Teacher hub
These pages are original instructional practice. They are not official WIDA or ACCESS scores. Supports can be faded. A completed checklist is student reflection, not a proficiency level.
Speaking tasks
- What the garden beds show
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Describe observations and connect them to growing conditions.
Use: Listen for an observation tied to a condition, not a list of labels only.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Morning sky log
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Describe weather observations in an order a partner can check.
Use: Credit students who limit claims to visible evidence.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- How a seed becomes a plant
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Explain a process in order with cause between steps.
Use: If the order collapses, ask which step cannot happen before the root has water.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Where rain goes in the garden
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Sequence a water path and explain each move.
Use: Listen for a reason at the end, not a list of arrows only.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Pond and desert habitats
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Compare two habitats using shared categories.
Use: A list of two separate descriptions is not yet a comparison.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Two ways across the creek
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Compare two designs using purpose and materials.
Use: The recommendation should name the user, such as a class, not only “I like it.”
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Vegetables or flowers
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · State an opinion and support it with a reason from the garden plan.
Use: If the reason is only “it is pretty,” ask what the class could observe or use.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Silent reading or partner reading
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Justify an opinion about a classroom routine.
Use: Students should not treat a small difference as a final rule for every reader.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Recycling by grade
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Interpret a bar graph without overclaiming.
Use: Praise limits. A cause such as “Grade 5 cares more” is not in the graph.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Birds at the feeder
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Interpret a count table and compare two days.
Use: Students should use the counts, not a general love of birds.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- The empty lot
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Add to a discussion by agreeing, questioning, or offering a new idea.
Use: This is practice for discussion moves, not a class vote that must be won.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Was the library plan fair?
Grades 3-5 · 15 minutes · Discuss a short original scenario using evidence from the text.
Use: Students should cite the posted limit or the effect on other groups, not only say “mean.”
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- A changing shoreline
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Describe a coastal observation and its likely process.
Use: Push back on “the ocean always does this” if the student has only two dates.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Creek water after rain
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Describe test results as observations, not as a final verdict.
Use: Clarity and pH are different evidence. Students should not merge them.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- From question to conclusion
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Explain the order of a scientific investigation.
Use: Listen for the idea that a prediction is not a result.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- How a water sample is tested
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Explain a lab process without skipping a reason.
Use: The key idea is identity of the sample, not memorizing five words.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Two views of the market fire
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Compare two original historical perspectives.
Use: Students should not declare a winner. They should explain selection of details.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Two ways to heat the greenhouse
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Compare two options using the same criteria.
Use: Require the phrase “depends on” so the comparison stays conditional.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Should buses idle at the curb?
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Defend a recommendation with data and a limit.
Use: A strong response cites four of five days and refuses a citywide claim.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- A later start time
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Use a simple data display to support or limit an opinion.
Use: Students who ignore the sample size should revise before the transfer.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Trash counts along the stream
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Interpret data and make a bounded recommendation.
Use: If students recommend “clean everything,” ask which difference was largest.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- A town’s population, 1990 to 2020
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Describe a trend and refuse an unsupported cause.
Use: Remind students the bars are in hundreds: 42 means 4,200. Check that they notice the caption.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- A community budget choice
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Participate by proposing, questioning, and revising.
Use: Score is not the point. Look for a proposal tied to evidence and a real question.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
- Is the conclusion supported?
Grades 6-8 · 15 minutes · Discuss whether a conclusion follows from a method.
Use: Students do not need the word confound. They do need to notice that two things changed.
Supports: three fading frames, a planner, and a typed response if recording is off.
Writing lessons
- A sentence that can stand alone · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Build a sentence with a subject and a verb that names an action.
- Do not leave the weather hanging · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Turn a fragment into a sentence by adding the missing part.
- Because, but, and so in the garden · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Expand one kernel with because, but, and so.
- Expand a habitat sentence · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Use because, but, and so to change the meaning of one sentence.
- A paragraph from the bottle graph · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Order a claim, evidence, and explanation.
- A paragraph about the feeder · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Build a paragraph that groups a change, a number, and a stable fact.
- Explain a process you watched · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Write a short explanation with time order and a closing idea.
- Retell the library problem · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Retell an event in order and end with what the rule was.
- Argue for a garden bed · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Use one piece of garden evidence to support an opinion.
- Argue from the reading chart · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Tie a recommendation to the chart and name a limit.
- Revision detective: fragments · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Find fragments and say why the repair works.
- What changed in the revision · Grades 3-5 · 20 min · Name a specific improvement between two drafts.
- A precise shoreline sentence · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Build a sentence that includes a measurement and a limit.
- Combine two lab notes · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Combine two notes into one sentence without dropping a result.
- Because, but, so in an investigation · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Use because, but, and so to explain a method.
- Expand a cautious claim · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Keep a claim accurate while expanding it.
- A paragraph with a tradeoff · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Order a claim, evidence, a tradeoff, and a limit.
- Paragraph from two measurements · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Arrange measurement, comparison, and limit.
- Explain an investigation · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Write an explanatory paragraph with a fair method.
- Explain two perspectives · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Write an explanatory comparison of two accounts.
- A recommendation from idle times · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Write an argument that uses data and states a limit.
- Argue that a conclusion is too strong · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Use method evidence to challenge a claim.
- Revision detective: a too-strong draft · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Locate an unsupported cause and revise it.
- Compare an early claim and a revised claim · Grades 6-8 · 20 min · Identify how a revision becomes more accurate.