Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts. The student is expected to:

(A) establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts;

(B) generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information;

(C) make, correct, or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures;

(D) create mental images to deepen understanding;

(E) make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society;

(F) make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;

(G) evaluate details read to determine key ideas;

(H) synthesize information to create new understanding; and

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

The new TEKS no longer separate the comprehension skills from the rest of the TEKS. You will no longer find Figure 19.

Instead, those comprehension skills are embedded throughout the 7 ELAR strands.

A) infer basic themes supported by text evidence;

(B) explain the interactions of the characters and the changes they undergo;

(C) analyze plot elements, including the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution; and

(D) explain the influence of the setting, including historical and cultural settings, on the plot.

(A) demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, legends, myths, and tall tales;

(B) explain figurative language such as simile, metaphor, and personification that the poet uses to create images;

(C) explain structure in drama such as character tags, acts, scenes, and stage directions;

(D) recognize characteristics and structures of informational text and (I) argumentative texts

The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.

This strand is the link between reading and writing and some of the student expectations will be tested on STAAR Reading.

The response skills will not be tested as readiness TEKS, but they are essential. 

You will find them in our open-ended tasks. They include making connections, retelling, paraphrasing, summarizing, and using text evidence.