Back-to-School Middle School ELA: What to Diagnose Before You Teach Anything

1. What to Diagnose Before You Teach Anything

1. The Goal Is Not to Diagnose Everything

2. Why Starting With a Diagnostic Is More Than a Good Teacher Habit

3. What to Diagnose Before You Teach Your First Major Unit

1. 1. Can Students Determine the Central Idea?

2. 2. Can Students Use Text Evidence to Support an Answer?

3. 3. Can Students Make an Inference Without Guessing?

4. 4. Can Students Use Vocabulary in Context?

5. 5. Can Students Summarize Without Retelling Everything?

6. 6. Can Students Explain Their Thinking in Writing?

4. How to Give a Diagnostic Without Increasing Student Anxiety

5. Consider Recording the Diagnostic as a Completion Grade

6. Give Students Enough Structure to Show What They Know

7. Use the Results to Plan for Each Class, Not Just the Grade Level

8. Create an Individual Diagnostic Snapshot for Every Student

9. Use the Results to Plan, Not Label

10. Frequently Asked Questions About Beginning-of-Year Middle School ELA Diagnostics

1. Should a beginning-of-year ELA diagnostic be graded?

2. How long should a middle school ELA diagnostic take?

3. What should a middle school ELA diagnostic assess?

4. How should teachers use beginning-of-year diagnostic data?

5. Should every class receive the same instruction after a diagnostic?

11. Start the Year With Clarity, Not Guesswork

12. Get the Free 6th Grade ELA Snapshot Diagnostic

13. Related Middle School ELA Support

14. Coming Soon: Skill-by-Skill Support for the Diagnostic

15. Research and References

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Back-to-School Middle School ELA: What to Diagnose Before You Teach Anything

Debra Shepherd
22 minute read

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