The STAAR-Ready Literate Classroom Lora Darden, Ph.D. Director of Curriculum & Professional Development

 Demystify the STAAR assessment documents  Examine the structure of Reading & Writing STAAR assessments  Experiment with 26 lines of text

 Test Schematics  Blue Prints Blue Prints  Assessed Curriculum  TEKS/SEs

Reading Test Schematics 3 rd Grade5 th Grade

STAAR reading assessments will emphasize students’ ability to Understand how to use text evidence to confirm the validity of their ideas Make connections within and across texts (“across texts” begins at grade 4) Think critically/inferentially “Go beyond” a literal understanding of what they read 5

Students must be provided in-depth instruction in all genres represented by the ELA/R TEKS Equal weight must be given to fiction and expository genres—the readiness genres— at elementary, middle, and high school Instruction must emphasize critical/ inferential thinking rather than isolated skills Students must be able to make connections between different genres (and be able to “see” the thematic links) 6

RC 1: Questions about vocabulary and connections across texts for grades 3−8 (vocabulary only at grade 3) RC 2: Questions about single literary texts: fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, drama (drama beginning at grade 4) RC 3: Questions about informational texts: expository and persuasive (persuasive beginning at grade 5) 7

 K-12 alignment document – this has been revised due to TEAs revisions on 8 th grade standards  ds_Reading.pdf ds_Reading.pdf

9 Revision and editing assessed separately, with increased focus on revision as students become more experienced and skilled writers For Grade 4, 32% of multiple-choice score from revision (9 items) and 68% of score from editing (19 items)

Example of Grade 4 revision stem: David would like to improve his story by adding a strong concluding sentence after sentence 28. Which of these would be the BEST sentence to add? Example of Grade 7 revision stem: The transition between the third paragraph (sentences 13–19) and the fourth paragraph (sentences 20–25) is abrupt. Which sentence could Veronica add before sentence 20 to help with this transition? 10

11 Students will write two one-page essays (26 lines maximum) addressing different types of writing Grade 4—personal narrative and expository Essays will be weighted equally No “gatekeeper” (automatic fail of the writing test for a 1)

12 Expository, persuasive, and analytic prompts contain a stimulus and are scaffolded: Read, Think, Write, Be Sure to − Personal narrative and literary prompts contain a stimulus and are scaffolded, though less so than other prompts

13 A rubric is being developed for each writing type, but three overarching aspects of writing are addressed in all rubrics Organization/Progression Development of Ideas Use of Language/Conventions

14 Organization/Progression—bullet #1: The degree to which the organizational structure is appropriate to the purpose and specific demands of the prompt. This bullet “plays out” in slightly different ways depending on the purpose for writing. The development of ideas is coherent and well controlled.

15 Development of Ideas—bullet #2: Specific well-chosen details add to the substance of the piece. The writing is thoughtful and engaging. The topic may be approached from an unusual or fresh perspective

16 Use of Language/Conventions—bullet #3: Word choice contributes to the clear meaning of the piece of writing. Conventions contribute to the overall readability of the piece of writing. Sentences are purposeful and varied, enhancing the effectiveness of the writing.

High-Scoring Compositions  Form and purpose match  Explicit thesis or controlling idea  Economical use of space: tight, specific, logical, no wasted words  Introductions and conclusions short and effective  Specific use of language and appropriate tone  Essay well-crafted  Strong conventions

Low-Scoring Compositions  Wrong form for the purpose  Weak, evolving, or nonexistent thesis or controlling idea  Wasted space—repetition, wordiness, extraneous details or examples, looping/meandering, meaningless introductions and conclusions***  General/vague use of language or inappropriate tone  Essay poorly crafted  Weak conventions