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.

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. 

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! 

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.

You will be able to analyze the persuasive impact of rhetorical structures and devices in famous speeches.

You will be able to analyze the quality, relevance, and credibility of evidence that supports or opposes an argument.

You will be able to write a short story with interesting and believable characters.

You will be able to write a short story with a well-developed conflict and resolution.

You will be able to use various literary strategies and devices, including dialogue and suspense, to enhance the plot in a short story.

Given a prompt, you will write a short story.

You will learn how to make inferences and draw conclusions about similar themes in various texts by finding supporting evidence within the texts.

You will become acquainted with the origins and meanings of foreign words and phrases frequently used in English texts.

You will learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.

You will apply what you learned in previous lessons, (1) Linguistic Roots and Affixes, (2) Denotation and Connotation, (3) Origins and Meanings of Foreign Words, (4) Cognates, and (5) Reference Materials, to improve your fluency and comprehension.

Students demonstrate their knowledge of capitalization rules in a proofreading exercise.

Students will learn to avoid fragments and run-on sentences while correctly combining clauses to create an effective variety of sentences, including complex, compound, and compound-complex.

You will learn proofreading techniques to use in checking for correct punctuation.