ELA-CCSS: Text Complexity in Upper Elementary Grades - TextProject
CCSS in ELA/Literacy: Shifts in Thinking and Instruction
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CCSS in ELA / Literacy: Shifts in Thinking and Instruction NWEA Seminar June2012 Sue Beers
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CCSS in ELA/Literacy: Shifts in Thinking and Instruction Sue Beers, Director, Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium, IA Fusion 2012, the NWEA summer conference in Portland, Oregon The Common Core State Standards call for important shifts in thinking and instruction in order to adequately prepare students to be college and career ready and to prepare students for the new testing that is based on the Common Core. This session will focus on the key shifts in literacy instruction and how it will impact teaching and learning. Learning outcome: - Understand the instructional shifts inherent in the CCSS for ELA / Literacy. - Identify resources and tools for helping staff make the transition to the CCSS. Audience: - New data user - Experienced data user - Advanced data user - District leadership - Curriculum and Instruction MISIC is a consortium of approximately 160 school districts in Iowa, focused on developing tools and resources to help improve student achievement.
Transcript of CCSS in ELA/Literacy: Shifts in Thinking and Instruction
CCSS in ELA / Literacy: Shifts in Thinking and Instruction
NWEA Seminar June2012
Sue Beers
Common Core: A Fast Timeline
June 2009
Beginning of CCSS Initiative
March 2010
K-12 Draft Released for Public Comment
June 2010
Formal Release of K-12 CCSS
Dec. 2011
46 States Have Adopted CCSS
2014 - 2015
Participating States Administer New CCSS Assessments
Implementation is NOW!
Green Flags & Red Flags for Implementation
The Common Core State Standards for ELA / Literacy
STANDARDS FOR
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
&
LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES,
SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS
JUNE 2010 www.corestandards.org
Design and Organization
Three main sections
K-5 (cross-disciplinary) 6-12 English Language Arts 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects
Design and Organization
Three appendices
A: Research and evidence; glossary of key terms
B: Reading text exemplars; sample performance tasks
C: Annotated student writing samples
Key Design Considerations: ELA
• Define year-end expectations leading to CCR
• Focus on results rather than means
• Integrated model of literacy
• Research and media skills integrated
• Shared responsibility for literacy
• Focus and coherence in instruction and assessment.
What is NOT in the Standards…
• How teachers should teach
• All that can or should be taught
• Advanced work beyond the core
• Interventions for students well below grade level
• Full range of support for ELL and spec needs
• Everything needed to be CCR
ELA Major Shifts
–Shift to higher-level thinking skills
–Increasing focus on informational text
–Not coverage, but depth and focus: RIGOR
–Writing about texts, citing sources
SHIFT 1: Building Knowledge by Balancing Informational and Literary Texts
SEE
Scientific and historical texts are given the same time and weight as literary text.
Informational text in elementary comprise 50% of text used in ELA, science, social studies and the arts; in middle school, informational texts comprise 55%; in high school, informational text comprise at least 70%.
Informational texts are selected to help students deepen their understanding of topics and themes over time.
NOT SEE
Literature is the sole or vast majority of text used in ELA classes.
All or majority of text is narrative in structure.
Texts do not logically develop learning about a specific topic or theme.
Reading Framework for NAEP 2009
Grade Literary Informational
4 50% 50%
8 45% 55%
12 30% 70% [email protected]
INFORMATIONAL Text
Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts
• Biographies and autobiographies
• Books about history, social studies, science, and the arts
• Technical texts, including directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps
• Digital sources on a range of topics
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf
Sample Performance Tasks for Informational Texts: English Language Arts
Students determine the point of view of John Adams in his “Letter on Thomas Jefferson” and analyze how he distinguishes his position from an alternative approach articulated by Thomas Jefferson. [RI.7.6]
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf p. 92
Read like a detective! • Use clues / evidence from text • Make non-trivial inferences based on that evidence • Use information from multiple sources within or between text to make arguments
SHIFT 2: Content Area Literacy 6-12 SEE
All content area teachers explicitly teach reading and writing strategies essential to learning and communicating their discipline.
Students are asked questions that give them the opportunity to share evidence from text.
Activities strengthen students’ listening skills as well as their speaking skills.
Students write frequently about what they are reading and learning, drawing evidence in the text.
Reading and writing strategies are presented consistently across all content areas.
Multiple texts, presented in diverse formats, are used to integrate information on a given topic.
Primary sources of information are used widely.
NOT SEE
Teachers present the information in the text rather than expecting students to read for understanding.
Text is used as a reference rather than a source of information.
No connection between the reading and writing assignment.
No instruction is provided on reading or writing strategies appropriate to the content area.
A single text is used for all reading assignments.
Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects 6-12
Reading critical to building knowledge
Appreciation for norms and conventions
Evidence
Understanding of domain specific words
Analyze, evaluate intricate argument, synthesize
Complement the disciplines
How will you engage all content teachers in understanding and implementing reading expectations?
SHIFT 3: Regular Practice with Complex Text
SEE
All students encounter and are engaged with the same, grade-appropriate, high-quality text.
Appropriate scaffolding is provided to help students understand complex text, based on their individual needs, building toward the goal of independent reading.
Reading strategies are embedded in the activity of reading rather than as a separate body of material.
Students are required to think critically about the text. Instruction if often centered on multiple close
readings in order to develop deep understanding. Teachers are aware of resources and how to indentify
and evaluate the complexity of text in their content areas.
Students read from complex texts from a wide variety of text structures (narrative, cause and effect, compare and contrast, etc.)
NOT SEE
Students always receive different levels of text based on their reading ability.
No instruction is provided for reading strategies to approach complex text.
Students are given a summary of the text prior to reading it.
No support is provided for students who read below grade level.
Majority of text uses a single text structure.
Text Complexity Matters
Students who reached benchmark scores and did well in college:
–Ability to make inferences while reading or answering questions
–Ability to answer questions associated with complex text
- ACT, 2006 Reading Between the Lines
Why Complex Text?
• Must read closely • Think deeply about texts • Participate in discussions based on text • Gain knowledge
Publishers Criteria for ELA/Literacy Grades 3-12, p. 3
Why Not Use Simple Texts?
• Simplified texts are often restricted, limited, and thin in meaning
• Complex texts are rich in academic vocabulary; simple texts do not expose students to the type of vocabulary necessary to read complex texts.
• Mature language skills are gained by working with demanding materials
• No evidence that struggling readers—especially at middle and high school—catch up by gradually increasing the complexity of simpler texts
- Adapted from the work of Jean M. Evans Davila, www. Redapplesnorwalk.org
Among Highest Priority for CCSS:
“…read closely and gain knowledge from texts.”
Publishers Criteria for ELA/Literacy Grades 3-12, p. 6
ALL Students: Anchor Texts at
Grade Level
Above Grade Level Texts for Advanced Readers
Texts Below Grade Level – Scaffolding Only!
Overview of Text Complexity
Appendix B includes exemplar texts (stories and literature, poetry, and informational texts) that illustrate appropriate level of complexity by grade
Text complexity is defined by:
1. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands
2. Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity
Reader and Task 3. Reader and Task – background knowledge
of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned
Text Complexity • Sophistication of the language and content
• Subtlety of themes and issues
• Extract knowledge and information from reference materials, technical manuals, literature and other texts
• Demanding and context-dependent vocabulary
• Subtle relationships among ideas and characters
• Nuanced rhetorical style and tone
• Elaborate structures or formats
• Demand close attention and often demand rereading in order to be fully understood
Text Quality • Rich in content
• Strong models of thinking and writing
• Broad resonance - referred to and quoted often
• Deep engagement in the world and a variety of cultures
• Reflect on important issues in the disciplines
• Build background knowledge and vocabulary essential to reach CCR levels.
Text Range
• Variety of literary and informational texts
• Read deeply across content areas to gain knowledge base
• In literature, students attend to author’s choice of words and structures / order and use of detail
• In informational text, students acquire information from different formats in order to access knowledge
Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges
Text Complexity
Grade Band in the
Standards
Old Lexile Ranges
Lexile Ranges
Aligned to CCR
expectations
K-1 N/A N/A
2-3 450-725 450-790
4-5 645-845 770-980
6-8 860-1010 955-1155
9-10 960-1115 1080-1305
11-CCR 1070-1220 1215-1355 [email protected]
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/compare-contrast-cause-effect-problem-solution-common-text-types-in-the-times/
SHIFT 4: Focus on Text-Based, Text- Specific Questions SEE
Rich and rigorous conversations are based on text.
Students closely analyze text with evidence to back up their claims and conclusions.
The majority of text-based questions focus conversations and writing and require students to utilize information from the text in their answers.
Questions are of high value – they are worth thinking about and answering.
Questions move beyond what is directly stated and ask students to make nontrivial inferences from evidence in the text.
Background knowledge is used to illuminate text and not replace it.
Students explore how specific words, details, structure and organization of text impact the meaning of the text as a whole.
NOT SEE The bulk of questions
regarding the text can be answered without reading the text, either because it is not directly related to the text or because students can answer by referencing teacher comments.
Questions are primarily centered on students’ own experience or background.
Students do not have to make connections within the text in order to answer questions.
Goal of Close, Analytic Reading:
… be able to discern and cite evidence from text to support assertions.
Analytic Reading + Analytic Writing = Analytic THINKING
• Describe the problem in this text and how it is solved. Use information in the text to support your answer.
• Describe the process of ____ using information from the text.
• What is the author’s purpose in structuring paragraphs this way? Use details from the passage to support your answer.
Close Reading
SHIFT 5: Focus on Writing Arguments and from Sources
SEE Students are required to use more than one source of information in
their writing, in addition to writing in response to a single text.
Students engage in multiple short research projects as well as more sustained research.
Students can independently conduct research, without direction from the teacher.
Evidence from text is required in writing assignments and oral discussions.
The majority of writing emphasizes the use of evidence to inform or make an argument.
Student writing analyzes and synthesizes sources of information and present their findings that include careful analysis, well-defined claims and clear information.
Students must have read and analyzed a text in order to respond appropriately to a prompt.
There is a consistent and prevalent focus on argument, opinion and informative writing.
Frequent, short, constructed-response to text-dependent questions.
All analytic writing requires the use of evidence as students paraphrase, infer and integrate ideas from text.
NOT SEE Students write
primarily from their own experience or viewpoint.
Students do not use a structured process for conducting research.
No or little instruction is provided in how to support a claim or conclusion.
Writing assignments are not tied to reading.
Writing is not routine and continuous.
Three Types of Writing
Argument Informational /
Explanatory Narrative
• Support a claim • Sound reasoning • Relevant evidence
• Increase subject knowledge • Explain a process • Enhance understanding
• Conveys experience • Tells a story
NAEP 2011 Writing Framework
Grade To Persuade To Explain To Convey
Experience
4 30% 35% 35%
8 35% 35% 30%
12 40% 40% 20% [email protected]
What types of writing are your students doing?
Does is meet the standards?
What might you need to consider?
SHIFT 6: Academic Language SEE
Focus on words which are prevalent in complex texts across content areas (those words that constitute the vocabulary of a mature reader), as well as content-specific words to make meaning from text.
Instruction is provided on how to use context clues in the text to determine the meaning of words.
Direct instruction / support for understanding words students may not be able to figure out on their own using solely the text.
Varied contexts, different meanings for the same words, are provided for teaching word meaning.
Instruction causes students to think about words – why/ how specific words are used, how words change the meaning of text, varied meanings based on context, and word choice.
Instruction is driven by addressing the diverse vocabulary levels of students.
Students are expected to apply appropriate academic vocabulary in writing and in discussions.
NOT SEE Vocabulary
instruction is limited to students copying definitions from dictionaries.
Vocabulary instruction is disconnected from the text under study.
Vocabulary tests simply ask students to match the word with its definition.
Words selected for vocabulary work are not related to the content or the text being studied.
http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/documents/ccr-ccss-english-K-2-breakout.pdf [email protected]
http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/documents/ccr-ccss-english-K-2-breakout.pdf
http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/documents/ccr-ccss-english-K-2-breakout.pdf
