Scan a quick list of the current sets by clicking on the button below. New sets added each semester, so check back frequently!

Text Sets: What & Why?

Text Sets support ALL learners, especially those with background knowledge or vocabulary deficits, by building up these domains with a volume of reading focused on the same topic or concept.

Text Sets (a.k.a. Playlists or Expert Packs) are designed to lead students through effective reading of challenging texts by intentional sequencing, evaluating text complexity, posing relevant essential questions, and designing engaging activities with supports built in for struggling readers.
Second-grade teacher Gabrielle Yeckering provides a description of the WHAT and WHY of Text Sets. Gabrielle's text set "Communities and Schools" can be found HERE.
Teacher Voices
Library Media Specialist Gina Daily and Kindergarten teacher Anna Settle share their experiences. Find their "Five Senses" text set HERE
Fourth grade teachers Anne Pickens and Jill Mayfield describe what worked and ways they modified their set. Find their "Fish in a Tree" text set HERE.
Middle school special education teacher Eran Bosley and eighth-grade teacher Tricia Milburn discuss their co-teaching experience. Find their text set "Coming of Age" with anchor text The Outsiders HERE.
High school English teacher Misty Dilback and special education teacher Tonya Dean note connections students made--and failed to make--in their text set "Heroes in Society" found HERE.
Findings in Support of Text Sets for Instruction
"Why We're Teaching Reading Comprehension in a Way that Doesn't Work," by Natalie Wexler, Forbes, 2019

"The Problem with 'Finding the Main Idea'," by David Steiner and Jacqueline Magee, Learning First, 2019

"The Opportunity Myth", The New Teacher Project, 2018

"Why American Schools Haven't Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years," by Natalie Wexler, The Atlantic, 2018

"Why Doesn't Every Teacher Know the Research on Reading Instruction?" by Susan Pimentel, Education Week, 2018

"Three Myths about Reading Levels," by Paula J. Schwanenflugel and Nancy Flanagan Knapp, Psychology Today, 2017