38 SRA FLEX LITERACY ™ IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE
Key Elements of Differentiated Instruction
Individualized Instruction
Individualized Instruction activities connect student performance in The Digital
Experience with additional support during The Print Experience. When a student fails to
achieve mastery in a skill in The Digital Experience, the teacher receives an automatic
notification of a specific Individualized Instruction activity for the student in that skill.
Individualized Instruction activities are located in Differentiated Instruction Resources
and also available for printing in FLEXWorks.
Mastery Checks
In Bands A and B, students may struggle with reading skills. To scaffold assessment, the
teacher is prompted to print the Mastery Checks and conduct the assessments orally.
Critical Thinking Applications
Critical Thinking Applications (CTAs) help students connect their work in The Digital
Experience to the selections in The Print Experience by promoting generalization of
skills and linking to further connected text. Assignment of CTAs is determined and
presented within FLEXWorks and includes activities based on students’ most recently
mastered skills in The Digital Experience. Most CTA activities are designed to be
applied to any Print Experience selection. As a result of this design, students within a
particular group may be assigned different CTAs, but they will apply those CTAs to the
same Print Experience selection. Specific CTAs are available for informational text,
drama, poetry, and speech. CTAs are located in Assessment Resources and also
available for printing in FLEXWorks.
Independent Reading
The SRA FLEX Literacy™ Tradebook Library supports students’ independent reading of
level-appropriate but increasingly complex texts. The high-interest books in the
Tradebook Library comprise a variety of literature and informational text selections that
conform to the program’s Lexile® measure ranges. The diverse selections provide
shorter, challenging texts that allow for close reading and rereading as well as
extended full-length texts for broader and enriching literary opportunities. Summaries
of the books, Lexiles®, graphic organizers that can be used with the books, reading
logs, suggestions for organizing individualized reading goals, and guidance for
implementing the Tradebook Library to strengthen student reading skills are all
available in FLEXWorks to support instruction.
Decodable Reader
The SRA FLEX Literacy™ Decodable Reader provides additional practice for beginning
readers who need extra support to develop automaticity and to practice fluency.
Students read these engaging, level-appropriate decodable text selections individually
or in small groups, depending on student need. Teachers administer this instruction on
Days 1, 4, and 5 of The Print Experience during Differentiated Instruction time. Connecting
Mastery Check administration to decodable text selections ensures that these students
will have the necessary skills to read decodable text with a high degree of success.