Overview
TextConnections is a full-year course specifically designed for
adolescents who have mastered basic phonics and decoding
skills, but lack solid comprehension and critical-thinking skills.
TextConnections:
• focuses on comprehension skills and strategies with support from
vocabulary, fluency, writing, and independent reading instruction
Grade Level(s): Green Level (6–9);
Magenta Level (9–12)
Program Length: Full-year course
Eligible Funding: IDEA-EIS, Title I, 21st
CCLC, Striving Readers
Implementation Models:
Double block period,
shadow class, daily
after school program
• has clearly stepped-out lessons to make it easy to teach reading
at the secondary level
• includes research-based, engaging, interactive instruction that brings
success and reading back into the lives of striving adolescent learners
ne reason for the initial success of our tieredO
learning/RTI system is PCI TextConnections. It
is satisfying to find programs that actually help
struggling readers, give them more confidence,
and allow them to catch up. It is also exciting
to find a tool that teachers believe in and
that is producing results in student achievement.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum
Units provide a variety of texts across subject areas
Unit 1 Reading Self and Society
seeing the relevancy and purpose
of reading
Unit 4 Reading Science
learning to comprehend science,
procedural, and expository texts
Unit 2 Reading Media
acquiring critical-thinking skills
through everyday experiences
with media
Unit 5 Reading Social Studies or History
learning to comprehend history,
historical fiction, and informational
sources, including primary source
documents, maps, timelines, and
data charts
Unit 3 Reading English Language Arts
learning to read, respond to, and
discuss literature
2
TextConnections
Strand by Strand... the Highlights
Comprehension
Because comprehension is the end goal of reading,
TextConnections focuses instruction on the cognitive and
metacognitive strategies proven to help students become
successful independent readers and critical thinkers.
Explicit instruction focuses on key strategies such as:
• Generating questions
• Making inferences
• Monitoring
comprehension
(including learning
to think aloud)
• Visualizing
• Summarizing and
synthesizing
• Building on prior
knowledge
• Connecting text to
text, text to self,
and text to world
Vocabulary
Students develop key areas of
vocabulary that are critical to
understanding difficult text. By
building knowledge of academic
vocabulary, structural vocabulary,
and content-specific terminology,
students are better able to comprehend
text across subject areas.
Independent Reading
Independent reading in the program
provides opportunities for students
to apply their new skills and
strategies. They gain confidence
and motivation needed to become
successful readers and thinkers.
Fluency
Striving adolescent learners improve
fluency by focusing on one characteristic
of fluent reading at a time with
leveled fluency practice passages
that match students’ ability levels.
Writing
Writing contributes to comprehension
by helping students become more
active classroom participants.
Students complete a range of writing
activities, such as Quickwrites,
open-ended responses, and
process writing assignments.
progr am Walk through
3
Student Guide
• Over 60 short selections with space for
interactive notes
• Graphic organizers
• Goals contract
• Self assessments
se
ssment O
o
pp
• Fluency passages and rubrics
Gre e n L
Magen evel for Grad
ta Leve
l f or G r e s 6 –9
ades 9
–12
• Comprehension checks
As
Student Materials
r tunit y
UNIT 1: READING SELF AND SOCIETY
ssment O
As
o
pp
se
r tunit y
SECTION 2: Wha
t are hum
an rights?
Name
Date
Comprehension
Check
Directions: Afte
r reading “Tw
o Camps in One
of the correct
,”
answer or resp
ond on the line answer the questions belo
w. Circle the
s provided.
1.
Write a brief sum
mar y of this pas
sage.
2. Which idea
is suppor ted by
the details in
the four th par
A. Listening is
agraph?
an essential par
t of making pea
B. Seeds of Pea
ce.
ce has many sim
ilarities to oth
C. The beginni
er
sum
mer
camps.
ng of a camp ses
sion is the mos
D. Campers lear
15
t difficult time
.
n about peace
and tolerance.
3. The Arabs
and Israelis hav
e
bee
following describ
n in conflict with
es a root cause
one another for
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of this dispute?
years. Which of
A. snipers and
the
suicide bomber
s
B. a small stri
p of land
C. Israeli mis
siles
D. the Seeds
of Peace Center
in Jerusalem
4. Which of the
following wou
ld be another
good title for this
A. “Only One
passage?
Point of View”
B. “A Summer
of Fun”
C. “War Withou
t End”
D. “Planting Pea
ce”
© 2007 Kaplan, Inc.
TC_HS_SG_U1_S1_2.indd 15
268
Text Con nec
Tex tConnec tion
s works by makin
g the
process of rea
ding
visible through
ac tivities tha
t help
student s think
about
the way they
rea d.
tion s Stud ent
Guid e
© 2007 Kapla
0501_NA_TC_
HS_SG.indd
n, Inc.
268
Term: Inference
7/26/07 5:07:45
PM
My Understanding: 1 2 3 4
on
Description: You can figure something out based
Term:
DNA
Vocabulary Journal
Description
information you have even though it didn’t exactly
say
it stand
in : DNA
Drawing:
• Process for building
academic vocabulary
My Understan
ding: 1 2 3 4
s for deox yribo
nucleic acid.
It is a smits features
to the offspring.
of the parents
It is like what
you inherit from
your parents.
the book; you have to think about what cluessubst
youance
have.
in a cell that
tran
Drawing:
• Interactive resource for
vocabulary development
Sentence: DNA
makes up part
of who you are.
Sentence: Good readers know how to make
inferences by
thinking about what they read.
© 2007 Kaplan,
Inc.
17
4
4
TextConnections
letter
TextConnections Vocabular y Journal
UNIT 1: READING
The student guides include selections from a variety of
literary genres, including fiction, high-interest articles, and
informational text. Additionally, a wide range of expository
texts in the content-areas, including science and social
studies, reinforce and expand core knowledge.
Troubles Like W
olves
by Lady Rhym
e
Got troubles like
wolves
They only com
e in packs
Push one problem
back
Then another one
attacks
Pass the test, find
the job
Tell the parents
that it’s fine
But turn in bed
at night
Hoping just to
find the time
ding?
at is rea
SECTION 2: Wh
Over 60 high-interest,
relevant selections
a and
Peter Quezad
the Wall
the Writing on
es
by DeCarlos Jon
gotten tired of
Have you ever
er day
e graffiti day aft
sam
the
ing
see
over
could just paint
and wish you
sh, and
da had that wi
it? Peter Queza
graffiti in
d
ere
cov
He
he acted on it.
not
neighborhood
his Los Angeles
th
int but also wi
pa
ite
wh
th
only wi
en
and images. Wh
ges
ssa
me
ve
positi
ges, his
th these messa
wi
d
nte
fro
con
response:
had only one
neighborhood
respect.
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Nonviolent War
by Olivia Monroe
7/2
UNIT 5: READING
HISTOR
Excerpt 1
Of course, ind
Inc.
ifference can
© 200 7 Kapl an,
be tempting—
seduct ive. It is
more than tha
so much easier
t,
to look away fro
much easier to
m victims. It is
avoid such rud
so
e interruptions
dreams, our ho
to our work, ou
pes. It is, after
r
all, awkward,
29 PM
involved in an
7/25/07 5:46:
troublesome,
other person’s
to
be
pa
in and despair.
who is indiffere
Yet, for the per
nt, his or her nei
son
ghb
or
therefore, the
are of no conseq
ir lives are me
uence. And,
aningless. Their
anguish is of no
hidden or eve
interest. Indiff
n visible
erence reduce
abstraction.
s the Other to
an
l
Info rmationa nt
n
o
d c te
articles buil
no w ledge
foundation k an
and pro vide
o t ransfer
o ppo rtunit y t
ies ac ross
skills/st rateg
m.
the curriculu
S1_2.indd 36
TC_HS_SG_U1_
African Americans were freed from slavery after the Civil War.
But the journey toward equality was just beginning. In the South,
nd work.
ousands of
ey wanted to distance
themselves from the memories of slavery. For some families, the
rst step toward success. An African-American
middle class began to appear in the early twentieth century.
ey also
wanted to educate themselves and their children. Many of these
children would go on to play key roles in the civil rights movement
of the 1950s and 1960s.
TextConnections Student Guide
n, Inc.
Excerpts from
“The Perils of
Indifference”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a true
ght for racial equality. King
dealt with prejudice from the time he was
a small boy. He was always determined to
make life better for all African Americans.
King knew he might face violent reactions
from those who disagreed with him. And
he did. Some segregationists (those who
erent
races should live in the same places or
ey even
threatened his family. But King followed in the footsteps of the great
Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Both men practiced nonviolence.
t Gu ide
King and his many supporters fought for equal rights in a peaceful
cti ons Stu den
Tex tCo nne
36
way. King believed that one of the most important rights was
education. He also knew that the education African Americans
received was not as good as the education whites received. King was
determined to change that.
Free, But Not Equal: The Post-Civil War Years
© 2007 Kapla
(continued)
Rea ding passa
ges
provide m otiva
ting
experiences d
esigned
to “hook” the
st riving rea de
r.
had
idea, Quezada
To pursue his
how to draw. He
f
sel
him
TC_H
ch
S_SG
to tea _U1_S1_2.indd 23
rts:
every art ist sta
started where
draws
’ work. He often
Peter Quezada
copying others
Yosemite
tman, the Joker,
Ba
rs:
cte
ara
e of
d car toon ch
magazines. On
comic book an
and cars from
collects
ies Catholic art
He
b.
cop
o
lam
als
a
th
He
Sam.
ng down wi
s them.
ages is a lion lyi
when he need
his favorite im
provide ideas
a scrapbook to
not
es
do
he
t
such images in
tha
neighborhood
st connect to
not paint in a
Quezada will
effect ive, it mu
be
to
art
ely
his
feels that for
s may be privat
know well. He
e walls he paint
itations to
their histor y. Th
inv
d
es
an
e
eiv
nc
rec
die
his au
times, Quezada
glected and
ow ned. Some
that’s been ne
ow ned or cit y
adopts a wall
in a fancy, Old
en, he simply
oft
ges
re
ssa
Mo
.
me
int
his
pa
most of
ish: for
Quezada prints
writes in Span
goes to work.
. Sometimes he
ace.”)
font, or lettering
y life; live in pe
njo
(“E
English-style
z.
Pa
En
La Vida; Viv ir
ity. Have the
example, Sozar
“End the Insan
Enegli
inEli
Wish:
local people
esel
writesby
add a tribute to
y
Sometimes he
ma
He
s.”
ng
names of
No to GaHo
locaustAn
ays paints the
surdviv
heoralw
Courage to Say
Eli
ce.
e
len
Wi
ese
vio
giff
l delivered his
Ind
gan
in
d
ere
nce
die
.
speech “The Per
ve
,”
ral
fro
ha
mu
who
thewh
ich these excerp
with m
ils of
him
lpe9,din
ts were taken,
ve he199
Washington, D.C
on April 12,
people who ha
.
What kinds of reading do I like and dislike?
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Excerpt 2
Over there, beh
ind the black
gates of Ausch
the most tragic
wit z (OWSH-vi
of all prisoners
ts),
were the “Muse
were called. Wr
lmanner,” as the
apped in their
y
tor
n blankets, the
the ground, sta
y would sit or
ring vacantly
lie on
into space, un
they were—str
aware of who
angers to their
or where
surroundings.
pain, hunger,
They no longer
thirst. They fea
felt
red nothing. Th
were dead and
ey felt nothing.
did not know
They
it.
© 2007 Kaplan, Inc.
Photograph of Peter Quezada. Copyright © Sojin Kim. Reprinted with permission of
Peter Quezada.
Photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. 1964.
Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_King_Jr_NYWTS.jpg
Public Domain.
SE
Excerpts from “The Perils of Indifference,” a speech delivered by Elie Wiesel at the
White House on April 12, 1999. Available at http://clinton3.nara.gov/WH/EOP/First_
© 2007 Kapl an,
Inc.
Lady/html/generalspeeches/1999/19990412.html.
Public Domain.
259
0501_NA_TC_H
S_SG.indd 259
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5
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21 PM