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Online Lessons

A set of lessons students enjoy on learn.thinkcerca.com platform.

Student Guide

A guide for note-taking, discussion, collaboration, and extension activities.

�(orange slides)

Class Presentation

A student-facing presentation you can

edit for a hybrid, fully online, or fully

in-person class.

(blue slides)

Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect

T E A C H E R G U I D E

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Coaching Tip: As fellow teachers, we know you don’t take anything out of the box and use it the way it was handed to you; that’s what makes you an awesome teacher!

We’re with you. Go ahead and Frankenstein this content based on your classroom’s needs.

We made this editable so you can add your touches right into this presentation. We want YOU to make these presentations your own. Again, the choice is yours!

Before you begin, assign the appropriate lessons to your groups. There are a number of student tools suggested along the way. Make copies of those tools to make them editable. Have your students make copies of them based on your copy.

TIPS:

Use the links to preview the content. If you have the time, come back here and go through the entire Teacher Guide.
Been here before? Use this slide as a shortcut to the content you want!

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Why switch to CERCA Slides?

Flexible and resilient literacy routines enable learning in in-person, hybrid, and virtual settings.

Take Daily Lesson Planning Off Your Plate

Save hours of detailed lesson planning each week.

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Let Students Drive Their Learning

Student guides spell out every step, so students can work at their own pace without sacrificing collaboration.

Support SEL in Your Classroom

Build relationships with students to support SEL and calm classrooms.

T E A C H E R G U I D E

Watch this webinar: ThinkCERCA’s Flexible and Resilient Literacy Routines

Make MTSS Doable

Support personalized learning and data sharing across teams in Tier 1 instruction.

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What will students know, understand, and be able to do through this lesson?

Knowledge

How poets use language to explore their communities and environments.

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Understanding

Art and writing can be used to express ideas about and perspectives on our world.

T E A C H E R G U I D E

Skills

Identify key ideas in a poem; explain structural elements and language tools used in poetry.

Close Reading & Writing: Morning

Assign these lessons at learn.thinkcerca.com

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What standards will this lesson help students practice?

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

CCSS

CCSS.CCRA.R.4

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.1; CCSS.RL.5.2; CCSS.RL.5.3; CCSS.RL.5.4; CCSS.RL.5.5

TEKS

TEKS.ELAR.5.6

(F); TEKS.ELAR.5.8

(A); TEKS.ELAR.5.8

(B); TEKS.ELAR.5.9

(B)

CASEL Framework

SEL.Social Awareness.1=Taking others’ perspectives

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect Morning
SKILLS FOCUS	CLOSE READING AND WRITING LESSON
SESSION 1 40 minutes	STEP 1 40 minutes	STEP 2, 3, 4 40 -80 minutes	STEP 5 40-80 minutes	STEP 6 60 minutes
Direct instruction Lesson Check your Comprehension	Overview and Connect	Close Reading Multiple Choice Highlighting and Annotating Summarizing	Build Your Argument	Finalize �Your Draft
Vocabulary Building Cornell Notes	Finding Purpose for Learning Think-Pair-Share	Asking Questions of the Text�Pause and Reflect�Read w/SEL Test Prep Strategy	Pre-Writing Discussion	Peer Editing Writing Reflection Optional Extensions

Morning (You can edit this!)

ThinkCERCA Platform

(Online)

ThinkCERCA Student Guide Tools

(Off-app, optional)

Activities can be completed asynchronously for hybrid or remote learning.

See more sample schedules here! See detailed description of steps here!

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The CERCA slides describe and support the activities for the lesson, split over a skills focus activity and six lesson steps:

The Skills Focus provides a lesson matched to the core focus of the tasks in the close reading or writing lesson (for example, examining "Point of View and Perspective"). Teachers can lead students through the lesson, or have students collaborate to complete lessons.
In Step 1: Connect students make personal connections to the text and share their reflections on the key themes they will explore in the lesson. Then, they generate their own questions that they can explore as they read. This step is critical in social and emotional development and helps to build community.
In Steps 2, 3, and 4 students review the CERCA question. They read closely, answer multiple choice question, and highlight and annotate the text. They also summarize the text.
In Step 5, students review the CERCA question and plan drafts based on the evidence they have found in their close reading. Discussion and collaboration throughout this process clarifies thinking and improves support and organization.
In Step 6, students write their draft. They’ll find their personal connection could make a great hook, and their summary helps them transition to their claim. Then, they can pull the rest of their work over and use more custom sentence stems to flesh out the rest of the essay!

Coaching Tip: Before you begin, assign the appropriate lessons to your groups. There are a number of student tools suggested along the way. To edit a tool, first make a copy. Then, have your students copy your version of the tool.

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Morning

How does the speaker's use of figurative language, such as personification, provide a way to explore the people and places in their community?

Assign this lesson at learn.ThinkCERCA.com

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Morning

How does the speaker's use of figurative language, such as personification, provide a way to explore the people and places in their community?

Date	Focus/Step	On ThinkCERCA (Online)	Student Guide
X/XX	Vocabulary Direct Instruction	Complete the Direct Instruction lesson and check your comprehension	Vocabulary Building Direct Instruction Cornell Notes
X/XX	Step 1: Connect	Read the Topic Overview; Write a brief personal reflection in Connect	Finding Your Purpose for Learning Think-Pair-Share
X/XX	Step 2: Read	Complete a close reading and answer the multiple choice questions	Pause and Reflect Test Prep Strategy (optional)
X/XX	Step 3: Engage with the Text	Highlight and annotate the text	Highlight and Annotate
X/XX	Step 4: Summarize	Write your summary	Write a Summary
X/XX	Step 5: Build an Argument	Develop your claim, evidence, and reasoning	Collaborate: Share your argument builder
X/XX	Step 6: Create your CERCA	Complete final draft	Peer Editing Activity�Writing Reflection
X/XX	Extension Activities	Various	Activity: Observing Your Surroundings (optional) Inquiry to Research (optional)

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Fill in the boxes to map a vocabulary word from the reading.

V O C A B U L A R Y B U I L D I N G

Map a Word

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Direct Instruction

Student Guide

Complete Cornell Notes: Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect

learn.thinkcerca.com

Complete “Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect” lesson
Check Your Comprehension

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See Synchronous Lesson Tips and Asynchronous Below

Talking Point: As we begin our study, we’ll start with a focus on skills. In this lesson, we will focus on developing your skills as a critical reader and writer.

Synchronous (30-40 minutes)

Coaching Tip: Students will need at least 15 minutes to complete the audio-supported lesson independently.

Provide the Cornell Notes for students to take notes.

You’ll need to make your own copy of the organizer if you want to further tailor it to your students’ needs.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: You can project the lesson and the organizer and complete the first part of the graphic organizer with the first 3 slides.
We Do It: Have students work with you to complete the next three slides, taking notes in the organizer.
You Do It Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete the rest of the lesson.
You Do It Alone: Individually, each student summarizes their learning and completes the quiz in ThinkCERCA.

Coaching Tip: Collect answers from students and record them on a Class Copy of the Student Guide of the Cornell Notes. This can be used for later reference as a digital anchor chart and provided for diverse learners who need additional support.

Asynchronous Model:

You Do It Alone: Whether you introduce the lesson in a brief in class overview or not, individually, each student can review the lesson with audio support, summarize their learning, and complete the quiz in ThinkCERCA.

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Take notes on the Direct Instruction lesson online.
Summarize the central ideas of the lesson.

D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect

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Step 1: Connect

Student Guide

Complete Finding Your Purpose for Learning
Complete Think-Pair-Share

learn.thinkcerca.com

Read Topic Overview
Complete Connect Quick Write

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Coaching Tip: Have students read the Overview and complete the Finding Your Purpose for Learning reflection in the Student Guide. You’ll need to make your own copy of the Student Guide if you want to further tailor the document to your students’ needs and create a class master copy to use with diverse learners who may require note-taking accommodations.

Optional Coaching Tip: If this is the first time students have learned how to generate questions before reading the text, you can model the process with them. After reading the Overview, have the students complete the Finding Your Purpose For Learning section of the Student Guide using the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: You can share questions you have about the essay, the author, etc.
We Do It: Have students work with you to generate a list of questions, taking notes in the organizer.
You Do It: Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to generate more questions together.
You Do It: Alone: Individually, have each student generate questions.

Talking Point: Engaging with text is really all about connecting text to one’s self, to others, and to the world. As we continue to build our community of learning together, it’s important to take time to learn more about each other and discover your own purpose for learning. Complete the Connect step of the lesson. Pair with another to share your experiences and use the Think-Pair-Share worksheet to support your collaboration.

Students will need 10 minutes to share and collaborate before the larger group debrief if you choose to bring the whole class together for a discussion.

Coaching Tip: Provide the Student Guide after this Connect step has been completed. Students will need at least 3-5 minutes to

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: You can share questions you have about the essay, the author, etc. Use the optional slides that follow to guide the experience of questioning the text.
We Do It: Have students work with you to generate a list of questions, taking notes in the organizer.
You Do It: Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to generate more questions together.
You Do It: Alone: Individually, have each student generate questions.

Asynchronous Model:

You Do It Alone: Individually, have each student read the Overview, generate questions using the Finding Your Purpose for Learning section of the Student Guide, and complete the Connect step.

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S T E P 1 : O V E R V I E W

Finding Your Purpose for Learning

Read the “Overview” in Step 1 at thinkcerca.com
Answer the questions on the page.

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S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Think-Pair-Share

Follow the instructions on the page to complete the quick writing activity.
Pair and Share with a peer.
Reflect on your conversation.

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Step 2: Read

Student Guide

Complete Pause and Reflect
Test Prep Strategy (optional)

learn.thinkcerca.com

Read (with audio support and in-text vocab)
Answer multiple-choice questions

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Coaching Tip: Students will need at least 30 minutes to complete the reading. “Pause and Reflect” Questions appear throughout the text. Students can use the annotation tool to write answers to these questions. You may choose to have students work together and to collaborate in discussion around the Pause and Reflect prompts using the Student Guide. Each of these questions is designed to help students make disciplinary and personal connections to the text.

Coaching Notes: To incorporate test preparation into your everyday great instruction, you can ask students to complete an activity to help them acquire test-taking skills. See the Student Guide for the specific activity.

Asynchronous Model:

Preview the essay with students, pointing out the “Pause and Reflect” questions. Encourage students to independently read the essay at their own pace and to use the annotation tools to actively read and respond to the questions.

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Pause and Reflect

Follow the instructions on the page to read and answer reflection questions.
Record and share reflections connecting the text to self, to other texts, and to the world.

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Test Prep Strategy: Summarizing a Text (optional)

Follow the instructions on the page to use the SOAPSTone strategy to summarize a poem.

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Step 3: Engage with the Text

learn.thinkcerca.com

Highlight and Annotate the Text

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Student Guide

Complete Highlight and Annotate

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Coaching Note: If students are learning highlighting, annotation, and other disciplinary literacy strategies for the first time, they can benefit from many times “at-bat,” and the modeling and guidance that the gradual release of responsibility model provides. Here is a sample script of what that might look like.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: Project the reading. Follow the highlighting and annotation prompts in the first paragraph, providing a think-aloud that explains why you are selecting a piece of the text and what you think when you read it. “I am highlighting ...;” “I am going to add a note that explains that...makes me think...,” etc.
We Do It: Have students work with you to complete the next paragraph, taking notes in the text in the teacher preview.
You Do It Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete the next several paragraphs or the rest of the lesson.
You Do It Alone (options): Students can continue highlighting and annotating for the last several paragraphs.

Asynchronous Model:

You Do It Alone (options): After observing teacher modeling, students can independently highlight and annotate the remainder of the text.

Alternatively, after highlighting, each student can demonstrate their own achievement by summarizing the reading in Step 4. If they haven’t already completed it, they can also complete the quiz in Step 2 in ThinkCERCA.

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S T E P 3 : E N G A G E W I T H T H E T E X T

Highlight and Annotate

Follow the instructions to closely analyze the text to find evidence for your writing.

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Step 4: Summarize

learn.thinkcerca.com

Summarize the Reading

View in Think CERCA

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Student Guide

Complete Write a Summary

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S T E P 4 : S U M M A R I Z E

Write a Summary

Follow the instructions to complete Step 4: Summarize.

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Step 5: Build an Argument

Student Guide

Complete Collaborate: Share your Argument Builder

learn.thinkcerca.com

Build Your Argument

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Coaching Note: The planning step involves a solo or collaborative experience of outlining an argument. Developing a draft claim is the first step. Students then support the claim with reasons, and provide evidence to support their reasoning. After students present a supporting reason+evidence, they should also include an explanation of how the evidence links back to the reason, making their thinking visible. Together the reason-evidence-reasoning sandwiches make up the supporting paragraphs in an argument.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: Project the argument-builder step in the teacher preview. Show the claim stem in the Claim box.
We Do It: Have students work with you to complete the sample claim stem. Then ask contributors to improve the claim by making it more specific or general as needed and encourage students to use more formal language to capture the specific and debatable ideas they have about the essay’s structure.
You Do It Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete the rest of the argument building or the rest of the lesson, analyzing the major ideas of the text and the details the author uses to support them. Remind students they can arrange and rearrange the argument as they go. Encourage students to test their ideas and share throughout the drafting process.
You Do It Alone (options): Students can refine their final argument during the actual formal drafting step in the lesson.

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S T E P 5 : B U I L D A N A R G U M E N T

Collaborate: Share your Argument Builder

Follow the instructions to begin building your argument in Step 5.
Collaborate with others to share reasons, evidence, and reasoning.

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Step 6: Create your CERCA

Student Guide

Complete Peer Editing Activity
Complete Writing Reflection
Activity: Observing Your Surroundings (optional)
Inquiry to Research (optional)

learn.thinkcerca.com

Create Your CERCA
Complete the self-assessment in the Rubric section of step 6

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Coaching Note: The final step involves creating a fully fleshed out draft. Student will drop their argument builder outlines into the draft space and use sentence starters to fully flesh out the ideas of their more formal piece of writing.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: Project the contents of an argument-builder step in the teacher preview. Drop the outline into the text box. Model how you move from a single statement to a full introduction. You might begin by using the personal connect as a hook and the summary as a transition in order to develop an introduction with significance and a strong claim. Show students how to build the argument’s support using the reason->evidence->reasoning approach, so each point is stated in the reason, supported by evidence, and has a reasoning statement that links the evidence to the overall paragraph and/or argument.
We Do It: Have students work with you to complete an introduction and or a support together.
You Do It Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete another supporting section.. Encourage students to test their ideas and share throughout the drafting process.
You Do It Alone (options): Students can refine their final argument on their own before engaging in peer editing.

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Peer Editing Activity

Follow the instructions to Create your CERCA.
Evaluate your work using the rubric.
Discuss your work with peers.
Revise your piece.

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Writing Reflection

Follow the prompts to reflect on your writing experience.

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Optional Extensions

The following activities can be used as optional extensions to this lesson.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : A C T I V I T Y

Activity: Observing Your Surroundings

Use the research activity to dig deeper into a related subject, to ask questions of the topic at hand.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts

Discover how asking questions about author, audience, context, and concepts can lead to greater understanding of a text. This will help you become a critical consumer of information.

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Visual Teacher’s Guide

What does a day and a week look like?

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

S K I L L S F O C U S

Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect

Teachers can lead students through the lesson, or have students collaborate to complete lessons.�(Optional Gradual Release of Responsibility Scripts included.)

Skills Instruction ~ 30-45 minutes

A lesson matched to the core focus of the tasks in the close reading or writing lesson.

Student Guide

Cornell Notes: Choosing Words and Punctuation for Effect

learn.thinkcerca.com

Teacher introduces lesson
Students work independently
Whole class review

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See Synchronous Lesson Tips and Asynchronous Below

Talking Point: As we begin our study, we’ll start with a focus on skills. In this lesson, we will focus on developing your skills as a critical reader and writer.

Synchronous (30-40 minutes)

Coaching Tip: Students will need at least 15 minutes to complete the audio-supported lesson independently.

Provide the Cornell Notes for students to take notes.

You’ll need to make your own copy of the organizer if you want to further tailor it to your students’ needs.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: You can project the lesson and the organizer and complete the first part of the graphic organizer with the first 3 slides.
We Do It: Have students work with you to complete the next three slides, taking notes in the organizer.
You Do It Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete the rest of the lesson.
You Do It Alone: Individually, each student summarizes their learning and completes the quiz in ThinkCERCA.

Coaching Tip: Collect answers from students and record them on a Class Copy of the Student Guide of the Cornell Notes. This can be used for later reference as a digital anchor chart and provided for diverse learners who need additional support.

Asynchronous Model:

You Do It Alone: Whether you introduce the lesson in a brief in class overview or not, individually, each student can review the lesson with audio support, summarize their learning, and complete the quiz in ThinkCERCA.

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

S T E P 1

Overview and Connect

Students make personal connections to the text and share their reflections on the key themes they will explore in the lesson. Then they generate their own questions that they can explore as they read. This step is critical in social and emotional development and helps to build community.

Close Reading ~ 30-40 minutes

Morning

Overview and Connect

Student Guide

Finding Your Purpose
Think-Pair-Share

learn.thinkcerca.com

Overview
Connect

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Coaching Notes: The time you spend on community building is time invested in student engagement and social and emotional learning. We strongly encourage you to do both of these steps, as research shows that determining your own purpose of learning and Think-Pair-Share are research-based best practices that increase student achievement.

Coaching Tip: Have students read the Overview and complete the Finding Your Purpose for Learning reflection in the Student Guide. You’ll need to make your own copy of the Student Guide if you want to further tailor the document to your students’ needs and create a class master copy to use with diverse learners who may require note-taking accommodations.

Optional Coaching Tip: If this is the first time students have learned how to generate questions before reading the text, you can model the process with them. After reading the Overview, have the students complete the Finding Your Purpose For Learning section of the Student Guide using the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:

I Do It: You can share questions you have about the essay, the author, etc.
We Do It: Have students work with you to generate a list of questions, taking notes in the organizer.
You Do It: Together: Have students work in pairs or small groups to generate more questions together.
You Do It: Alone: Individually, have each student generate questions.

Talking Point: Engaging with text is really all about connecting text to one’s self, to others, and to the world. As we continue to build our community of learning together, it’s important to take time to learn more about each other and discover your own purpose for learning. Complete the Connect step of the lesson. Pair with another student to share your experiences. Use the Think-Pair-Share worksheet to support your collaboration. Students will need 10 minutes to share and collaborate before the larger group debrief if you choose to bring the whole class together for a discussion.

Coaching Tip: Provide the Student Guide after this Connect step has been completed. Students will need at least 3-5 minutes to begin the Think-Pair-Share. An optional whole class debrief is a great way to set up a focus on themes and allow you to transition into the reading.

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

S T E P S 2, 3, 4

Read, Engage with the Text, and Summarize

Students review the CERCA question. They read closely, highlighting, annotating, and

answering multiple choice questions. They also summarize the text.

Close Reading ~ 30-40 minutes

Morning

Read, Engage with the Text, and Summarize

Student Guide

Compete Pause and Reflect
Test Prep Strategy (optional)
Complete Highlight and Annotate
Complete Write a Summary

learn.thinkcerca.com

Read (with audio support and in-text vocab)
Answer multiple choice questions
Highlight and annotate
Summarize

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Coaching Note: The reading, highlighting and annotating and summarizing steps are all about deepening learning and critical thinking. Needless to say, there are many great opportunities to practice comprehension and disciplinary literacy skills. Some teachers have students wait until they have done the highlighting and annotating and even summarizing before they have the students answer multiple-choice questions.

Coaching Tip: Students will need at least 30 minutes to complete the reading. “Pause and Reflect” Questions appear throughout the text. Students can use the annotation tool to write answers to these questions. You may choose to have students work together and to collaborate in discussion around the Pause and Reflect prompts using the Student Guide. Each of these questions is designed to help students make disciplinary and personal connections to the text.

Coaching Notes: To incorporate test preparation into your everyday great instruction, you can ask students to complete an activity in which they predict the correct response. See Test Prep Strategy in the Student Guide.

Asynchronous Model:

Preview the essay with students, pointing out the “Pause and Reflect” questions. Encourage students to independently read the essay at their own pace and to use the annotation tools to actively read and respond to the questions.

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

S T E P 5

Build an Argument

Students review the CERCA question and plan drafts based on the evidence they have found in their close reading. Discussion and collaboration throughout this process clarifies thinking and improves support and organization.

Critical Thinking ~ 40-80 minutes

Morning

Build an Argument

Student Guide

Pre-Writing Discussion

learn.thinkcerca.com

Build an argument
Pull evidence and reasoning from highlighting and annotation

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Coaching Note: At this point, students can begin planning their own essay. Chatting with peers will allow them to test their thoughts, challenge each other to consider alternative viewpoints, and engage in the deeper learning that is the hallmark of critical thinking. You may want your students to research additional sources. Use the Inquiry to Research handout to delve deeper.

Have students discuss their drafts. There are several possible options.

Have students collaborate to find evidence.
Have students work independently for 15 minutes or more, then pair up to compare.
Have students generate at least one counterargument for each other to encourage discussion and critical thinking. You can determine later when or not you want students to include the counterargument in their final piece.

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T E A C H E R G U I D E

S T E P 6

Create Your CERCA

In the final step, students will find their personal connection could make a great hook, and their summary

helps them transition to their claim. Then they can pull the rest of their work over and use more

custom sentence stems to flesh out the rest of the essay!

Writing ~ 40 minutes

Morning

Create Your CERCA