... Myth #2: Students with the most significant disabilities do better when they are ... that using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the best way to ...

THREE KEY AREAS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED:

ONE | Proactive Teams, Goals, and Objectives Directed (IEP): Each student that is identified needing services should receive a truly Individualized (Personalised) Education Program (IEP) that is planned and developed by a team of stakeholders. These academic or social-emotional learning programs need to identify, monitor, and screen for a student's particular strengths, weaknesses, social-emotional needs, and academic needs. The IEP Goals and Objectives should reflect the formative and summative data that is collected using the initial screenings. The student receives these special education services based on the individualized needs of the student, the goal is to maintain academic progress with peers or help them close the learning gap. These individualized services need to target a student's academic goals and or social-emotional needs. The key factors to successfully implement an IEP is high quality researched based special education services and targeted progress monitoring! A Push-in Special Education model with two teachers collaborating and co-teaching working towards a common goal is more powerful in meeting the needs of their students! 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 

Pull-out or Push-in Special Ed are both good options, yet Push-in is BEST when done correctly! Both options can be very effective but they are both at the mercy of a broken special education system. The biggest problem in Special Education is that it is underfunded and understaffed with highly trained teachers. Many school districts treat special education services and the associated paperwork especially the IEP's as a bureaucratic nuisance. Worse yet are the schools that warehouse special ed students, each student gets a boilerplate IEP and boilerplate services! When two teachers have a common goal and shared interest, warehousing is not likely. Special education needs to be responsive, adaptable, fluid, follow a praxis process, and IEP's need to be living documents with REAL individual Goals and Objectives. What I sadly see today is a copy and past mentality, students with identical goals and objectives, the same service, and the same exact amount of time for every child! Today the norm in special education is a single overarching IEP goal and is usually one goal that is supposed to fit all students.

TWO | Best Teaching Practices (Research-Based Methods): Response to Intervention, Pull-out or Push-in Special Ed, Child Find, Specialized Instruction (Wilson Reading Program, Direct Instruction, Orton-Gillingham Approach), Progress Monitoring and Academic Testing, Multimodal IQs Assessments, student interviews, the list is gigantic. Research-Based Methods by law are used at all phases of special education, from initial placement or to determine the time, place, and duration of services provided. Every child is a gift, every child is gifted, every child is special, each child comes to school with unique abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and real needs that affect learning. All students deserve a real individual and personalized education especially our special needs students. There are so many pathways of learning, we as educators must provide these pathways and ensure that each student has the opportunity to learn in multiple ways. Special education services need to make stronger a student's strengths and bolster a student's weakness.  

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 

We are on the verge of so many discoveries in brain research and learning theory, yet we are slow to evolve and adapt new best teaching practices. We are overly influenced by a top-down pedagogy model in the English speaking nations. We seek to over test, over-complicate curriculum, overvalue Big Data, under encouraging each other and our students. We truly develop more problems than we solve. 

THREE | Progress Monitoring (Guideding Student Success): 

Progress monitoring is the scientifically based practice of assessing students' academic performance on a regular basis for three key purposes (Research-Based Methods):

1. To determine whether students are profiting appropriately from the instructional program, including the curriculum
2. To build more effective programs for the children who do not benefit
3. To estimate rates of student improvement

Progress monitoring is a set of weekly or monthly assessment procedures for determining the extent to which students are benefiting from classroom instruction and for monitoring the effectiveness of a corrective or compensatory curriculum. Progress monitoring should be based on grade-level norms and be based on researched best practices. Progress monitoring is used to assess a student's academic progress or lack of progress and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and instructional support. Progress monitoring tells the teacher what your child has learned and what still needs to be taught. The school interventionist and or special education teachers should be collecting weekly/monthly data and creating graphs that show the student's progress and growth.

Progress monitoring for IEPs or SSTs: Special education teacher or intervention teacher uses short formative or summative tests to evaluate a child's academic progress. The most effective progress monitoring is done every week or two with all data graphed and shared with all the stakeholders. 

        RtI Programs, Section 504, and Special Education Programs need to use valid progress monitoring tools that measure, track and identify a student's strengths and weaknesses. Schools that do not use a suite of comprehensive progress monitoring tools will leave the students and the teachers at a disadvantage. School systems today may use some form of computer-based monitoring programs like the NWEA MAP assessments and or classroom-based assessment tools like the DRA for progress monitoring. My first four years of teaching special needs students taught me the power of using comprehensive progress monitoring program 1:1 with students multiple times every quarter. Sitting with a student and assessing them vs. sitting them in front of a computer and having them take an assessment is gold vs. bronze in my opinion. 
     Helping teachers and students increase academic skills starts with valid, comprehensive, effective tools that identify strengths and weaknesses. Diagnosing academic strengths, weaknesses, and potential problems using RtI diagnostic screens and assessments is one of the first steps. The Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills and The Woodcock-Johnson® III Tests of Achievement are the two I was trained to use. Both are 1:1, giving the teacher great insight into a students academic attitude/aptitude, thinking and reasoning skills, confidence, perseverance, self-regulation, and overall communication skills. You miss most of that when you rely on computer-based monitoring.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 
You can't improve student performance in reading, math, writing, science, and social studies and or social emotional intervention programs,  if you are not actively measuring progress or the lack thereof.

STAAR Writing Workshop Ideas!

5 ESSENTIAL steps for a creating a super successful STAAR Writing Workshop in your district, school, and classroom.

Step 1: Unpack and explain the assessment rules in a FUN and engaging way "STARR Writing Rubrics made fun, if that is possible"! Show student samples/anchor papers and explicitly/directly connect students' writing with the STARR scoring guides!

Step 2: Make writing a blast, Everyone is a writer when inspired! Nothing kills the love of writing like mind numbing test prep. THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX! Big Ideas! Example 1: One, Two or Three full days every semester should be dedicated to creating a writing/writers convention (THINK Comic-Con). Example 2: Create an à la carte writing seminar day where students get to choose their writing PD! Example 3: Your ideas...     

Step 3: Create a school that values, teaches and promotes academic listening and oracy first and foremost! Oracy the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech at a high level. 

Step 4: Create student friendly writing memory aids: mnemonic songs/chants, checklists, charts, checklist, rubrics, and yes student inspired ideas. Lots of daily "bad/ineffective" writing practice when students can't remember key writing structures is useless! Perfect practice makes perfect!

Step 5: Create a judgment free writing zone in your classroom everyday all day! Let students write, revise, edit and publish written work with peers, teachers, and friends with a great abundance of encouragement and zero fear of judgment. 

Scoring the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Writing Essays  

Rubrics
TEA scores TAKS compositions on a four-point scale, with one being the lowest score and four being the highest. We base the rubric on five criteria—focus and coherence, organization, development of ideas, voice, and conventions. We consider each of the criteria equally in the scoring of each composition. We use the same writing rubric will to evaluate TAKS compositions at all grades assessed: Grade 4 English, Grade 4 Spanish, Grade 7, Grade 10, and Grade 11 Exit Level. In all cases, the testing contractor trains scorers to consider the criteria listed in the rubric in a way that is grade-level appropriate.
Grade 4 English, Grade 7, Grade 10, and Grade 11 Exit Level (PDF)

Texas STAAR Released Writing Test with scoring guilds and Answer Keys 2019-2020 

Grade	Test Forms	Answer Keys
4
	Writing: 2019 |  2018 | 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013	Writing: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
7
	Writing: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013	Writing: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
	English I: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 2013 Reading | 2013 Writing	English I: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 2013 Reading | 2013 Writing
	English II: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 2013 Reading | 2013 Writing	English II: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 2013 Reading | 2013 Writing
	Biology:2019 | 2018 | 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013	Biology: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
	U.S. History: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013	U.S. History: 2019 |  2018| 2017 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

www.houstonisd.org › Domain › STAAR-TEA Instructional Materials

High School Writing Handbook - HISD  PDF
all students are writing an expository essay, the content and format will be unique to the writer. ...Writing prompts often contain many details but little direction. It is ... Manual- These words and phrases are student-created; however, there are.

www.houstonisd.org › cms › lib2 › Centricity › Domain › First 25 Da...
First 25 Days of Writing Workshop English Language Arts - HISD PDF
There are three components to Writing Workshop: Mini-lesson, Independent ... Students may share new ideas, or a piece of writing they are particularly proud of. ... Text structure is the way in which expository text is organized to help readers ...

www.humbleisd.net › lib2 › Centricity › Domain › STAAR › WWS
4 Grade Launching Writing Workshop – Unit of ... - Humble ISD PDF
Grade Launching Writing Workshop – Unit of Study. 7/2011. 1. Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings. Essential Questions. TEKS/ELPS. Foundations of Writing.

digitalcommons.trinity.edu › cgi › viewcontent
STAAR EOC Expository Essay [9th-12th grade] - Digital ...PDF
not be able to write a perfect essay after completing this unit, the hope is that he or she will be ... 20(2).pdf Students have a hard time reading the handwriting, so having ... prompts from thesis worksheet or from list of past expository prompts-.

www.texasgateway.org › files › documents › TRES_CompBook_Print

Teaching Revising and Editing Skills - Texas Gateway PDF
Classroom teaching activities: Opportunities for teachers to try the strategies in the classroom and think ... Select and carefully read one of the expository essays on Handout 17. Then ... Make time for students to revise and edit their writing during class, so you can monitor and support ... Readings/SL_2011.pdf. Handout (2 of ...

www.misd.net › language art › grammar in action › 501 writing prompts
501 Writing Prompts PDF
Fiction, unlike a user manual, a magazine article, or newspaper editorial, probably won't ... Choose one of the expository writing prompts from the list below and ...

What does it feel like to be Dyslexic? Dyslexia-Simulation

An experiential analogue "dyslexia-simulation" to help teachers and families understand what it really feels like to be Dyslexic and struggle with word recall and spelling recall! Understanding Dyslexia 

Ask your teaching staff, friends or family to writer their last names

in cursive using their non-dominant hand. The second twist on this test is they must write it backwards, upside-down and from right to left. All the extra processing and over thinking that it requires gives an experiential analogue of Dyslexic word recall and spelling recall!. These extra mental steps in the brains lexile systems give a small clue to the coping mechanism a dyslexic student goes through. Parents teachers, students, and families need to understand the struggle is real.

www.thecut.com › 2016/03 › what-it-feels-like-to-be-a-dyslexic-reader

What It Feels Like to Be a Dyslexic Reader -- Science of Us
Dyslexia has no known cure and is often paired with ADHD, making the double whammy of being unable to focus and unable to read one that leaves many students struggling. They might be told they're dumb or slow, but the fact is that dyslexics are perfectly capable people with normal levels of intelligence.

www.indy100.com › article › this-website-shows-what-its-like-to-read...
This website shows what it's like to read when you have dyslexia
A new website has attempted to emulate the symptoms of dyslexia, ... Different people with dyslexia have different symptoms, which this simulation does not ... show you normals exactly how it truly feels to read while dyslexic.

www.telegraph.co.uk › news › newstopics › howaboutthat › This-websit...
This website lets you experience what it is like to be dyslexic ...
Not everyone who is diagnosed with the condition experiences it in this way. However, seeing nonexistent movement in words and seeing letters like "d", "b", "p", "q" rotated is common among people with dyslexia. Commenters on the website said it was consistent with how they experienced reading a lot of the time.

www.dyslexic.com › Dyslexia
What is it like to have Dyslexia? | Dyslexic.com
If you have any questions about our awareness training sessions, feel free to get in touch with ...Do you think it's a good tool to spread dyslexia awareness?

www.dyslexia.com › General Questions › Understanding Dyslexia
What dyslexics see – Dyslexia the Gift
It is possible for a dyslexic person to be able to read very well, yet find it extremely difficult or impossible to write or spell. Sometimes the writing problem is called 'dysgraphia' instead of 'dyslexia' – but we find that often these symptoms stem from the same underlying causes asdyslexia.

kidshealth.org › teens › dyslexia
Understanding Dyslexia (for Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth
Dyslexia is a learning disability in which people have difficulty learning to read, even though they are smart enough ... What's It Like to Have Dyslexia? ... You probably will read slowly and feelthat you have to work extra hard when reading.

www.cnn.com › 2016/03/05 › health › dyslexia-simulation
This is what reading is like if you have dyslexia - CNN
With a Web code, Victor Widell is making it easier for others to understand how reading with dyslexia might feel.

PL Personalized Learning Teacher Reviews

PL Overview of Personalized Learning

"The use of the term "personalized learning" dates back to at least the early 1960s, but there is no widespread agreement on the definition and components of a personal learning environment Even enthusiasts for the concept admit that personal learning is an evolving term and doesn't have any widely accepted definition. In 2005, Dan Buckley defined two ends of the personalized learning spectrum: "personalization for the learner", in which the teacher tailors the learning, and "personalization by the learner", in which the learner develops skills to tailor his own learning."  WIKI

Is PL just another pop education fad that is trying to negate the negative effects of poverty and inequality? Sean Taylor 

Here's What Educators Think About Personalized Learning
Nov 5, 2019 - When Hinton High School tested personalized learning in a big way two years ... but also put in place personalized-learning approaches, educators such as ... And teachers' use of personalized-learning technologies—such as ... Proffitt, however, gave her district's professional development a rave review.

Against Personalized Learning - Education Week
Nov 7, 2017 - Like other efforts to improve U.S. schools, personalized learning is getting ... as research-and-development, with many experiments taking place at once, ... An educationprofessor at the University of California, Los Angeles, ...

Personalized  Learning Debate
"Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley write that while there are advantages in students being able to access information instantly on-line, one should not mistake such processes for "something deeper, more challenging, and more connected to compelling issues in their world and their lives".
Alfie Kohn wrote that while personalized learning may sound like a useful strategy for education, in practice it's mostly just about selling technology products. Personalized learning promises a strategy to specifically adjust education to the unique needs and skills of individual children, he argued, but really it means merely "adjusting the difficulty level of prefabricated skills-based exercises based on students' test scores... [and] requires the purchase of software from one of those companies that can afford full-page ads in Education Week". While "certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education", Kohn wrote, "...meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology. Therefore, if an idea like personalization is presented from the start as entailing software or a screen, we ought to be extremely skeptical about who really benefits." WIKI

HAVE YOU OR YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT LOOKED INTO "Personalized  Learning" PLEASE GIVE YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!