3.7
Knowledge and Skills Statement (Standard Cluster)
The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading
Cluster contents
Student Expectations in This Statement
3.7 is a knowledge and skills statement. These are the student expectations under it.
- 3.7.A
describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts
- 3.7.B
write a response to a literary or informational text that demonstrates an understanding of a text
- 3.7.C
use text evidence to support an appropriate response
- 3.7.D
retell and paraphrase texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order
- 3.7.E
interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating
- 3.7.F
respond using newly acquired vocabulary as appropriate
- 3.7.G
discuss specific ideas in the text that are important to the meaning.
Teacher's field guide
What This Cluster Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students respond to stories and information they read, hear, or view. They explain connections, discuss key ideas, and support their responses with specific details. They retell or paraphrase in order, take notes or annotate, and use new words appropriately.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can accurately retell key events or information in a logical order using original wording. In a short response, the student states an idea, gives a relevant detail, and explains the connection. Notes and annotations identify useful details, unfamiliar words, and meaningful connections.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may share a personal story without explaining how it connects to the source. They may copy a sentence as evidence but never explain what it proves. Retellings may omit key events, change the order, or include opinions instead of the source’s meaning.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short passage and ask: “What idea matters most? Explain it in your own words and include one detail from the passage.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed article, three sticky notes, and labels for connection, key idea, and evidence; have them place and explain each note.
Ask, “Which idea would the text lose the most meaning without?” Students write a claim, one supporting detail, and an explanation.
Play Retell Relay: teams sequence event cards, then each student paraphrases one event without repeating the card’s wording.
Use a school lunch menu or weather report; students annotate key facts, explain one useful detail, and connect it to a daily decision.
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Related Standards
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