The Asking and Answering Professional Development provides strategies to teach students how to ask and answer questions more effectively to improve comprehension in the classroom and on standardized assessments such as the STAAR. 

Determining importance and summarizing is a complicated task for many readers. This professional development provides participants with instructional scaffolds that will help students comprehend informational text. 

This set of videos is organized into two topics: Six Syllables Types and Morphology. The videos are edited from a six-hour professional development and may be used as a sequenced set of lessons or individually.

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.   

1. Text Comprehension (Reading)  
2. Word Analysis  
3. Fluency  

LAR utilizes many techniques to help students learn the content. This is done by breaking the concepts down into smaller/targeted concepts, utilizing color coding, charts, mnemonics, graphics, audio clips, easy-to-grasp written and/or auditory explanations that students can internalize with ease; font size for emphasis; practice quizzes for students to self-check for understanding; level quizzes that progress from surface knowledge  --> to connecting several concepts --> to applying the content to practical examples. 

These learning techniques are especially beneficial for students who are English Language Learners (ELL), Limited English Proficient (LEP), English As Second Language (ESL), Special Education (SPED), and/or Sect. 504 students.

Visit the Language Arts Resources site to access student lessons, quizzes, and more! 

TPRI Module 1: Unit 2 Used in Grades K-3

This resource outlines the components of research-based programs for beginning reading instruction and is for all educators who want to learn more about how to support beginning reading instruction in students of all ages. Links to videos, handouts, and sample lesson plans are included.

This resource outlines the components of vocabulary development. Links to videos, handouts, and sample lesson plans are included.

This resource outlines the components of research-based programs for reading comprehension instruction and is for all educators who want to learn more about how to support reading comprehension for students of all ages. Links to videos, handouts, and sample lesson plans are included.

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.

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. 

These comprehension activities are designed to enhance the instruction of all teachers of reading and to meet the learning needs of all students, as indicated by data.

You will learn how to determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes.

You will learn how the setting in a story can influence the development of the plot.

You will learn how the internal and external responses of characters, including their motivations and conflicts, contribute to the development of the story’s plot.

You will learn how to analyze different points of view, including first person, third-person omniscient, and third-person limited.

You will learn how to explain a playwright’s use of dialogue and stage directions.

You will learn how to determine or clarify the meaning of words using context within a sentence and in larger sections of text.

You will learn the importance of graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line length, word position) in the meaning of a poem.