TEXT SET PROJECT: Building Knowledge and Vocabulary
All information is taken from Achieve The Core. Achieve The Core is a non profit educational organization founded by the authors of the Common Core State Standards.
Text sets support all learners, especially those with background knowledge or vocabulary deficits, by building up these domains through a volume of reading. Each expert pack below:
- Centers on a single topic (i.e., insects, desert animals, entrepreneurship) and contains a variety of resources (i.e., books, articles, videos, websites, infographics)
- Purposely orders resources to support students in building vocabulary and knowledge
- Includes suggested activities to be completed after each resource to demonstrate comprehension and students’ building knowledge and/or vocabulary
- Is designed to be completed with increasing independence by students
Important: Read this First
The CCSS for English Language Arts & Literacy emphasize the importance of all students reading grade-level complex-text proficiently and independently by the end of a given school year. However, the reality remains that many students struggle to read on-grade-level text. Research suggests three major factors that contribute to this problem:
- Failure to grow sufficient vocabulary
- Failure to develop wide background knowledge
- Failure to become a fluent reader
The expert packs contain the volume of reading necessary to combat each one of these factors, level the playing field for students, and support their growth in the process. In order for the text sets to be effective, students must read/watch the resources in order. The early texts provide knowledge and vocabulary that scaffold student understanding of the later, more complex texts. When experienced in the correct order, students have demonstrated success with texts they otherwise would struggle with. Hear from teachers who have used the expert packs in their classrooms.