Do you ever sit and wonder what you’re going to teach next or what texts would pair well with your class novel? That used to be me. As in: Waste half of my 40-minute planning period trying to find the best grade-level texts for whatever unit we were on.
When you FINALLY find that perfect text, there is normally a problem: How in the world will my low readers understand this?!?
Enter, paired passages. I started creating my own paired passages after my amazing literacy coach modeled how to use them in the classroom. However, I was teaching sixth grade ELA at a PreK-6th school, and all of her examples were waaaay too kiddie for my kiddos to enjoy or even learn from.
So, I made my own! I started by looking at my curriculum map and figuring out the informational nonfiction topics that would help my students build their background knowledge. It quickly morphed into paired passages carrying the weight of 99% of my review and small group instruction.
Did I say SMALL GROUPS? In middle school? YES!
Paired passages changed the game for me in my small groups. I finally had differentiated passages that worked with my units and novels AND built-in comprehension practice with writing. The kids stopped dreading coming to my small group table because they knew they would actually learn something.
So, how do you start with paired passages? Here are some easy steps:
#1: FIGURE OUT YOUR GAPS
Are you teaching Greek mythology but your students have no clue where Greece is? Or what a myth is? You just found a gap.
Start identifying these gaps and sourcing material to teach about those topics. I would recommend always having one nonfiction text in the pair. Studies show students who comprehend nonfiction texts can typically comprehend fiction texts on the same (or more difficult levels).
In the second part of the pairing, identify something that would further enhance their understanding. For instance, if your first text is: “Where is Greece, and Why Should I Care?” you could enhance that knowledge with an article about Ancient Greece or the History of the Olympic Games. I always like to have a student-interest piece in there to make students enjoy learning about that topic even more.
BEFORE STEP 2, I’LL ADDRESS A MAJOR GAP: GROWTH MINDSET. STUDENTS SIMPLY STRUGGLE WITH POSITIVE THINKING. GRAB THIS FULL PDF/SLIDES FREEBIE ABOUT GROWTH MINDSET, AND SEE HOW I ORGANIZE MY PAIRED PASSAGES, QUESTIONS, AND WRITING PROMPTS!
#2: FIGURE OUT YOUR GROUPS
Maybe you already have small groups rocking in your classroom. Go, you! If so, paired texts will only enhance what you already have going on. If not, spend some time forming your groups. A “group” option for paired passages is always “whole-group.” Yep. See what I did there? Even though paired texts work amazingly well in small groups, they benefit the entire class, so use them as Tier 1 instruction!
#3: DIFFERENTIATION
Now, take those passages we talked about in Step 1, and tweak them a little to work for your students on lower reading levels. OR beef them up with more academic language for your gifted and/or honors learners. I typically go with three levels, but create as many as you feel like you need in your class. Trust me, I know how wide the disparity can be.
#4: EXTEND WITH QUESTIONS
While simply reading, annotating, and discussing the passages can help your students immensely, creating questions can go a step further. If you have time to create questions, go for it! But, you can always use AI (gasp!) to help you, too. You’ve already done all of the work, just let AI help you jump that last hurdle.
Copy and paste your passages into a site like ChatGPT, and ask it to do the work for you. Do you want more Level 3 DOK questions, ask for them! Use a prompt like this to work with AI: Using these two passages, create 10 comprehension questions that will make students think critically. Mostly Level 3 & Level 4 DOK.
If you don’t like the questions, you’ve only lost about 12 seconds of your time, and you can always edit them! Chances are, you’ll have 7/10 questions that are super high quality.
#5: WRITING (MY FAVORITE PART!)
Now is the time to milk paired passages for all they’re worth. Link your writing instruction WITH what you’re reading. If you’re reviewing narrative, write a narrative prompt that blends information from those two passages and requires students to use info to write. For example: “Imagine you are a Greek athlete in an ancient Olympic event. Use sensory language to describe your setting, and develop the plot of the games with suspense techniques.” Students typically don’t dread these prompts because they feel super prepared for them. I get my highest level of buy-in when I offer them these prompts.
GO FOR THE GOLD!
You can completely use this strategy for your entire year of curriculum. Or if you’re like I’ve been and you don’t have a curriculum, you can utilize every element of paired passages and create an amazing comprehensive reading and writing pattern for your students. If you use paired passages with fidelity (Not boring ones! Make sure you use student interest and high-interest topics!), you will see students enter an ELA flow that blows your mind.
I hope these tips help as you work to engage the middle school minds in your classroom <3
I already have paired passages that I use in my personal 7th grade classroom. 40 passages in all, organized monthly from August to December! Click to try it out to see if you like it, or start with this freebie that is all about GROWTH MINDSET (something every middle schooler could benefit from!).
Much love, and happy teaching!
Madison (from The Classroom Hunt)