While there is tremendous value in students working at their Lexile level, students still have the challenge of the grade-level text they will see when they work with high-stakes assessments. The Stretch lesson helps with this task- it is an instructional tool that teachers can use to help students build a bank of strategies they can apply when encountering text that is too hard or when faced with words that they don’t know.
The Stretch lesson contains two parts- the article and the activity. Both are available with 5-Step Lessons and appear just after the Write step. Students should have finished the Ready, Read, Respond, Reflect, and Write steps before working with the Stretch components.
It's important to note that direct instruction is recommended to support students with this more rigorous text. Students should not be reading it independently.
Stretch Article
The Stretch article is presented to students after the Write step in a 5-Step lesson. Students will see the same article that they read in the Read step but this time, it will be presented grade level or higher, depending on their current Lexile level.
- Students who are below grade level are stretched to the grade level version.
- Students who at grade level are stretched above grade level.
- Students who are above grade level are stretched above that.
Students can use the information they gained in reading the differentiated version of the lesson as they tackle the more rigorous text of the Stretch article. They also have the opportunity to apply the skills and strategies they have learned as they interact with unknown words.
Use the Teacher Recommendations and Teacher Materials in the Teacher tab to support instruction using the Stretch article. Here, you will find discussion questions at different DOK levels, tips for supporting emerging readers, and tips for helping students prepare for high-stakes assessments.
Stretch Activity
The Stretch activity is a series of multiple-choice questions designed to measure reading comprehension as students engage with the more rigorous text of the Stretch article. These questions do not count towards the Lexile adjustments at the end of each month or towards the goal of 40-activities per semester/80-activities per year targets. These questions are presented above the student's Lexile level and may be very difficult.
Students will see their results immediately after completing the Stretch activity questions. Teachers can view performance and results with the Student Work report by selecting My Lessons > Respond. Be sure to choose All Activities in the Activity Types dropdown.