Technology Application Standards

High School 11^th grade English

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by Chapter

§110.31. English Language Arts and Reading, English I (One Credit), Beginning with School Year 2009-2010.

(a)  Introduction.

(1)  The English Language Arts and Reading Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are organized into the following strands: Reading, where students read and understand a wide variety of literary and informational texts; Writing, where students compose a variety of written texts with a clear controlling idea, coherent organization, and sufficient detail; Research, where students are expected to know how to locate a range of relevant sources and evaluate, synthesize, and present ideas and information; Listening and Speaking, where students listen and respond to the ideas of others while contributing their own ideas in conversations and in groups; and Oral and Written Conventions, where students learn how to use the oral and written conventions of the English language in speaking and writing. The standards are cumulative--students will continue to address earlier standards as needed while they attend to standards for their grade. In English I, students will engage in activities that build on their prior knowledge and skills in order to strengthen their reading, writing, and oral language skills. Students should read and write on a daily basis.

(2)  For students whose first language is not English, the students' native language serves as a foundation for English language acquisition.

(A)  English language learners (ELLs) are acquiring English, learning content in English, and learning to read simultaneously. For this reason, it is imperative that reading instruction should be comprehensive and that students receive instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and word attack skills while simultaneously being taught academic vocabulary and comprehension skills and strategies. Reading instruction that enhances ELL's ability to decode unfamiliar words and to make sense of those words in context will expedite their ability to make sense of what they read and learn from reading. Additionally, developing fluency, spelling, and grammatical conventions of academic language must be done in meaningful contexts and not in isolation.

(B)  For ELLs, comprehension of texts requires additional scaffolds to support comprehensible input. ELL students should use the knowledge of their first language (e.g., cognates) to further vocabulary development. Vocabulary needs to be taught in the context of connected discourse so that language is meaningful. ELLs must learn how rhetorical devices in English differ from those in their native language. At the same time English learners are learning in English, the focus is on academic English, concepts, and the language structures specific to the content.

(C)  During initial stages of English development, ELLs are expected to meet standards in a second language that many monolingual English speakers find difficult to meet in their native language. However, English language learners' abilities to meet these standards will be influenced by their proficiency in English. While English language learners can analyze, synthesize, and evaluate, their level of English proficiency may impede their ability to demonstrate this knowledge during the initial stages of English language acquisition. It is also critical to understand that ELLs with no previous or with interrupted schooling will require explicit and strategic support as they acquire English and learn to learn in English simultaneously.

(3)  To meet Public Education Goal 1 of the Texas Education Code, §4.002, which states, "The students in the public education system will demonstrate exemplary performance in the reading and writing of the English language," students will accomplish the essential knowledge, skills, and student expectations in English I as described in subsection (b) of this section.

(4)  To meet Texas Education Code, §28.002(h), which states, "... each school district shall foster the continuation of the tradition of teaching United States and Texas history and the free enterprise system in regular subject matter and in reading courses and in the adoption of textbooks," students will be provided oral and written narratives as well as other informational texts that can help them to become thoughtful, active citizens who appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation.

(Source:http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ch110c.html)

I will use these TEKS stated above as a guideline for creating assignments and activities for my students. I will use the reading and writing portion of the TEKS by assigning class readings and in class writing assignments. These are just two of the basic skills used in the Language Arts/English classroom. I will also assign at least one research assignment, as mentioned in the TEKS, so students will be given the opportunity of a well rounded education in my classroom. Also, as mentioned above, listening and speaking will be an active part of my lessons. In class question and answering sessions will take place frequently throughout lecture and I will encourage students to respond to one another in class discussions.

 I strongly believe that all the TEKS provided above are necessary in the classroom because students need to be engaged in what they are learning. Obviously, in all high school level English courses, students are expected to read passages or books and are taught the basic five-paragraph essay of writing. However, I believe teachers can use these TEKS for more than what is on the surface level. For example, in my classroom I would expand past the five-paragraph essay an better prepare my students for college papers. Also, I would spend time on teaching students how to use research databases, correctly cite sources, and how to properly prepare for then write a research paper. I find these few TEKS very important because I was not properly taught these things in high school and it really caused me to struggle in college, even if I am an English major.