Speaking the Language

Thursday, April 17, 2014
a word from Suzanne

The battalion will be heading out at zero dark thirty.  Roger that?
Hooah!
In the event of enemy fire, I've got your 6.  

It would be pretty important for soldiers to understand the words being thrown around in order to win the war, wouldn't it?  In fact, a common vocabulary is essential for success in any area.  We are in the trenches, and in order to be successful, we've got to make sure that we are speaking the same language- in our instruction, assignments and conversations. 

With seven testing administrations under our belt, there are finally data and released items (hallelujah!) that we can draw from.  What are buzz words?  What complexity do the verbs require?  What cognitive steps must a student go through in order to get this question correct?  

I went through EVERY released STAAR test and sample (I do have enough to do- I promise!), and compiled three lists- academic vocabulary, verbs, and non-academic vocabulary.  It's essential to see the words that our students are responsible for so that we can prepare them.  I included all of these words in these Words to Grow packs:  
Words to Grow: 9th-11th
Words to Grow: 6th-8th
Words to Grow: 3rd-5th

Each pack includes words sorted into the categories listed and 20 activities that you can do to help plant these words in student's vocabularies.  The goal is not for you to implement all 20!  The hope is that you will find 2-3 that you'd like to try.  If you find out that something's not working for you, you've got 17-18 to fall back on. 

**If/when the April 2014 tests are released, I will update these packs and send a message to all purchasers.  You can re-download the updated list for f-r-e-e-e! 


Also, check out our 'Let's Party!' tab for more information about our birthday party!  We want to party with you!

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