Texas Alternative Document (TAD)

English, Language Arts, and Reading

July 10, 1997

LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HELPED IN THE PLANNING AND/OR THE WRITING OF THE TEXAS ALTERNATIVE DOCUMENT FOR ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS / READING - 7/10/97

William Feeler, Odessa -- State Board Review Committee

Barbara Fix, Richardson -- State Board Review Committee

Donna Garner, Hewitt -- Clarification Writing Team

Gayle Gustin, Longview -- State Board Review Committee

Joyce Harrison, The Woodlands -- State Board Review Committee

Naoma Huff, Clyde-- State Board Review Committee

Marsha Sonnenberg, Houston -- Clarification Writing Team

Pat Waterman, Waco -- State Board Review Committee

The Texas Alternative Document (TAD) for English/Language Arts/Reading has been produced through the combined efforts of various members of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Clarification Writing Team and the State Board Review Committee for English / Language Arts / Reading. The writers of the TAD have worked at their own time and expense to produce this draft. No federal or state moneys have been utilized to formulate the draft nor have there been any staff to help produce it.

The TAD has been reviewed by many of America's leading reading researchers, education policymakers, and Texas classroom teachers. Recommendations on early reading acquisition and instruction in this document are supported by and are in agreement with over $100,000,000 worth of empirical reading research on reading acquisition and instruction funded by the Child Health and Human Development Branch of the National Institutes of Health.

The writers of the TAD are indebted to the many educational practitioners who helped in the writing of this document. They shared their ideas and revised/proofread copies on numerous occasions.

The writers also wish to thank the many school districts who allowed them to utilize ideas from their curriculum documents.

Most of all, the writers are indebted to their families and friends who gave constant support during this arduous effort.

A hard copy of this document can be purchased from Kinko’s (open 24-hours a day) in Waco, Texas, at (254) 776-7763 (phone), (254) 776-2020 (fax); the cost is $10.00 for duplication and $3.50 for shipping.

The TAD can also be accessed on the internet at http://www.htcomp.net/tad. The writers of the TAD claim no authorship or copyright privileges.

TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

TEXAS ALTERNATIVE DOCUMENT

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS/READING

JULY 10, 1997

INTRODUCTION

It is the intent of this Texas Alternative Document (TAD) for English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) -- Pre-Kindergarten through Grade12-- to offer a simple, easy-to-understand document which will communicate clearly to educators, parents, and students exactly what essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) need to be taught and learned at each grade level.

The writers of the Texas Alternative Document believe that the format of the TEKS must ensure that the classroom is both teacher-directed and student-centered; therefore, the Teachers' Supplementary Guide has been added as Subchapter D which delineates Teacher Elements in the left-hand column and Student Elements in the right-hand column. In the Teachers' Supplementary Guide, teachers could easily look under Teacher Elements and see what they should teach. Parents and students could easily look under Student Elements and see what the students should learn. Since there are two entities in the classroom (both teacher and students), the writers of the TAD believe that each entity should be addressed--each from a separate point of view. Clearly defining the role of each entity assures accountability.

The TAD is specific to each grade level, progressing in complexity from one grade to the next. This enables the people who write the textbook proclamations, the TAAS tests, and the credit-by-examination tests to know exactly what should be put in their documents. The TAD enables staff development coordinators to have clear direction as they plan their in-service offerings. The TAD also enables college/university professors to know exactly what teacher candidates need to learn in order to become certified teachers. The clarity of this Texas Alternative Document creates unity and focus for all parties involved in the education of Texas' children.

This document has been prepared by a combination of representatives from the English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) Clarification Writing Team and the ELAR State Board of Education Review Committee. All those involved in the writing of this Texas Alternative Document believe in the importance of instruction that is based on scientific/medical reading research; and such research clearly documents the importance of direct, systematic instruction of explicit skills. The writers of the TAD believe that the Texas Legislature in Senate Bill 1 meant for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills to be an explicit list of the skills which teachers should teach and students should learn before the students move to the next grade level.

The skills stipulated in each grade level represent content requirements--not methodology. The teacher is encouraged to seek out and develop creative methods to present the skills to the students so that students become proficient.

The writers of the Texas Alternative Document are all full-time educators. The writers believe that teachers should be held accountable to teach all the elements listed in the TAD and that students should then be held accountable on the TAAS and in the classroom for the elements listed in the TAD. The elements must be clear, and they must be "doable" in a year's time; therefore, this document has been limited to the essential skills. Teachers should, of course, be encouraged to introduce supplementary skills and activities to their students; but the essential skills must first be taught and learned.

The writers of this Texas Alternative Document are indebted to many outstanding researchers and education policymakers who have offered their time and expertise to this cause. The writers have also drawn from the best teaching practices of experienced educators throughout the state and from the work done by the Clarification Writing Team and the State Board Review Committee.

Whereas the TEKS have followed a format which breaks ELAR into Reading, Writing, Listening/Speaking, and Viewing/Representing, the Texas Alternative Document breaks the strands into the following: Reading and Literature, Grammar, Composition, Spelling and Vocabulary with all content requirements in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3 focusing on the acquisition of reading skills. The writers believe that the content requirements need to be written in separate strands at each grade level so that a more formal study of each strand can take place. The writers do not want valuable academic content to be lost as often happens when ELAR requirements are written in an integrated fashion. It is the job of the skilled and creative teacher to weave all the strands together in the classroom into a seamless course of instruction.

In the area of reading acquisition, the TAD Writing Team concurs wholeheartedly with the scientific/medical reading research community which believes that the emphasis on reading instruction, particularly in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3, should be to help the student learn to read before he/she reads to learn. The researchers have meticulously documented the importance of implementing a definite order of presentation of phonemic awareness, decoding skills, spelling, and grammar; and the writers recommend that teachers follow the scope and sequence of delivery as listed in the TAD.

Because many educators may not have had adequate training in the areas of phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and explicit grammar, Texas must dedicate its resources to help teachers receive the necessary training.

The importance of the TEKS should not be underestimated. By writing them so that they are explicit and understandable, everything which is based upon the TEKS will be coordinated -- day-to-day classroom instruction, the TAAS, textbook content, credit-by-examination tests, staff development, and higher education teacher training. The children of Texas will be the true beneficiaries of coordinated instruction, and the public schools will have honestly achieved their mandate which is "to teach children to read and write."

Texas Alternative Document for English / Language Arts / Reading

July 10, 1997

DEFINITION OF TERMS

SYNTACTIC AWARENESS (GRAMMAR)

Syntactic awareness (i.e., grammar) refers to the student's ability to put phrases, clauses, and sentences together into correct and meaningful patterns. In this document, the term "syntactic awareness" as used in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten indicates a listening/speaking skill--not the formal study of grammar.

PHONEMIC AWARENESS

The spoken word consists of a sequence of elementary sounds (phonemes). A phoneme is defined as the minimal change in sound that will change one word into another word: sit-> bit; top ->shop (see Figure 1, Intervention Strategies for Phonemic Awareness). Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the number, type, and sequence of phonemes within the word. A syllable divides into two primary parts: onset and rime. The rime is the vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. The onset, if it is there, consists of any consonant sounds that precede the vowel (e.g., split -- spl- is the onset and -it is the rime[see Figure 3, List of Phonemic Awareness Assessments]).

ALPHABETIC KNOWLEDGE

Alphabetic knowledge refers to the student's knowledge of symbols used to write English. Such knowledge includes letter names, alphabetic order, visual recognition of both lower and upper cases, written production of both lower and upper cases, and lower case and upper case correspondences.

PENMANSHIP

The student should be able to form legible letters--both lower and upper cases--in both manuscript style and cursive style.

PRINT CONCEPTS

Print concepts are the conventions and formats used in written English.

Directionality:

Left to right

Top to bottom

Front to back

Significance of spacing:

No space between letters of a word

A space between words

Empty line between paragraphs or indentation of paragraph

Titles and captions: as set apart from text

Punctuation and capitalization: as separating thoughts

Parts of a book (e.g., title page, table of contents, chapters, index, glossary)

Format of different genres (e.g., stanzas for poetic form)

ORTHOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE (SPELLING)

Orthographic knowledge refers to the knowledge of how the sounds (phonemes) of a language are mapped to the symbols (letters) of that language for use in reading and writing. Prerequisites for English orthographic knowledge are alphabetic knowledge and knowledge of the sounds (phonemes) used in English. Orthographic knowledge begins with the most basic mapping of letters to represent the 44 - 45 English phonemes. Published phonics programs typically cover 50 - 80 sound-symbol relationships or phonograms (see Figure 2, Amplified Chart of Basic Phonograms). More advanced orthographic knowledge consists of the mapping of letters to represent English syllables and morphemes. Because over the centuries English has imported vast amounts of vocabulary from other languages and generally retained the foreign spelling patterns, English orthography consists of over 2000 sound-symbol relationships.

SYLLABLE

A syllable is a sound unit in English that contains at least a vowel and is legally pronounceable (e.g., "isp" is legal while "agf" is not).

MORPHEME

A morpheme is the minimal structure in English that conveys meaning. Morphemes range from a single letter (the "s" that makes a noun plural) to multisyllabic structures (i.e., "inter," "micro").

*e.g. -- As used in this document -- "such as, but not limited to"

i.e. -- As used in this document -- "that is to say"

Texas Alternative Document

Altered for the format of the

Proposed New 19 TAC, Chapter 110,

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading

Subchapter A. Elementary

110.01. Implementation of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Elementary.

110.02. English Language Arts and Reading, Pre-Kindergarten

110.03. English Language Arts and Reading, Kindergarten.

110.04. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 1.

110.05. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 2.

110.06. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 3.

110.07. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 4.

110.08. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 5.

Figure 1 - Intervention Strategies for Phonemic Awareness

Figure 2. Amplified Chart of Phonograms

Figure 3. List of Phonemic Awareness Assessments

Subchapter B. Middle School

110.21. Implementation of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Middle School.

110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6

110.23. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 7

110.24 English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 8

Subchapter C. High School

110.41. Implementation of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, High School.

110.42 English Language Arts and Reading, English I (Grade 9)

110.43 English Language Arts and Reading, English II (Grade 10)

110.44 English Language Arts and Reading, English III (Grade 11)

110.45 English Language Arts and Reading, English IV (Grade 12)

Figure 4 - Bibliography for the Texas Alternative Document

Figure 5 - List of Experts

Subchapter D. Teachers’ Supplementary Guide

110.51. Teachers’ Supplementary Guide for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Elementary, Middle School, and High School

110.52. Reading Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 3

110.53. Reading and Literature, Grades 4 - 6

110.54. Reading and Literature, Grades 7-12

110.55. Grammar, Grades 4 - 12

110.56. Composition, Grades 4 - 6

110.57. Composition, Grades 7 - 12

110.58. Spelling and Vocabulary, Grades 4 - 12