Reading, Language, and the Mind - EngageNY · [email protected] 15 How Might Children...
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1 [email protected] Reading, Language, and the Mind Reading, Language, and the Mind Marilyn Jager Adams Brown University NYSED Network Team InsCtute November 29, 2011 Albany, New York
Transcript of Reading, Language, and the Mind - EngageNY · [email protected] 15 How Might Children...
Reading,Language,andtheMindReading,Language,andtheMind
MarilynJagerAdamsBrownUniversity
NYSEDNetworkTeamInsCtute
November29,2011Albany,NewYork
Why?FourthGraders'ReadingLevels,1992vs.2011NAEP
0
10
20
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50
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Perc
en
tag
e o
f S
tud
en
ts
1992
2011
CommonCoreReadingEmphases
“Close”reading Text‐centeredreasoning Textcomplexity
Grade Literary InformaConal
4 50% 50%
8 45% 55%
12 30% 70%
FoundaConalSkills(K‐5)
FoundaConalReadingStandards• PrintConcepts
• PhonologicalAwareness
• Phonics&WordRecogniCon
• Fluency
FoundaConalLanguageStandardsFoundaConalLanguageStandards
•• VocabularyVocabulary
•• GrammarandusageGrammarandusage
•• WricenconvenConsWricenconvenCons(PunctuaCon,spelling,capitalizaCon)(PunctuaCon,spelling,capitalizaCon)
StateofCaliforniaStanford9LEPStudents(PercenCleScores)
YearGrade
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1997‐98 19 14 15 14 16 12 15 10 8 10
1998‐99 23 18 17 16 18 14 17 11 9 11
1999‐00 28 21 20 17 19 15 18 12 9 11
2000‐01 31 23 21 18 20 16 19 12 9 11
2001‐02 34 26 24 20 21 17 19 12 9 11
StateofCaliforniaStanford9LEPStudents(PercenCleScores)
YearGrade
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1997‐98 19 14 15 14 16 12 15 10 8 10
1998‐99 23 18 17 16 18 14 17 11 9 11
1999‐00 28 21 20 17 19 15 18 12 9 11
2000‐01 31 23 21 18 20 16 19 12 9 11
2001‐02 34 26 24 20 21 17 19 12 9 11
FoundaConalSkills(K‐5)
FoundaConalReadingStandards• PrintConcepts
• PhonologicalAwareness
• Phonics&WordRecogniCon
• Fluency
FoundaConalLanguageStandardsFoundaConalLanguageStandards
•• VocabularyVocabulary
•• GrammarandusageGrammarandusage
•• WricenconvenConsWricenconvenCons(PunctuaCon,spelling,capitalizaCon)(PunctuaCon,spelling,capitalizaCon)
CorrelaCon:VocabularyandReadingComprehension
Age Group10 Years 14 Years 17 Years
Belgium .588 .619 .500 Chile .543 .508 .577 England .735 .698 .497 Hungary .594 .533 .389 Italy .580 .587 .446 Iran .498 .427 .294 Israel .651 .674 ‐‐ Sweden .559 .5989 .584 USA .735 .693 .679
From Thorndike, 1973
LiteracyProfilesofAdultBasicEducaConStudents
Davidson & Strucker, 2002
Percent InstrucConalLevel SkillProfiles
20% GEDCourses • +/‐HighSchool
70% IntermediateReading
• WordRecog.Basics=OK
• Vocabulary<9thpercenCle
• Fluency<100wpm
10% BeginningReading• WordRecogBasics<G.E.2
• Comprehension<G.E.2
ProcessingTime
WhyistheresuchastrongrelaConbetween
VocabularyandReadingComprehension?
Why?CorrelaCon:Vocabulary&ReadingComprehension
Cause&Effect!
• Weakvocabularyimpedesreadingcomprehension
• Vocabularygrowslargerandricherthroughreadingwithcomprehension.
VocabularyGrowthbyAge
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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Age in Years
Rel
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e to
Ave
rage
12
Year
Old
s
25th Percentile
75th Percentile
Note that percentile ranks actually translate into age gaps in vocabulary
10th Percentile
90th Percentile
Spokenvs.WricenVocabulary
Only10,000differentwordsaccountforabout
96%ofSpokenEnglish.
Thenumberofdifferentwordsinpopular,contemporaryprintisatleast1,000,000.
ConversaConallevelsofvocabularylimitreaderstoa
readinglevelequivalentofGrade4orbelow.
HowMightChildrenAcquire1,000,000VocabularyWords?
DirectVocabularyInstrucConDirectVocabularyInstrucCon20WordsTaughtperWeek,everyweek,fromG1‐G12
• Numberofwordsperweek=20
• Numberofweeksperschoolyear=36
• NumberofyearsfromG1‐G12=12
• =20wordsx36weekspergradex12grades=
20x36x12=8640wordslearnedtotal(Assumingthatthekidslearneverywordperfectly)
HowMightChildrenAcquire1,000,000VocabularyWords?
“Implicit”LearningthroughReadingoverGrades4‐12
• Total#newwordsencounteredperyear=12,900(assumingthechildreads1,000,000wordsoftextperyear)
• likelihoodoflearningnewwordfromreading=.05(BasedonesCmatesbyAndersonetal.,1985)
• Grades4‐12=9yearsoflearning
=12,900x.05x9=5805wordslearnedtotal
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WhatkindsofvocabularyintervenConsdoyouuseinyourschools?
Howwelldotheywork?HoweffecCvearethey?
AssisCngVocabularyGrowth
Awarenessofhowwordmeaningsarestructured=“SemanCcAwareness”
Awarenessofthestructureofwricenlanguage=“SyntacCcAwareness”
EffecCveopportuniCestoexpandandrefinevocabulary=“TheComplexTextChallenge”
FoundaConalLanguageStandards:Vocabulary
“SemanCcAwareness”
Itisnotpossibleforchildrentogainaliterate
vocabularybylearningwordsonebyone.
Tolearnwordsmoreefficiently,childrenneed
awarenessofhowwordmeaningswork.
KidsareaskedtomakecomparisonsLanguageFoundaCons:Vocabulary
Canaryvs.Elephant
Carvs.Bus
Lakevs.Ocean
Goldfishvs.Shark
What’stherule?
Makingcomparisons
Goodcomparisonscontrastvaluesonasingledimension
• That’showourbrainswork
• That’showadjecCvesareorganizedinourbrains
MakingCategories
CategoriesaregroupswithcontrasCngvaluesonasingledimension
• That’showourbrainsorganizeperceptualqualiCes
• That’showadjecCvesareorganizedinourbrains
NamethatDimensionsAdjecCves
Whatisthedimensionunderlyingthesecomparisons?
• Tallvs.short
• Redvs.green
• Hotvs.cold
• Funnyvs.sad
• Kindvs.cruel
ValuesonDimensions:AdjecCves
Makealistofwordsdescribingvaluesonthesedimensions:
• temperature
• generosity
• size
KidsareaskedtoDemonstrateUnderstandingofAntonyms(Opposites)LanguageFoundaCons:Vocabulary/AdjecCves
WhatareAntonyms/Opposites?
(pleasedefine)
What’sanAntonym?
freezingicy
cold
cooljust rightwarm
hot
scaldingboiling
TheAntonymRule
Twowordsareantonymsiftheylie:
1. Onoppositesidesofthemiddleof
thesamedimension,and
2. Thesamedistancefromthemiddle
ofthedimension.
AnalogyandMetaphorLanguageFoundaCons:Vocabulary
1. The president is the head of the company.president: company:: head : _______
2. Education is the key to opportunity.education: opportunity :: key : _______
3. Pride is the root of all evil.pride: evil :: root: ________
4. Necessity is the mother of invention.necessity: invention :: mother: _______
5. Variety is the spice of life.variety: life :: spice: ________
AnalogyandSimilesLanguageFoundaCons:Vocabulary
1. a) The idea blossomed in her mind. (like _________)b) The idea festered in her mind. (like _________)
2. a) The sunlight invaded the room. (like _________)b) The sunlight poured into the room. (like _________)
3. a) The waves pounded the rocks. (like _________)b) The waves lapped the rocks. (like _________)
4. a) The news slithered through the crowd. (like _________)b) The news bolted through the crowd. (like _________)
5. a) Old memories haunted his mind. (like _________)b) Old memories littered his mind. (like _________)
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ProcessingTime
Whathaveyoulearnedaboutthewayourbrainsstore,understand,andinterpretqualiCesofthingsandtheadjecCvesthatdescribethem?
SATScores,1962‐2011
460
470
480
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560
1965
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1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Mea
n Ve
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SA
T Sc
ore Reading
Math
ACT(2006)CollegeReadinessforReading
Only51%ofstudents*metorexceededthebenchmarkscoreforcollegeandworkplacesuccess.
*college‐orientedhighschoolstudentswhopaidtotakethetest.)
WhyNot?NotTextualElements
———— Main Idea/Author’s Approach—— Supporting Details - - - Relationships— — Meaning of Words———— Generalizations & Conclusions
Whatmakestext“complex”?
Uncommonwords
Backgroundknowledgerequirements
Longsentences
Complicatedsentences
Cross‐referencesbetweensentences
FoundaConalLanguageStandards:GrammarandUsage
“SyntacCcAwareness”
Tograsp(andlearn)themeaningthatcomes
fromtheinterrelaConsbetweenwords,children
needtogainawarenessofthestructureof
wricenlanguage.
ConceptualBuildingBlocks:ProposiCons
catfat
AProposiConhastwojobs
1. IdenCfythetopicinfocus.
2. ProvidesomeinformaConorcommentaboutthetopic.
ThesimplestsentencesrepresentexactlyoneproposiCon
catfat• Thecatisfat.
• Thecatisblack.
• Thecatslept.
blackslept
TheSimplestSentencesSentencesRepresentexactlyOneProposiConLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
catfat
That’s why students are askedto understand that everysentence must have a subjectand a predicate, i.e.,
Every sentence must:• Name it’s topic (say what it’s
about) = Subject• Tell something about the topic =
Predicate
MorecomplexsentencessentencesrepresentmorethanoneproposiCon
• Thecatisfat.
• Thecatisblack.
• Thecatslept.
Can you turn these three simple sentences intojust one sentence that is more complex?
cat
fat
black
slept
MorecomplexsentencessentencesrepresentmorethanoneproposiCon
• Thecatisfat.
• Thecatisblack.
• Thecatslept.
Thefat,blackcatslept.
Thefatcatthatwasblackslept.
Thecatthatsleptwasfatandblack.
Thecatthatwasblackandfatslept.
Thecatwasfat,anditwasblack,anditslept.
cat
fat
black
slept
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EveryProposiContakesTimetoUnderstand
Allsentenceswerethesamelength(16words).
‐‐‐‐‐‐
EachaddiConalproposiConaddedextrareadingCme.
Thesameistrueinlistening
Thesameistrueforadults.
Keenan & Brown, 1984
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The“ComplexiCes”GetLost
Mostreaderskept“top‐level”informaConfromthesentences.
EventhebestreaderstendedtolosetherestoftheproposiCons.
MorecomplexsentencessentencesrepresentmorethanoneproposiCon
• Thecatisfat.• Thecatisblack.• Thecatslept.
What exactly did we do to turn these three simplesentences into just one?
The fat, black cat slept.
cat
fat
black
slept
MorecomplexsentencessentencesrepresentmorethanoneproposiCon
• Thecatisfat.• Thecatisblack.• Thecatslept.
We changed the adjectives (fat, black) frompredicates to attributive modifiers of the subject (cat)
The fat, black cat slept.
cat
fat
black
slept
Spokenvs.Wricen“Sentences”
Natural“sentence”inspokenlanguage• Short(lessthan7words)
• Single“ideaunit”(roughly=singleclauseorphrase)
• SyntacCcallyill‐formed
“Sentence”inwricenlanguage• Long(15‐25words)
• Complexphrasesandclauses
• SyntacCcallyprecise
TheStructureofOralvs.WricenLanguage
OralLanguage• Soyesterday?• WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreet?• Andtherewasthiswomanthere.• Shewaskindofold?• Andshehadonthisredhat?• Shewas…just…• Idon’tknow,shewasstrange.• Anyway,shestartedrunningtowardJohn.• ShewasshouCng.• ShewasjustrunningandshouCng• Andnobodycouldunderstandwhatshe
wassaying.
Wricenlanguage
WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreetyesterdaymorning,whenastrange,oldwomaninaredhatsuddenlybeganrunningtowardJohn,shouCngincomprehensibly.
TheStructureofOralvs.WricenLanguage
OralLanguage• Soyesterday?• WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreet?
• Andtherewasthiswomanthere.• Shewaskindofold?• Andshehadonthisredhat?• Ihavenoideawhoshewas.• AndthenshestartedrunningtowardJohn.
• ShewasshouCng.• ShewasjustrunningandshouCng• Andnobodycouldunderstandwhatshewassaying.
Wricenlanguage
WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreetyesterdaymorning,whenastrange,oldwomaninaredhatsuddenlybeganrunningtowardJohn,shouCngincomprehensibly.
Inorallanguage,thesubjectsofsentencesare
typicallypronouns.
TheStructureofOralvs.WricenLanguage
OralLanguage• Soyesterday?• WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreet?
• Andtherewasthiswomanthere.• Shewaskindofold?• Andshehadonthisredhat?• Ihavenoideawhoshewas.• AndthenshestartedrunningtowardJohn.
• ShewasshouCng.• ShewasjustrunningandshouCng• Andnobodycouldunderstandwhatshewassaying.
Wricenlanguage
WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreetyesterdaymorning,whenastrange,oldwomaninaredhatsuddenlybeganrunningtowardJohn,shouCngincomprehensibly.
Inorallanguage,adjecCvesinthesubjectphrase
arerare.
UsingAdjecCvesinWricenLanguageLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
That’s why students are asked to work with adjectives,including:
• Using adjectives to describe clearly and listendiscerningly.
• Using and understanding concatenated adjectives, - the red square - the large, red square - the large, red square with no stripes.
• Attending to differences between the meanings ofadjective cousins (e.g. happy-sad; cool-cold-frigid; thin,scrawny, narrow)
• Expanding sentences by adding adjectives, especially tothe subject clause.
ExpandingSentencesLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
T:Who?
C:Theboy
T:Whatabouthim?
C:Theboyran.
T:Wheredidherun?
C:Theboyrandownthestreet.
T:Whichboy?
C:Thelicleboyrandownthestreet.
T:Whatwashewearing?
C:Thelicleboyintheredshirtrandownthestreet.
T:Whydidherundownthestreet?
C:Thelicleboyintheredshirtrandownthestreettocatchhisdog.
T:When?
C:Yesterday,thelicleboyintheredshirtrandownthestreettocatchhisdog.
T:Howdoyouknowthat?
C:Mysistertoldmethat…
TheStructureofOralvs.WricenLanguagePreposiConalPhrases
OralLanguage• Soyesterday?• WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreet?
• Andtherewasthiswomanthere.• Shewaskindofold?• Andshehadonthisredhat?• Ihavenoideawhoshewas.• AndthenshestartedrunningtowardJohn.
• ShewasshouCng.• ShewasjustrunningandshouCng• Andnobodycouldunderstandwhatshewassaying.
Wricenlanguage
WewerewalkingdownLeonardStreetyesterdaymorning,whenastrange,oldwomaninaredhatsuddenlybeganrunningtowardJohn,shouCngincomprehensibly.
Mis‐UnderstandingWricenLanguagethroughOralLanguageRules
Themanfixedthetablewiththebrokenleg.
[Pictureofamanwithabrokenleg]
[Pictureofatablewithabrokenleg]
PreposiCons(e.g.,of,inonfor,with…)
BothmeaningsandpronunciaConsareelusiveinorallanguage,e.g.,
• “We’regoinguhmygrandmother’shouse
• “Iwantaglassuhjuice.”
Inwricenlanguage,preposiConsmodifytheclosestword,e.g.,
• “Iwantahotdogandacokewithmustard.”vs.
• “Thedogdevouredthescrapswiththecollar.”
PreposiConsareextremelyfrequentinwricenlanguage.
WricentextdependsontheirproperinterpretaCon.
UsingPreposiConsinWricenLanguageLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
That’s why students are asked to:
• Play games that seat the proper pronunciation andusage of common prepositions in K (e.g., to, of, on, in,with).
• Learn to use and understand prepositions of orderand position (e.g., over, under, before).
• Expand sentences by adding prepositions,especially to the subject clause.
• Learn to recognize common prepositions as sightwords (e.g., to, of, on, in, with).
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ProcessingCme
WhatdidyoulearnaboutproposiCons?
WhatdidyoulearnaboutpreposiCons?
Kintsch, W. (1994). Text comprehension,memory, and learning. American Psychologist,49(4), 294-303.
TheproposiConalstructureofwricentextcanbeverycomplex
When a baby has aseptal defect, the bloodcannot get rid of enoughcarbon dioxide throughthe lungs and, therefore,it looks purple.
PackingconceptsintoSentences:Nouns
a) Theliclecatthatwasonlyafewweeksoldsatonthemat.
c) TheverylargecatwithorangeandblackfurthatisnaCvetoIndianjunglesandnotdomesCcatedsatonthemat.
b) Thecatwithwhite,black,andorangefursatonthemat.
Makeeachsentenceshorter:
TheMeaningsofNouns
Mentally,themeaningsofnounsareclusteredinhierarchicalcategories
• ThemeaningofeachisgivenbythemeaningofitssuperordinateplusitsdisCnguishingfeatures:
wild catspet cats
mammal
cat
lion tigersiamesepersian
The(Aristotelian)DefiniConsofNouns
Category+DisCnguishingFeatures,e.g.,• Acanaryisasmall,yellowbirdthatsingsandisozenkeptasa
pet
Definethesebirds:
• cardinal
• duck
• ostrich
MakingsenseofdefiniCons:Whatdoyouknow?
Robin
Noun
AlargeNewWorldthrushthattypicallyhasareddishbreast.
UnderstandingNounsLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
That’s why students are asked to:
• Play linguistic and conceptual categorization games.
• Learn to produce “Aristotelian” definitions (e.g., alion is a cat that….)
• Learn to use Aristotelian definitions to understandand explore new concepts.
• Read deeply* in content areas.* Instead of skipping from one “interesting” text to another.
PackingConceptsintoSentences:VerbsLanguageFoundaCons:Grammar&Usage
SemanCcally,verbmeaningsconsistofacoreacConplusoneormoreentailments(howtheacConisdone)
• Tosprintistorunveryfastthoughusuallynotveryfar.
• Togallopistorunfastlikeahorse.
• Tostareistolookwithintensity.
• ToglareistolookwithintensityandhosClity.
• Tohitistomakecontactforcibly.
• Topunchistomakecontactforciblywiththefist.
• Topummelistomakecontactforciblywiththefistoverandover.
• ToscrubistowashwitharubbingacCon
• ToscouristowashwitharubbingacConusinganabrasive.
TheMeaningsofVerbs
Definetheseverbs:
• Transfer:give,take,trade,buy,sell,rent
• Walk:Limp,shuffle,amble,strut,sashay,trudge
• Tell:promise,confide,confess,preach,lecture
• Talk:whisper,mumble,lisp,stammer,wail,coo,babble
• Create:bake,sew,mold,weave,compose
AGripeaboutVocabularyWorkbooks
Thelibrarianglaredattheboyfrombehindherdesk.• looked
• smiled
• winked
• shouted
Whatifinstead…
Thelibrarianlookedintenselyandangrilyattheboyfrombehindherdesk.
• squinted
• glanced
• glared
• peeked
Indevelopingtheirvocabularies,wewantstudentstoappreciate:
ThemeaningfuldisCncConsbetweenwords,and
Thatthebeautyoflesscommonwordsisthattheyallowustoexpressourselves• Moreprecisely
**and**
• Withfewerwords!!
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Whatdidyoulearnaboutthewayourbrainsstorethemeaningsofnouns?
Whatdidyoulearnaboutthewayourbrainsstorethemeaningsofverbs?
Why?
Spokenvs.WricenVocabulary
Only10,000differentwordsaccountforabout
96%ofSpokenEnglish.
Thenumberofdifferentwordsinpopular,
contemporaryprintisatleast1,000,000.
ConversaConallevelsofvocabularylimit
readerstoareadinglevelequivalentofGrade4
orbelow.
Why:ConversaConallevelsofvocabularylimitreaderstoareadinglevelequivalentofGrade4orbelow
Literatevocabularydependson
•• KnowledgeKnowledge
and
•• LanguageLanguage
thatgenerallyariseonlyinwricenlanguage.
LearningNewWordsDependsonReading
Printed Texts Rare Wordsper 1000
Scientific articles 128Newspapers 68Magazines 66Adult books 53Comic books 54Children’s trade books 31Preschool books 16
TelevisionAdult Prime Time 23Children’s Prime Time 20Cartoons 31Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street 2
Adults Speaking to AdultsCollege graduates to friends 17Expert Witness testimony 28
Cunningham & Stanovich. (1998) What reading does forthe mind. American Educator, Spring/Summer, pp. 8-15.
Writ
ten
Spok
en
CollegeCareerReadyStandardsTheComplexTextChallenge
Engagethechildreninampleclosereadingof
qualitytextthatisrichininformaCon,argument,
andliteratelanguage.
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TheProblem:Zipf’sLawFrequencyDropslikeaStone!BriCshNaConalCorpus=100,000,000Words
Most Frequent Least Frequent
timeyear
peoplewaymanday
thingchild
TheProblem:Zipf’sLawNumberofUniqueWordsperFrequencyBriCshNaConalCorpus=100,000,000Words
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Frequency per Million Words of Running Text (Freq/100, Freq > 10000 = 100)
Nu
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s Adjective
Adverb
Noun
Verb
Words we write with
Things we write about
Butagain…
Comprehensionfailsunlessthereaderunderstandsatleast95%ofthewordsinatext.
Sowhatcanwedotomakesureourstudentswill
understandwhattheyread?
WordDifficulty:
HighSchoolReadingMaterial
vs.“Grown‐up”
Text
-20
-10
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Cel
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Scie
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McG
uffy
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Gd
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Tim
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agaz
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New
spap
ers
SAT
Verb
al, '
95
Spor
ts Il
lust
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d
H.S
. Eng
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Lexi
cal D
iffic
ulty
Donald P. Hayes
SentenceLength:
HighSchoolReadingMaterial
vs.“Grown‐up”
Texts
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. Eng
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Rea
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Med
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Sent
ence
Len
gth
Donald P. Hayes
ChangesinTextbookDifficulty,1919‐1991:WordDifficulty
-80
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1963-1991
Donald P. Hayes
ChangesinTextbookDifficulty,1919‐1991:SentenceLength
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Se
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1963-1991
Donald P. Hayes
SATScores,1962‐2011
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1965
1970
1975
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1990
1995
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2005
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Mea
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SA
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ore Reading
Math
TheComplexTextDilemma
Ifwewantstudentstolearn,thenwehavetogivethemtextthattheycanunderstand.
Ifwerestricttextstothosethatstudentswillunderstand,wemustchoosetextsinwhichnearlyallofthewordsarealreadyknown.
IfwesCckwithtextsinwhichnearlyallofthewordsarealreadyknown,thenwedenytheopportunitytolearnnewwords(informaCon).
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TheSoluCon:Zipf’sLaw!
Most Frequent Least Frequent
It turns out that everyevery natural language situation obeys Zipf’s Law in its own way!
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Marssurfaceearthwaterplanetsolar system
Jupiterplanetmoonsatmosphereearthsolar system
pianostringspedalkeyboardkeysaction
sharkspeciesoceanteethpreycartilage
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Sharks
TheReadingDeficitisintegrally6edtotheKnowledgeDeficit
Understandingispossibleonlytotheextentthatonecanmapwhatonereadstoconceptsalreadyinmemory.
Theamountastudentalreadyknowsaboutatopicisthebestpredictorofhowmuchsheorhewilllearnthroughreadingaboutit,wherethatincludes
**howmuchsheorhewilllearnaboutwhollynewhowmuchsheorhewilllearnaboutwhollynewconceptsandanynewwordsbywhichtheyareconceptsandanynewwordsbywhichtheyarenamedandthroughwhichtheyaredescribednamedandthroughwhichtheyaredescribed.**
TheSoluCon:Zipf’sLawNumberofUniqueWordsperFrequency
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Frequency per Million Words of Running Text (Freq/100, Freq > 10000 = 100)
Nu
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Adverb
Noun
Verb
TopicalWords
Details & Comments
LookingatTextComplexity
R 2.9 Animals make vibrations in thewater when they move. Sharks canfeel these vibrations. Sharks use thissense to find animals that are hurtand struggling in the water.
R 6.7 Shark scales are not likeordinary fish scales, they are muchsmaller and are more like teeth whichrise up from the shark’s skin. Thescales, called dermal denticleswhich literally means ‘tiny skin teeth’,all lie in the same direction, from headto tail (so if you ever dare to get closeenough to a shark to stroke it, it willbe smooth in one direction and roughlike sand paper in the other).
R 10.3 Among the most ancient andprimitive sharks is Cladoselache, fromabout 370 million years ago, whichhas been found within Paleozoic stratain Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Atthat point in Earth's history these rocksmade up the soft bottom sediments ofa large, shallow ocean, whichstretched across much of NorthAmerica. Cladoselache was onlyabout 1 metre (3.3 ft) long with stifftriangular fins and slender jaws. Itsteeth had several pointed cusps,which wore down from use. From thesmall number of teeth found together,it is most likely that Cladoselache didnot replace its teeth as regularly asmodern sharks. Its caudal fins had asimilar shape to the great white sharksand the pelagic shortfin and longfinmakos. The presence of whole fisharranged tail-first in their stomachssuggest that they were fast swimmerswith great agility.
ScaffoldingComplexTextReadingComplextextbyReadingwithinTopic
1.Selectatopicaboutwhichyourstudentsneedtolearn.Ifthestudentsarebelowgradelevel,beginwithshorter,simplertexts.
2.Teachthekeywordsandconceptsdirectly,engagingstudentsinusinganddiscussingthemtobesuretheyarewell‐anchored.
3.Asthestudentslearnthecorevocabularyandbasicconceptsofthedomain,theywillbecomereadytoexploreitssubtopics(morecomplextexts!)
Whenababyhasaseptaldefect,thebloodcannotgetridofenoughcarbondioxidethroughthelungsand,therefore,itlookspurple.
Kintsch, W. (1994). Text comprehension,memory, and learning. American Psychologist,49(4), 294-303.
LowKnowledgeReader
HighKnowledgeReader
Therefore…
DiscussimplicaConsandideasfordevelopingyourstudents’literaryvocabulary,language,andknowledge.
