Center for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability

Resource Type: Product or Tool

Persuasion Across Time and Space: Analyzing and Producing Complex Texts

WestEd’s Teacher Professional Development Program developed the “Persuasion Across Time and Space: Analyzing and Producing Complex Texts” in conjunction with the Understanding Language Initiative. The goal of this unit (involving five conceptually linked lessons) is to provide exemplars illustrating how English Language Arts Common Core Standards in Reading Informational Text and Writing Arguments can be used to […]

Language of Math Task Templates

“Language of Math” Task Templates are language-focused activities that can be used by teachers to design and write their own language-focused activities. These are used or adapted tasks from two publicly accessible curriculum projects, Inside Mathematics and Mathematics Assessment Project. They were designed to support students in learning to read and understand word problems, communicate […]

Extending Understanding: Vocabulary Development Through Interaction

A part of the Persuasion Across Time and Space unit, this video focuses on using vocabulary activities to extend student understanding after completing activities around a complex text. This video aims to extend student understanding of the vocabulary found in the Gettysburg Address.

Interacting with Complex Texts: Jigsaw Project

This lesson is part of the Persuasion Across Time and Space unit. In this lesson, students work in groups to analyze speeches (complex oral texts) and share expertise. This resource provides insight on effective use of heterogeneous grouping and scaffolding techniques.

Interacting with Complex Texts: Scaffolding Reading

This lesson is part of the Persuasion Across Time and Space unit. In this video, the teacher works with struggling students and prepares them to access complex text by scaffolding their background knowledge on the text.

Preparing Learners: Activating Prior Knowledge

This lesson is part of the Persuasion Across Time and Space unit. In the video, students are shown how to use a three-step interview process to analyze the language forms used in an informal persuasive situation to better understand the structural, organizational, grammatical, and lexical/vocabulary choices made by the author.