Aligned to
Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE)

Based on the work of
Sarah Lupo et al. (2022)

Created by the
GCSS Advocacy Committee

Access Quad Text Sets
for
Elementary Grades
Access Quad Text Sets
for
Middle Grades
Access Quad Text Sets
for
High School Courses

All resources should be fully reviewed prior to student use to verify their appropriateness
for the individual teacher’s classroom and school setting. 

If you are unsure if something is appropriate for your school or district,
check your district guidelines and/or consult with your grade level/department
chair, teacher mentor, or administrator before using the resource. 

Quad Text Set Format

Quad Text Sets are composed of 4 types of texts (Target Texts, Informational Texts, Visual Texts, and Hook Texts) to support discipline-specific learning objectives or content standards.  These texts can utilize multimodal features of visual, audio, or written words to communicate ideas to the reader. 

The framework helps support student learning by building background knowledge of a topic, increasing motivation, and providing reading to learn experiences from a variety of texts. By building Quad Text Sets, teachers can strategically set target goals to enhance student achievement of complex content while also supporting literacy development. 

The TARGET TEXT should be selected first in developing a Quad Text Set.  The other texts in the Quad Text Set should build background knowledge, vocabulary, and skills as foundation for successful understanding of the Target Text. 
The Target Text Should:

  • Support the most complex aspect of the content learning standards
  • Challenge Students
    • May include unfamiliar or abstract vocabulary and ideas
    • Not be so hard that students cannot learn from the material – instead help students utilize headings/definitions of challenging words, etc…
  • Include Primary Sources, Literature, or other challenging text material

The INFORMATIONAL TEXTS should be less challenging than the Target Text and build relevant topic knowledge.  The Informational Texts introduce students to complex topics that will be important for understanding the more challenging Target Text. The Informational Texts should:

  • Focus on the topics, knowledge, vocabulary, and skills students need to successfully understand the target text.
  • Be thoughtfully chosen for the Quad Text Set by keeping the discipline-specific learning objectives in mind.

The VISUAL TEXTS support background knowledge and are similar in function to the Informational texts, but provide visual support for the key vocabulary and context needed for understanding the Target Text. 

The Visual Texts:

  • Include photos, pictures, graphics, maps, or video clips
  • Could possibly include a political cartoon if its complexity does not hinder student acquisition of knowledge.

The HOOK TEXT is either a fictional or nonfictional piece that demonstrates the relevance of the Target Text’s concepts and spark student interest.  The Hook Text may link the historical concept to a more modern situation.  

The Hook Texts:

  • Could include an excerpt from a fictional novel, present-day news article, picture, graph, chart, or video. 
  • Should have some written text elements to support literacy development
  • Could be challenging but should be easier to read and comprehend than the Target Text.