GRADUATE Cycle Awareness
These questions verify that students understand where they are in the weekly learning cycle.
"What step of GRADUATE are you on today?"Students should name the correct stage for the day: Gather/Reveal (Day 1), Attempt (Day 2), Discuss/Use (Day 3), Award/Target (Day 4), or Educate and Explain (Day 5).
"What did you do yesterday in writing, and how does today connect to it?"Verifies that students experience the GRADUATE cycle as a connected weekly progression, not isolated daily activities.
"Can you tell me what GRADUATE stands for?"Students should be able to name: Gather, Reveal, Attempt, Discuss, Use, Award, Target, Educate and Explain.
Thesis (Central Idea) and Writing Structure
These questions check whether students understand how to build a written response.
"What is a thesis (central idea)?"Students should describe it as the main point of their writing. Listen for the full term "thesis (central idea)," not just "thesis" alone.
"Can you show me where the thesis (central idea) is in your writing?"Students should point to a specific sentence. For SCR, it is the first of exactly three sentences.
"What color do you use for your thesis (central idea) and reasons?"Expected answer: green. Evidence = yellow. Explanation = red or pink. Significance = blue.
"How many sentences are in a short constructed response?"Expected answer: exactly three. Thesis (central idea), evidence, explanation. No introduction, no conclusion.
Writing Frameworks
Ask these questions based on the cluster being taught. Students should know the framework by name and be able to explain its parts.
"What framework are you using for your writing today?"Students should name the active framework: TREES (ECR), CREATURES (argument), TRAILS (narrative), or another cluster-specific framework.
"What does TREES stand for?" (ECR clusters)
Thesis, Reasons or Ways, Evidence, Explanation, Significant Inferencing.
"What does CREATURES stand for?" (argument clusters)
Claim, Reasons, Evidence, Argument, Thinking, Understanding Others (counterargument), Rebuttal, Ending, Significance.
"What does TRAILS stand for?" (narrative clusters)
Topic, Relationships, Actions/Thoughts/Dialogue, Important Moment, Lesson or Lasting Effect, Setting.
"When you pick evidence, how do you know it is good evidence? What does CSI help you check?"C = Connects to the prompt. S = Supports the thesis (central idea). I = you can Infer more ideas from it. CSI is a selection tool for choosing the best evidence.
"What kinds of explanations have you learned about?"Students should name types from DEEP FACTS: Definition, Example and Illustration, Expert Testimony, Process/Step-by-Step, Facts and Statistics, Analogy, Comparison and Contrast, Tipping Point (Cause and Effect), Story/Anecdote. Not all are taught in every cluster; they are introduced progressively.
TRACKS Reading Annotation
Ask students about the passage they are reading.
"What does TRACKS help you do when you read?"Students should explain that TRACKS is for annotating/highlighting evidence in passages using six categories.
"Can you show me the TRACKS categories in your passage?"T = Time (green), R = Reactions (purple), A = Actions (yellow), C = Character/Concept/Creature (yellow), K = Key Details (blue), S = Setting (pink).
"Which paragraphs in your passage have the strongest evidence for your thesis (central idea)?"Verifies that students read with a purpose and can locate evidence tied to their thesis (central idea), not just highlight randomly.
Vocabulary
Check whether vocabulary instruction is reaching students.
"Can you tell me a Tier 2 or Tier 3 word you learned this week?"Students should name a word from the current module's vocabulary list and give a student-friendly meaning.
"Can you use that word in a sentence?"The oral rehearsal frames provide fill-in-the-blank sentence structures. Students should be comfortable using new words in context.
Thinking Levels
Check whether students are aware of their own growth in thinking.
"What thinking level is your writing at right now?"Students should reference one of the five RPLD Thinking Levels: Foundational, Emergent, Visible, Independent, or Reflective. The level describes the thinking, not the student.
"What would your writing look like at the next thinking level?"Students should be able to articulate what growth looks like. This shows the teacher is using the thinking levels as a growth tool, not just a label.