7.1.B
The Standard
follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students listen to a sequence with several steps, conditions, and details, then carry it out in the right order. They also give clear spoken directions that others can use to complete a task or solve a problem.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students complete several spoken steps in the correct order without repeated reminders. They can restate the sequence, ask a useful clarifying question, and give complete directions another student can follow.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may remember the actions but complete them out of order. They may miss conditions such as “before,” “unless,” or “after,” or give vague directions that leave out needed details.
How to Assess It
- Give each student a blank index card and say once, “Write today’s date in the upper left, draw a triangle below it, then turn the card over and write what the second step was.” Check the card and listen as each student repeats the full sequence to a partner.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Run a paper-folding challenge where pairs follow six spoken steps, then switch roles and give a new folding sequence.
Ask, “How would you guide a classmate through a missed-assignment problem?” Partners explain, paraphrase, and question unclear steps.
Play Barrier Drawing: one student describes a hidden geometric design, while a partner draws it without seeing or interrupting.
Have students give spoken directions from the classroom to the nurse’s office, including landmarks, turns, and what to do if a hallway is closed.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 5.1.B
follow, restate, and give oral instructions that include multiple action steps;
- 2.1.B
follow, restate, and give oral instructions that involve a short, related sequence of actions;
- 8.1.B
follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems;
- 6.1.B
follow and give oral instructions that include multiple action steps;
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