ela/ literacy shifts of the common core standards

I N C L U D E S M AT E R I A L F R O M A C H I E V E T H E C O R E . O R G A N D E N G A G E N Y. O R G

ELA/LITERACY SHIFTS OF THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS

Department of Education | Diocese of San Jose | November 2013

1 MAKING THE CHANGE

• What is the Common Core?

• How does your instruction change when you implement the new ELA standards? What looks different?


AS WE THINK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE…

• Adoption and implementation are not the same thing!

• We have adopted the ELA Common Core.

• Where are we in implementation of it?


LET’S FOCUS OUR LENS

• First, we focus on the forest (the BIG picture) of the ELA Common Core…not the trees (the individual standards)!!!


6 SHIFTS

1: Balancing Informational & Literary TextStudents read a true balance of informational and literary texts.

2: Knowledge in the DisciplinesStudents build knowledge about the world through TEXT rather than the teacher or activities.

3: Staircase of ComplexityStudents read the central, grade appropriate text around which instruction is centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space and support in the curriculum for close reading.

4: Text-based AnswersStudents engage in rich and rigorous evidence based conversations about text. 5: Writing from SourcesWriting emphasizes use of evidence from sources to inform or make an argument. 6: Academic VocabularyStudents constantly build the transferable vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts. This can be done effectively by spiraling like content in increasingly complex texts.


3 SHIFTS

1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

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

3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language


SHIFT #1

• Shift #1: Building Content Knowledge through Content-Rich Nonfiction


SHIFT #1: BUILDING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH CONTENT-RICH NONFICTION • 50/50 balance K-5• 70/30 in grades 9-12• Students learning to read should exercise their ability

to comprehend complex text through read-aloud texts.• In grades 2+, students begin reading more complex

texts, consolidating the foundational skills with reading comprehension. • Reading aloud texts that are well-above grade level

should be done throughout K-5 and beyond.



WHY THIS SHIFT?

• Students are required to read very little informational text in elementary and middle school.• Non-fiction makes up the vast majority of

required reading in college/workplace.• Informational text is harder for students to

comprehend than narrative text.• Students need to learn how to read different

types of informational text.


ALL TEACHERS SUPPORT LITERACY!• This interdisciplinary approach stems from extensive research

establishing the need for college and career ready students to be proficient in reading complex informational texts, independently, in a variety of content areas.

• Most of the required reading in college and workforce training programs is informational in structure and challenging in content.

• Postsecondary education programs typically provide students with both a higher volume of such reading than is generally required in K–12 schools and little scaffolding.

• The 2009 reading framework of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) requires a high and increasing proportion of informational text on its assessment as students advance through the grades.


BUILDING KNOWLEDGE…

• Not random reading

• Sequencing texts to build knowledge

• Literacy in social studies/history, science, technical subjects, and the arts is embedded

Stop and Reflect on this Shift

• What is it?• What does it (or will it) look like in practice in my

school (or in my classroom)?• What are some “baby steps” we could take?


SHIFT #2

• Shift #2: Reading, Writing, and Speaking Grounded in Evidence From Text, Both Literary and Informational


READING, WRITING AND SPEAKING GROUNDED IN EVIDENCE FROM TEXT: WHY?

• Most college and workplace writing requires evidence.• Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak

student performance on NAEP.• Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards:

Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and Listening standards 2, 3, and 4, all focus on the gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from text. • Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks of

strong readers and writers.


1TALK ABOUT THESE EXAMPLES…

•In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

•In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.

•In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote?


AND THEN THESE…

What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?

What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?


SAMPLE LITERATURE ASSESSMENT PRE-COMMON CORE

• From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer• Have the students identify the different methods of

removing warts that Tom and Huckleberry talk about. Discuss the charms that they say and the items (i.e. dead cats) they use. Ask students to devise their own charm to remove warts. Students could develop a method that would fit in the time of Tom Sawyer and a method that would incorporate items and words from current time. Boys played with dead cats and frogs, during Tom’s time. Are there cultural ideas or artifacts from the current time that could be used in the charm?


SAMPLE LITERATURE ASSESSMENT COMMON CORE

From The Adventures of Tom SawyerWhy does Tom hesitate to allow Ben to paint the fence? How does Twain construct his sentences to reflect that hesitation? What effect do Tom’s hesitations have on Ben?





• https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-text-lesson


https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-text-lesson



SHIFT #3

• Shift #3:Regular Practice with Complex Text and Its Academic Language


REGULAR PRACTICE WITH COMPLEX TEXT AND ITS ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: WHY?• Gap between complexity of college and high school texts

is huge.• What students can read, in terms of complexity is the

greatest predictor of success in college (ACT study).• Too many students are reading at too low a level.

(<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts).• Standards include a staircase of increasing text

complexity from elementary through high school.• Standards also focus on building general academic

vocabulary so critical to comprehension.


WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF COMPLEX TEXT?

• Subtle and/or frequent transitions• Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes• Density of information• Unfamiliar settings, topics or events• Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences• Complex sentences• Uncommon vocabulary• Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things

together for the student• Longer paragraphs• Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures


DETERMINING TEXT COMPLEXITY


1THINKING ABOUT TEXT COMPLEXITY…THE BOOK THIEF

• Read Exemplar text from Common Core Appendix.

• Note Lexile is 730L (grades 3-4), but it has been placed on the Grade 9-10 band. Why?

• Question: How might you as teacher provide support to help students read this book successfully?


SCAFFOLDING COMPLEX TEXT• The standards require that students read

appropriately complex text at each grade level – independently (Standard 10).

• We need to find ways to scaffold student learning as they meet the standard:• Multiple readings• Read Aloud• Chunking text (a little at a time)• Provide support while reading, rather than

before. Department of Education | Diocese of San Jose | November 2013

MORE IDEAS FOR SCAFFOLDING AND SUPPORT

• Chunking• Reading and rereading• Read aloud• Strategic think aloud• Scaffolding questions• Heterogeneous small groups• Recording• Pre-prepping struggling readers to support confidence and

participation• Annotation strategies• Cornell notes• Paraphrasing and journaling


CLOSE ANALYTIC READING

• Requires prompting students with text-dependent questions to unpack complex text and gain knowledge.• Text dependent questions require text-based

answers – evidence.• Not teacher summarizing text, but guiding

students through the text for information.• Supports fluency


SAMPLE QUICK ANNOTATION STRATEGY • ? = Ask a question• “The text mentions a the DNA study. What does DNA stand for?”•

!!! = Note an interesting passage• “I didn’t realize that tapeworms can grow to 23 meters!”•

C = connection to another text or piece of evidence• “The Ebola virus is like the AIDS virus we read about yesterday because….”

• (check)= Access prior knowledge; I already knew that!• “I knew that photosynthesis required water.”•

X = Challenge your own thinking, new information• “I had no idea that Nobel invented dynamite.”•

* = Reason that looks important• “I’ll need this piece of evidence about Triceratops to support my thesis.”

• "Box it" = Remember words you don't know, are repeated, or you just like• “I’ve seen the word ignominious several times, and I need to look it up.”


INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES THAT DON’T ALIGN WITH THE SHIFT

Previewing the topic of the reading in a text-free way (just “teacher talk”).

Providing simple text to weak readers and complex texts to strong readers.

Teaching strategies and skills outside of the context of reading appropriately complex text.


WHY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY?

• Academic vocabulary includes the words that are critical to understanding concepts taught in school.

• Knowledge of this vocabulary will not guarantee success, but lack of academic vocabulary knowledge can ensure failure. (Biemiller 1999)


TEACHING VOCABULARY

• The most effective strategies for teaching academic vocabulary involve multiple exposures to new words in a variety of contexts.

• Two-thirds of all academic English words come from Latin, French (through Latin), or Greek.

• Focus on “tier 2” (high utility, cross curricular) words: resources, prediction, maintain, maximum as well as those “tier 3” (domain specific) words needed for the particular course of study: isotope, calcify





• http://vimeo.com/58540086


http://vimeo.com/58540086

http://vimeo.com/58540086

REFLECTION

• As a classroom teacher, where am I in understanding and implementing each of these shifts?

• As an administrator, where are my teachers in understanding and implementing each of these shifts?


STRUCTURE OF THE ELA COMMON CORE

• Four Strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language

• There are Reading and Writing Strands for History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects

• Text complexity standards are listed by grade “bands”: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12, CCR – College and Career Ready)


1IDENTIFY THE STANDARDS?

RI . 4 . 2

W. 11-12. 1b


1NEXT STEPS?

• For me?

• For my faculty?

• For all Diocesan schools?

• Question: If we were to prioritize ONE idea from these shifts as a Diocesan wide ELA instructional focus for the rest of this year, what should we choose?


Activity #1: Name the Standards

(Based on achievethecore.org materials. Requires 20-45 minutes)

Directions:• 1. Participants work in pairs or groups of no more than 4.• 2. Read each of the Reading Anchor Standards and “name”

the standard with a 1-5 word phrase. (Example: Standard 1 could be Evidence, 2 might be Central ideas…)

• 3. Pairs/groups should reach consensus on the most precise “name” for each standard.

• 4. Discuss findings with the larger group. Agree and post a “name” for each standard.

• 5. If time or at another time, continue the exercise with the Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Arts Standards.


Activity #2: Reading Informational Text

(Based on NYC materials. Requires 20-50 minutes)Directions:• 1. Participants work in groups of 3.• 2. Assign person in a group a different grade band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8.)• 3. Assign each group one Reading Informational Text Standard.

Have each person read and highlight the key skills and concepts in their grade band of that Standard,

• 4. Have each group discuss how the standard changes across the grade bands.

• 5. In same groups identify specific implications for teachers. (See next slide for an example.)

• 6. Have each group report their findings to the whole group.• 5. If time or at another time, continue the exercise with the

Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Arts Standards.


Reading Informational Text (cont.)

• “If students have to ______, then teachers have to_______.”

• Example (from RI.5.6) : If students have to analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent, then teachers have to • teach the concept of point of view • provide several texts on the same topic that have varying

points of view • model how to compare and contrast similarities and

differences in oral and written work


Teacher reflection questions

• What about my current practice will stay the same?• What will change?• What help do I need to make these changes?

• What two concrete actions am I willing to commit to so right now that I can better support my students to meet the demands of the ELA Common Core?


ela/ literacy shifts of the common core standards

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