The Foundation Text Complexity - Standards Institute · 2020-02-10 · Women’s Rights Convention:...

TheFoundationTextComplexityLeadershipI-Grades6–8-Day3

Common Core State StandardS for engliSh language artS & literaCy in hiStory/SoCial StudieS, SCienCe, and teChniCal SubjeCtSa

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Three Tiers of WordsIsabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan (2002, 2008) have outlined a useful model for conceptual-izing categories of words readers encounter in texts and for understanding the instructional and learning challenges that words in each category present. They describe three levels, or tiers, of words in terms of the words’ commonality (more to less frequently occurring) and applicability (broader to narrower).

While the term tier may connote a hierarchy, a ranking of words from least to most important, the reality is that all three tiers of words are vital to comprehension and vocabulary development, although learning tier two and three words typically requires more deliberate effort (at least for students whose first language is English) than does learn-ing tier one words.

• tier one words are the words of everyday speech usually learned in the early grades, albeit not at the samerate by all children. They are not considered a challenge to the average native speaker, though English languagelearners of any age will have to attend carefully to them. While Tier One words are important, they are not thefocus of this discussion.

• tier two words (what the Standards refer to as general academic words) are far more likely to appear in writtentexts than in speech. They appear in all sorts of texts: informational texts (words such as relative, vary, formulate,specificity, and accumulate), technical texts (calibrate, itemize, periphery), and literary texts (misfortune,dignified, faltered, unabashedly). Tier Two words often represent subtle or precise ways to say relatively simplethings—saunter instead of walk, for example. Because Tier Two words are found across many types of texts, theyare highly generalizable.

• tier three words (what the Standards refer to as domain-specific words) are specific to a domain or field ofstudy (lava, carburetor, legislature, circumference, aorta) and key to understanding a new concept within atext. Because of their specificity and close ties to content knowledge, Tier Three words are far more commonin informational texts than in literature. Recognized as new and “hard” words for most readers (particularlystudent readers), they are often explicitly defined by the author of a text, repeatedly used, and otherwise heavilyscaffolded (e.g., made a part of a glossary).

Tier Two Words and Access to Complex TextsBecause Tier Three words are obviously unfamiliar to most students, contain the ideas necessary to a new topic, and are recognized as both important and specific to the subject area in which they are instructing students, teachers of-ten define Tier Three words prior to students encountering them in a text and then reinforce their acquisition through-out a lesson. Unfortunately, this is not typically the case with Tier Two words, which by definition are not unique to a particular discipline and as a result are not the clear responsibility of a particular content area teacher. What is more, many Tier Two words are far less well defined by contextual clues in the texts in which they appear and are far less likely to be defined explicitly within a text than are Tier Three words. Yet Tier Two words are frequently encountered in complex written texts and are particularly powerful because of their wide applicability to many sorts of reading. Teachers thus need to be alert to the presence of Tier Two words and determine which ones need careful attention.

Tier Three Words and Content LearningThis normal process of word acquisition occurs up to four times faster for Tier Three words when students have become familiar with the domain of the discourse and encounter the word in different contexts (Landauer & Dumais, 1997). Hence, vocabulary development for these words occurs most effectively through a coherent course of study in which subject matters are integrated and coordinated across the curriculum and domains become familiar to the student over several days or weeks.

Examples of Tier Two and Tier Three Words in ContextThe following annotated samples call attention to tier two and tier three words in particular texts and, by singling them out, foreground the importance of these words to the meaning of the texts in which they appear. Both samples appear without annotations in Appendix B.

Example 1: Volcanoes (Grades 4–5 Text Complexity Band

Excerpt

In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers, but they know much about how a volcano works.


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Our planet made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid rock are called the crust. Deep beneath the crust is the mantle, where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock is called magma.

Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.

Simon, Seymour. Volcanoes. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. (2006)

Of the Tier Two words, among the most important to the overall meaning of the excerpt is layers. An understanding of the word layers is necessary both to visualize the structure of the crust (“the top layers of solid rock are called the crust”) and to grasp the notion of the planet being composed of layers, of which the crust and the mantle are upper-most. Perhaps equally important are the word spouted and the phrase pours forth; an understanding of each of these is needed to visualize the action of a volcano. The same could be said of the word surface. Both layers and surface are likely to reappear in middle and high school academic texts in both literal and figurative contexts (“this would seem plausible on the surface”; “this story has layers of meaning”), which would justify more intensive instruction in them in grades 4–5.

Tier Three words often repeat; in this excerpt, all of the Tier Three words except mantle and lava appear at least twice. Volcano(es) appears four times—five if volcanic is counted. As is also typical with Tier Three words, the text provides the reader with generous support in determining meaning, including explicit definitions (e.g., “the melted, or molten, rock is called magma”) and repetition and overlapping sentences (e.g., . . . called the crust. Deep beneath the crust . . .).

Example 2: Freedom Walkers (Grades 6–8 Text Complexity Band)

Excerpt

From the Introduction: “Why They Walked”

Not so long ago in Montgomery, Alabama, the color of your skin determined where you could sit on a public bus. If you happened to be an African American, you had to sit in the back of the bus, even if there were empty seats up front.

Back then, racial segregation was the rule throughout the American South. Strict laws—called “Jim crow” laws—enforced a system of white supremacy that discriminated against blacks and kept them in their place as second-class citizens.

People were separated by race from the moment they were born in segregated hospitals until the day they were buried in segregated cemeteries. Blacks and whites did not attend the same schools, worship in the same churches, eat in the same restaurants, sleep in the same hotels, drink from the same water fountains, or sit together in the same movie theaters.

In Montgomery, it was against the law for a white person and a Negro to play checkers on public property or ride together in a taxi.

Most southern blacks were denied their right to vote. The biggest obstacle was the poll tax, a special tax that was required of all voters but was too costly for many blacks and for poor whites as well. Voters also had to pass a literacy test to prove that they could read, write, and understand the U.S. Constitution. These tests were often rigged to disqualify even highly educated blacks. Those who overcame the obstacles and insisted on registering as voters faced threats, harassment and even physical violence. As a result, African Americans in the South could not express their griev-ances in the voting booth, which for the most part, was closed to them. But there were other ways to protest, and one day a half century ago, the black citizens in Montgomery rose up in protest and united to demand their rights—by walking peacefully.

It all started on a bus.

Freedman, Russell. Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.New York: Holiday House, 2006. (2006)

The first Tier Two word encountered in the excerpt, determined, is essential to understanding the overall meaning of the text. The power of determined here lies in the notion that skin color in Montgomery, Alabama, at that time was the causal agent for all that follows. The centrality of determined to the topic merits the word intensive attention. Its study is further merited by the fact that it has multiple meanings, is likely to appear in future literary and informational texts, and is part of a family of related words (determine, determination, determined, terminate, terminal).


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Understanding the excerpt’s Tier Three words is also necessary to comprehend the text fully. As was the case in ex-ample 1, these words are often repeated and defined in context. segregation, for example, is introduced in the second paragraph, and while determining its meaning from the sentence in which it appears might be difficult, several closely related concepts (white supremacy, discriminated, second-class) appears in the next sentence to provide more con-text.

strongly urge or

force

wisdom

wrongful seizures

of power by force

voting process

Declaration of Sentiments: Women’s Grievances Against Men 1

Women’s Rights Convention: Seneca Falls, New York 2

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott? 3 July 19, 1848 4 5

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the 6

family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that 7

which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of 8

nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 9

they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. 10

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; 11

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among 12

these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights 13

governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 14

governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it 15

is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon 16

the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and 17

organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 18

safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long 19

established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all 20

experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are 21

sufferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are 22

accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 23

the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their 24

duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future 25

security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, 26

and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to 27

which they are entitled. 28

The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part 29

of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute 30

tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 31

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. 32

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. 33

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded 34

men - both natives and foreigners. 35

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby 36

leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on 37

all sides. 38

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. 39

He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. 40

He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes, 41

with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In the 42

covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he 43

becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master - the law giving him power to 44

deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement. 45

He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes of 46

divorce; in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be 47

given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women - the law, in all cases, 48

going upon the false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into 49

his hands. 50

After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of 51

property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when 52

her property can be made profitable to it. 53

He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is 54

permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. 55

He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers 56

most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not 57

known. 58

He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges 59

being closed against her. 60

He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming 61

Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, 62

from any public participation in the affairs of the Church. 63

He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of 64

morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women 65

from society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account in man. 66

He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign 67

for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and her God. 68

He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own 69

powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and 70

abject life. 71

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, 72

their social and religious degradation, - in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, 73

non-existent

exemption from

punishment

punishment

pay

lower-ranking

holy

unfortunate or

miserable

a lowly condition

and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently 74

deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to 75

all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States. 76

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of 77

misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every 78

instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, 79

circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to enlist 80

the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by 81

a series of Conventions, embracing every part of the country. 82

phamplets


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Readers and TasksStudents’ ability to read complex text does not always develop in a linear fashion. Although the progression of Read-ing standard 10 (see below) defines required grade-by-grade growth in students’ ability to read complex text, the development of this ability in individual students is unlikely to occur at an unbroken pace. Students need opportuni-ties to stretch their reading abilities but also to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy, fluent reading within them, both of which the Standards allow for. As noted above, such factors as students’ motivation, knowledge, and experiences must also come into play in text selection. Students deeply interested in a given topic, for example, may engage with texts on that subject across a range of complexity. Particular tasks may also require students to read harder texts than they would normally be required to. Conversely, teachers who have had success using particular texts that are easier than those required for a given grade band should feel free to continue to use them so long as the general movement during a given school year is toward texts of higher levels of complexity.

Students reading well above and well below grade-band level need additional support. Students for whom texts within their text complexity grade band (or even from the next higher band) present insufficient challenge must be given the attention and resources necessary to develop their reading ability at an appropriately advanced pace. On the other hand, students who struggle greatly to read texts within (or even below) their text complexity grade band must be given the support needed to enable them to read at a grade-appropriate level of complexity.

Even many students on course for college and career readiness are likely to need scaffolding as they master higher levels of text complexity. As they enter each new grade band, many students are likely to need at least some extra help as they work to comprehend texts at the high end of the range of difficulty appropriate to the band. For ex-ample, many students just entering grade 2 will need some support as they read texts that are advanced for the grades 2–3 text complexity band. Although such support is educationally necessary and desirable, instruction must move generally toward decreasing scaffolding and increasing independence, with the goal of students reading in-dependently and proficiently within a given grade band by the end of the band’s final year (continuing the previous example, the end of grade 3).

Protocol Step OneText Complexity and Academic Language

1. Quantitative MeasureGo to http://www.lexile.com/ and enter the title of your text in the Quick Book Search in theupper right of home page. Most texts will have a Lexile, measure in this database. For moreinformation on other valid quantitative measures, click here.

2. Qualitative FeaturesConsider the four dimensions of text complexity below. For each dimension, note someexamples from the text that make it more or less complex. For more information on thesefour dimensions, click here.

3. Reader and Task ConsiderationsWhat will challenge my students most in this text? What supports can I provide?

How will this text help my students build knowledge about the world?

___________

Use this chart for quick reference:

2–3 band 420–820L 4–5 band 740–1010L 6–8 band 925–1185L 9–10 band 1050–1335L 11–CCR band 1185–1385L

Meaning/Purpose

Language Features Knowledge Demands

Text Structure

Grade 7 Instructional Practice Toolkit achievethecore.org/shifts-ela

http://www.lexile.com/

https://achievethecore.org/page/2725/text-complexity

https://achievethecore.org/content/upload/Companion_to_Qualitative_Scale_Features_Explained.pdf

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Updated'Text'Complexity'Grade'Bands'and'Associated'Ranges'from'Multiple'Measures1'!

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Find!links!and!instructions!for!using!these!quantitative!analysis!tools!at!achievethecore.org/text9complexity.!

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!1!The!band!levels!themselves!have!been!expanded!slightly!over!the!original!CCSS!scale!that!appears!in!Appendix!A!at!both!the!top!and!bottom!of!each!band!to!provide!for!a!more!modulated!climb!toward!college!and!career!

readiness!and!offer!slightly!more!overlap!between!bands.!The!wider!band!width!allows!more!flexibility!in!the!younger!grades!where!students!enter!school!with!widely!varied!preparation!levels.!This!change!was!provided!in!

response!to!feedback!received!since!publication!of!the!original!scale!(published!in!terms!of!the!Lexile®!metric)!in!Appendix!A.!!2!Since!Flesch9Kincaid!has!no!‘caretaker’!that!oversees!or!maintains!the!formula,!the!research!leads!worked!to!bring!the!measure!in!line!with!college!and!career!readiness!levels!of!text!complexity!based!on!the!version!of!

the!formula!used!by!Coh9Metrix.!

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COMMON'CORE'BAND'

ATOS'DEGREES'OF'READING'POWER®'

FLESCHIKINCAID2'THE'LEXILE'FRAMEWORK®'

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2nd!–!3

rd! 2.75!–!5.14! 42!–!54! 1.98!–!5.34! 420!–!820! 3.53!–!6.13! 0.05!–!2.48!

4th!–!5

th! 4.97!–!7.03! 52!–!60! 4.51!–!7.73! 740!–!1010! 5.42!–!7.92! 0.84!–!5.75!

6th!–!8

th! 7.00!–!9.98! 57!–!67! 6.51!–!10.34! 925!–!1185! 7.04!–!9.57! 4.11!–!10.66!

9th!–!10

th! 9.67!–!12.01! 62!–!72! 8.32!–!12.12! 1050!–!1335! 8.41!–!10.81! 9.02!–!13.93!

11th!–!CCR! 11.20!–!14.10! 67!–!74! 10.34!–!14.2! 1185!–!1385! 9.57!–!12.00! 12.30!–!14.50!


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Figure 2: Qualitative Dimensions of Text Complexity

Levels of Meaning (literary texts) or Purpose (informational texts)• Single level of meaning Multiple levels of meaning

• Explicitly stated purpose Implicit purpose, may be hidden or obscure

Structure • Simple Complex

• Explicit Implicit

• Conventional Unconventional (chiefly literary texts)

• Events related in chronological order Events related out of chronological order (chiefly literary texts)

• Traits of a common genre or subgenre Traits specific to a particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)

• Simple graphics Sophisticated graphics

• Graphics unnecessary or merely supplementary to understanding the text Graphics essential to understanding the textand may provide information not otherwise conveyed in the text

Language Conventionality and Clarity• Literal Figurative or ironic

• Clear Ambiguous or purposefully misleading

• Contemporary, familiar Archaic or otherwise unfamiliar

• Conversational General academic and domain-specific

Knowledge Demands: Life Experiences (literary texts)• Simple theme Complex or sophisticated themes

• Single themes Multiple themes

• Common, everyday experiences or clearly fantastical situations Experiences distinctly different from one’s own

• Single perspective Multiple perspectives

• Perspective(s) like one’s own Perspective(s) unlike or in opposition to one’s own

Knowledge Demands: Cultural/Literary Knowledge (chiefly literary texts)• Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions required Cultural and literary knowledge useful

• Low intertextuality (few if any references/allusions to other texts) High intertextuality (many references/allusions to othertexts)

Knowledge Demands: Content/Discipline Knowledge (chiefly informational texts)• Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions required Extensive, perhaps specialized discipline-specific

content knowledge required

• Low intertextuality (few if any references to/citations of other texts) High intertextuality (many references to/citations ofother texts)

Adapted from ACT, Inc. (2006). Reading between the lines: What the ACT reveals about college readiness in reading. Iowa City, IA: Author; Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy. (2010). Time to act: An agenda for advancing adolescent literacy for college and career success. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York; Chall, J. S., Bissex, G. L., Conrad, S. S., & Harris-Sharples, S. (1996). Qualitative assessment of text difficulty: A practical guide for teachers and writers. Cambridge, UK: Brookline Books; Hess, K., & Biggam, S. (2004). A discussion of “increasing text complexity.” Published by the New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont departments of education as part of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). Retrieved from www.nciea.org/publications/TextComplexity_KH05.pdf

Text Complexity: Qualitative Measures Rubric

INFORMATIONAL TEXTS

Text Title___________________________________________ Text Author_____________________________________

Exceedingly Complex Very Complex Moderately Complex Slightly Complex

TEXT STRUCTURE

o Organization: Connections between anextensive range of ideas, processes orevents are deep, intricate and oftenambiguous; organization is intricate ordiscipline-specific

o Text Features: If used, are essential inunderstanding content

o Use of Graphics: If used, intricate,extensive graphics, tables, charts, etc.,are extensive are integral to makingmeaning of the text; may provideinformation not otherwise conveyed inthe text

o Organization: Connections between anexpanded range ideas, processes orevents are often implicit or subtle;organization may contain multiplepathways or exhibit some discipline-specific traits

o Text Features: If used, directly enhancethe reader’s understanding of content

o Use of Graphics: If used, graphics, tables,charts, etc. support or are integral tounderstanding the text

o Organization: Connections between someideas or events are implicit or subtle;organization is evident and generallysequential or chronological

o Text Features: If used, enhance thereader’s understanding of content

o Use of Graphics: If used, graphic,pictures, tables, and charts, etc. aremostly supplementary to understandingthe text

o Organization: Connections between ideas,processes or events are explicit and clear;organization of text is chronological,sequential or easy to predict

o Text Features: If used, help the readernavigate and understand content but arenot essential to understanding content.

o Use of Graphics: If used, graphic, pictures,tables, and charts, etc. are simple andunnecessary to understanding the text butthey may support and assist readers inunderstanding the written text

LANGUAGE FEATURES

o Conventionality: Dense and complex;contains considerable abstract, ironic,and/or figurative language

o Vocabulary: Complex, generallyunfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, oroverly academic language; may beambiguous or purposefully misleading

o Sentence Structure: Mainly complexsentences with several subordinateclauses or phrases and transition words;sentences often contains multiple concepts

o Conventionality: Fairly complex;contains some abstract, ironic, and/orfigurative language

o Vocabulary: Fairly complex languagethat is sometimes unfamiliar, archaic,subject-specific, or overly academic

o Sentence Structure: Many complexsentences with several subordinatephrases or clauses and transition words

o Conventionality: Largely explicit andeasy to understand with some occasionsfor more complex meaning

o Vocabulary: Mostly contemporary,familiar, conversational; rarely overlyacademic

o Sentence Structure: Primarily simple andcompound sentences, with some complexconstructions

o Conventionality: Explicit, literal,straightforward, easy to understand

o Vocabulary: Contemporary, familiar,conversational language

o Sentence Structure: Mainly simplesentences

PURPOSE o Purpose: Subtle and intricate, difficult todetermine; includes many theoretical orabstract elements

o Purpose: Implicit or subtle but fairlyeasy to infer; more theoretical orabstract than concrete

o Purpose: Implied but easy to identifybased upon context or source

o Purpose: Explicitly stated, clear, concrete, narrowly focused

KNOWLEDGE DEMANDS

o Subject Matter Knowledge: Relies onextensive levels of discipline-specific ortheoretical knowledge; includes a range of challenging abstract concepts

o Intertextuality: Many references orallusions to other texts or outside ideas,theories, etc.

o Subject Matter Knowledge: Relies onmoderate levels of discipline-specific ortheoretical knowledge; includes a mix ofrecognizable ideas and challengingabstract concepts

o Intertextuality: Some references orallusions to other texts or outside ideas,theories, etc.

o Subject Matter Knowledge: Relies oncommon practical knowledge and somediscipline-specific content knowledge;includes a mix of simple and morecomplicated, abstract ideas

o Intertextuality: Few references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

o Subject Matter Knowledge: Relies oneveryday, practical knowledge; includessimple, concrete ideas

o Intertextuality: No references or allusionsto other texts, or outside ideas, theories,etc.

Grade 7 Instructional Practice Toolkit achievethecore.org/shifts-elaGrade 7 Instructional Practice Toolkit achievethecore.org/shifts-ela

Protocol Step TwoDevelop an Anticipation Guide

Pedagogical Content Strategies in an Equitable Classroom

Intended Standard(s):

What Would We See? What Would We Hear?

Protocol Step ThreeDo the Tasks of the Lesson

Text Dependent Questions

1. What language in lines 6-‐15 parallel the phrasing of the Declaration ofIndependence?

2. In the sentence in lines 23-‐26 who is being referred to as “them” and “their”? How do weknow there is a history of degradation?

3. Beginning at line 32 and continuing to line 71 a series of grievances is listed; create categorieswhich encompass all of these grievances.

4. Why would these authors intentionally use the language and format of the Declaration ofIndependence to introduce their cause?

5. How are the authors planning to further promote their cause?

Writing Prompt Using evidence from the document, describe why the Seneca Falls Convention was a necessary initial step toward women’s equality. Use at least four pieces 0f evidence from the document to support your explanation.

Checklist identifying key points that will assist in measuring student success and/or difficulty with the close reading and/or writing prompt. Students are expected to use a well-‐developed essay with a strong introduction and conclusion. The essay should include at least four examples (including line numbers) from the document with well-‐developed commentary. Examples may include evidence of specific inequalities, grievances against men, disenfranchisement with so-‐called “equal rights,” and general dissatisfaction with their overall social status.

Grade 7 Instructional Practice Toolkit achievethecore.org/shifts-ela

Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Declaration of Sentiments: Women’s Grievances Against Men Close Read Author Name: Marcia Motter School: Archie Clayton Pre-AP Academy Contact information: [email protected] Appropriate for Grade Level(s): 8th Total Time Needed: 3-4 days/50 minute class periods Common Core Strategy: Close Read Lesson Objective(s): Students will be able to read, speak, and write about a complex text. Students will be able to cite evidence from the text that supports a claim. Students will be able to discuss the text in a small group and whole class setting. Students will understand the reasons why women wanted the right to vote. US History Standard(s): H3.[6-8].11 Discuss the rise of the Populist and Progressive Movements and explain how the reflected social change. H3.[6-8].12 Explain the major social, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920’s. CCSS(s): RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.6, RH.6-8.10, W.7.2, W.7.4, WHST.6-8.1, SL.7.1, SL.7.1a, SL.7.1d Materials: Close Read Materials: Outline of Close Reading Steps, Declaration of Sentiments: Women’s Grievances Against Men Close Read, Argumentative Paragraph Foldable, Rough Draft Graphic Organizer #1, Rough Draft Graphic Organizer #2, Writing Prompt, Supplemental Writing Materials: What is a Claim?, Citing Evidence and Reasoning

Lesson Outline: This lesson follows the Outline of Close Reading Steps created by Angela Orr. The teachers in Washoe County School District use this method when using this Common Core strategy.

Time Frame (e.g. 15

minutes)

What is the teacher doing? What are students doing? CCSS Core Actions Addressed

Day 1: 5 min

(Before class starts for the day, place students into small, heterogeneous ability groups. Groups of 4 work the best. ) Give students their new seat assignments for the next few days.

Students are moving to their new seats. Students are introducing themselves to their group mates.

Core Action 3A, 3C, 3D

Analyze the Lesson Plan

5 min Explain to the class that we will be working on a Close Read over the next few days. It will be on women’s suffrage. *This is a cold read. Do not frontload with background or contextual information about the document itself. But students will have knowledge of the time period and events leading up to this. Pass out the text to the class.

Students are actively listening. Students ask any questions needed for clarification.

Core Action 1B, 1C

10 min Before reading the text, ask the class what they notice about the text. Note the following with the class: title, date, author, where it took place, line numbering, underlined vocabulary words in the text, and word definitions in the box on the right hand side.

Students are reviewing the text and thinking of possible answers. Students are sharing what they notice about the text.

Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C Core Action 2A Core Action 3A, 3B, 3C,3D

5 min Tell the class that they will read the text individually. They will read for information, no annotating on this text. Circulate around the room while students are reading.

Students are reading the text. Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C Core Action 3A,3D

5-7 min When most of the students are done reading the text, tell them that they are done reading on their own. Have the class follow along while reading the text aloud to promote fluency and to provide an additional scaffold for students who may struggle with independent reading.

Students are actively listening to the text being read. Students are following the reading as the teacher reads it aloud. Students are underlining important ideas and information.

Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C Core Action 3A, 3D

5-6 min Give students the first question: What language in lines 6-15 parallel the phrasing of the Declaration of Independence? Have students, in their small group, go back into the text to find the answer(s) to the question. All answers need to be evidence based. However, this also requires remembering the Declaration of Independence.

Students are discussing the evidence that they have found. Students are referring to the line numbers on the left side of the text when discussing their answers. Students are annotating their text. Students are being assessed formatively while the teacher watches them work in their small groups. The teacher provides probing questions as needed.

Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C Core Action 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D Core Action 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D

5-6 min Bring the students back to a whole class discussion. Ask different students in different groups to share their answers. There are multiple answers to the question. Ask enough students the question to make sure that they have enough support and evidence for the answer.

Students are actively listening to the whole group discussion. Students are sharing their answers/evidence with the class. Students are annotating their text as needed. Students are being given probing questions as needed.


Day 2 5 min

The class will be sitting in their same groups today for continued discussion of the text. Ask the class to get out their text.

Students are preparing for class by taking out their text and a pencil.

Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C

5-6 min Give students the second question: In the sentence in lines 23-26 who is being referred to as “them” and “their”? How doe we know there is a history of degradation? Have students, in their small group, go back into the text to find the answer(s) to the question. All answers need to be evidence based.






5-6 min Give students the third question: Beginning at line 32 and continuing to line 71 a series of grievances is listed; create categories which encompass all of these grievances. Have students, in their small group, go back into the text to find the answer(s) to the question. All answers need to be evidence based.






5-6 min Give students the fourth question: Why would these authors intentionally use the language and format of the Declaration of the Independence to introduce their cause? Have students, in their small group, go back into the text to find the answer(s) to the question. All answers need to be evidence based.






Day 4/Optional 50 min

Ask students to get out their rough drafts and their text from yesterday. Pass out the writing prompt. Explain to the class that they will have the class period to write the final draft of their paragraphs. It will be due at the end of class today. Walk around and assist students. Remind them of the ways they have learned to cite evidence from text. (Option: If there are time constraints, pass out the writing prompt and assign the final writing piece as homework on Day 4 and have it due today.)

Students will take out their rough drafts and text from yesterday. Students will use their rough draft and supplemental writing materials to write the final copy of their paragraphs. Students will turn in the final copies of their paragraphs.

Core Action 1A, 1B, 1C Core Action 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D

Assessment: The final paragraph written and turned in at the end of the lesson.

Content Coaching: Unbound A Tool to Deepen Understanding of Standards, Shifts and Content

So what do you do when you see that students aren’t “getting it”? These content-‐-‐-‐specific questions are intended to be used by teachers, leaders and coaches for job-‐-‐-‐embedded development of Math and ELA content knowledge, post-‐-‐-‐lesson debriefing, coaching and lesson planning. The questions should be used to probe and push the thinking behind instructional practices, and to guide informed and actionable decisions on the changes needed for students to engage in grade-‐-‐-‐level, standards-‐-‐-‐aligned learning.

This tool is to be used in conjunction with the Instructional Practice Guide suite of tools from Student Achievement Partners. The Instructional Practice Guides are an important first step for diagnosing where and when Common Core instruction is taking place. Because every Core Action and every Shift cannot be observable in every lesson, Beyond the Lesson Discussion Guides offer questions for teachers and coaches to consider in order to ensure effective CCSS implementation over the course of the year. Content Coaching: UnboundEd provides an even more granular layer of instructional analysis and recommended next steps focused on application of content related to standards in the classroom.

ELA Leading the Conversation: • What are the knowledge and skills required to be successful on this task?

• To what grade and standard is the task aligned?

• How are texts selected for units/lessons? How are texts selected for a sequence acrossthe school year? How are texts selected for independent/guided reading?FOR P-‐-‐-‐3 ONLY

• Is there a systematic phonics program as part of the literacy block?FOR SECONDARY ONLY

• Is there collaboration between ELA and other content-‐-‐-‐area teachers around coherentlybuilding knowledge and sharing responsibility for students’ literacy development andimprovement?

Shift Questions that Develop Understanding of ELA Standards, Shifts and Content Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

• Is a grade-‐-‐-‐level complex text at the center of instruction?• IF NOT – is the focus of the lesson to build knowledge andvocabulary related to a high-‐-‐-‐leverage topic?• IF NOT – are there opportunities for students to engage in richevidence-‐-‐-‐ based conversations about complex texts and topics thatwere experienced in previous lessons or via independent/groupwork?• IF NOT – is the focus of the instructional time to build fluency, avolume of reading and/or stamina? Or is the focus on small-‐-‐-‐groupinstruction with homogenous groups by reading level?

**If the above is true, WHEN and HOW OFTEN do students experience complex text at the center of instruction?

• Are students engaging in regular practice with complex texts andacademic language?• Does instruction focus on students reading grade-‐-‐-‐levelcomplex texts closely, discerning deep meaning?• Do questions and tasks address the text and help buildknowledge by attending to its particular structures, concepts,ideas, and details?• Does instruction focus on building students’ academic vocabulary incontext throughout instruction?

Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and

informational

• Are students’ reading, writing, and/or speaking grounded inevidence from text?• Are text-‐-‐-‐dependent questions sending students back into the text toanswer them? Are they connected to the intended standard(s) of thelesson?• If NOT – In cases where the teacher is asking questions that can beanswered from students’ personal experience, is this happening AFTER andIN ADDITION TO text-‐-‐-‐based analysis?• Are lessons and tasks designed so that students cite specific evidence

from text(s) to support analysis, inferences, and claims, both orallyand in writing?

• Are students using evidence to build on each other’s observations orinsights during discussion or collaboration?

• Does the teacher expect evidence and precision from students andprobe responses accordingly?

Intentionally building knowledge through content-‐-‐-‐rich nonfiction

• Do questions and tasks address the text and help buildknowledge by attending to its particular concepts, ideas, anddetails?

• Do students read a significant amount of nonfiction?• When the anchor text of a unit is fiction, is nonfiction used to

supplement the text and help build understanding and knowledgeabout historical periods, topics and issues explored in the fictiontext?

• Is instruction designed so that nonfiction is systematically used tobuild domain-‐-‐-‐specific knowledge and vocabulary on topics?

Want more from UnboundEd? Check out our ELA Content Guides: Unbound and other resources to help enhance instruction.

The Foundation Text Complexity - Standards Institute · 2020-02-10 · Women’s Rights Convention:...

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