TEKS ELAR 8.5

8.5 is a knowledge and skills statement. These are the student expectations under it.

• 8.5.A

  establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts

• 8.5.B

  generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information

• 8.5.C

  make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures

• 8.5.D

  create mental images to deepen understanding

• 8.5.E

  make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society

• 8.5.F

  make inferences and use evidence to support understanding

• 8.5.G

  evaluate details read to determine key ideas

• 8.5.H

  synthesize information to create new understanding

• 8.5.I

  monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students decide why they are reading and use questions, predictions, mental images, and connections to build meaning. They find key ideas, make evidence-based inferences, and combine information from multiple texts. They notice confusion and choose a useful repair strategy.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students explain how questions, predictions, connections, and mental images shape their understanding. They identify key ideas, support inferences with evidence, combine information across texts, and change strategies when confused.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may treat predictions as guesses rather than claims based on clues. They may confuse summarizing with combining ideas across texts. They may also rely on personal connections without citing evidence or keep reading when meaning breaks down.

04

How to Assess It

Give students two short linked passages. Ask them to state their purpose, identify a shared key idea, support one inference, and name a strategy for resolving confusion.

1. 01

   Give pairs a cut-up article to sequence, then have them annotate structure clues, key details, predictions, and points of confusion.

2. 02

   Ask students to write: How did your thinking change after the second text, and which details caused that change?

3. 03

   Play Strategy Match: teams pair reading problems with response cards such as reread, question, annotate, visualize, or use background knowledge.

4. 04

   Compare two local news reports on one event, then identify shared facts, differing emphasis, and a conclusion supported by both.

• 4.6

  The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.

• K.5

  The Kindergarten version of this standard.

• 6.5

  The 6th Grade version of this standard.

• 3.6

  The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.