english language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects

English Language ArtsEnglish Language Arts

andand

Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsLiteracy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

Kansas State Department of Educationwww.ksde.org

A Renewed Vision for College and Career Readiness (CCR)

The Standards “define general, cross-disciplinary literacy expectations that must be met for students to be prepared to enter college and workforce training programs ready to succeed” (p. 4).


An Integrated Model of Literacy An advantage to Kansas over our now-retired, isolated

standards in reading; writing; and speaking, listening, and viewing.

The four “strands” of the Kansas Common Core Standards are woven together to show the inter-connected nature of communication processes.

Examples: Writing standard #9 requires that students write about what they read Speaking and Listening standard #4 sets the expectation that students

will share findings from their research Language standard #1 obliges students to show command of the

conventions of English grammar and usage when they write and speak

Adapted from “Key Design Considerations” (page 4 of the Standards)


Shared Responsibility for Students’ Literacy Development

“The Standards insist that instruction in reading, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school” (p. 4).

“This division reflects the unique time-honored place of ELA teachers in developing students’ literacy skills while at the same time recognizing that teachers in other areas must have a role in this development as well” (p. 4).

Adapted from “Key Design Considerations” (page 4 of the Standards)


Hallmarks of College and Career Readiness in English Language Arts and Literacy

College and Career Ready Students:• Demonstrate independence in “the 4 C’s”

• Comprehend complex text• Critique the craft used to create text• Construct rich understandings of content• Convey multifaceted meaning

• Build strong content knowledge through research • Respond to varying demands of audience, purpose, task, and

discipline in writing and speaking• Adjust purpose• Appreciate nuance• Provide evidence as appropriate to the discipline

• Use technology and digital media strategically and capably to deepen encounters with text and content and to present and share information

• Come to understand other perspectives and cultures

Adapted from “Students Who are College and Career Ready…” (page 7 of the Standards)


But how do we ensure our students reach these hallmarks of college- and career-readiness?

A focus on results rather than means “the Standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers,

and states to determine how these goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed” (p. 4).


Publisher’s Criteria, Grades K-2 and 3-12

Documents available on KSDE website <http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4605>

Outline four key considerations for our curricula and instruction:1. Text complexity2. Range and quality of texts3. High-quality, text-dependent

questions and tasks4. Writing and research that

analyzes sources and deploys evidence

PLEASE NOTE: The ideas appearing in these documents do not represent a full, rich, or robust delineation of all that should be included in our curricula and instruction; instead, they represent a collection of highlights of broad, general ways we must re-tool some aspects of our curricula and instruction.


Text Complexity

“The Common Core Standards hinge on students encountering appropriately complex texts at each grade level in order to develop the mature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they need for success in school and life” (p. 3).


Text Complexity

Text complexity is defined by:1. Quantitative Measures – readability

and other scores of text complexity2. Qualitative Measures – levels of

meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

3. Reader and Task Considerations – background knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned


Text Complexity

Resources for Analyzing Text Complexity are available on the KSDE website: <http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4605>


Close, Sustained Reading and Re-reading

The Standards “prioritize” compact, short, self-contained texts that require students “to probe and ponder:”

• Meanings of individual words• Order in which sentences unfold• Development of ideas of the course of the text• Reading and re-reading for the purpose of gathering

evidence to support ideas and claims

PLEASE NOTE: Again, this is not to say that compact, short, self-contained texts are the only things students should read but that they are the “priority.”


Direct Access to Text

Instructional scaffolding should not…• “Pre-empt or replace the reading of the text”• “Translate the content of the text”• “Provide a ‘simpler source’ of the same information”

In short, students should do the heavy lifting of reading and acquiring content on their own.


A Focus on Academic Vocabulary

Appendix A outlines a three-tier model for vocabulary1

• Tier 1 Words everyday speech not the focus of instruction

• Tier 2 Words Words that are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech Often represent subtle or precise ways to communicate relatively simple ideas Found across many types of text Are not specific to any one discipline

• Tier 3 Words Specific to a domain or a field of study Key to understanding a new concept within a text Often explicitly defined by an author Often heavily scaffolded in text (e.g., bold-faced, defined in glossary, etc.)

Tier 2 and Tier 3 words deserve equal attention in instruction.

1 Beck, McKeown, and Kucan; 2002, 2008.


Range and Quality of Texts Include a stronger focus on…

• More information text in elementary school • More literary non-fiction in ELA classes in grades 6-12

PLEASE NOTE: The percentages on the table reflect the sum of student reading, not just reading in ELA settings. Teachers of senior English classes, for example, are not required to devote 70 percent of reading to informational texts. Rather, 70 percent of student reading across the grade should be informational.


Range and Quality of Texts

“Teachers and students are guided to analyze dense arguments and information at the heart of complex literary non-fiction […] particularly literary non-fiction that makes an extended argument or provides dense scientific, historical, or technical information.”

This emphasis mirrors the Writing Standards focus on students’ abilities to marshal an argument and write to inform or explain.

This shift “constitutes a significant change from the traditional focus in ELA classrooms on narrative text or the narrative aspects on literary non-fiction.”


Range and Quality of Textsin History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

“Provide texts that are valuable sources of information”• May not always exhibit literary craft, but they should be

“worthy of reading”• Focused on “such significant topics that they are worth

the instructional time for students to examine them slowly and deliberately”

“Include opportunities to combine quantitative information derived from charts, graphs and other formats and media with information derived from text”


High-quality, Text-dependent Questions & Tasks

“Among the highest priorities of the Common Core Standards is that students can read closely and gain knowledge from texts.”

• “More questions that can be answered only with reference to the text.”

• “Sequences of questions should elicit a sustained discussion.”

• Tasks must “require the use of more textual evidence.”


Writing and Research the Analyzes and Deploys Evidence

Draw evidence from texts to support and develop:• Analysis• Reflection• Research

Increase opportunities to write in response to sources Extensive practice with short, focused research projects

• “typically taking a week and occurring—at a minimum—quarterly”

Increase focus on argumentation and informative writing, less narrative writing


PLEASE NOTE: As with reading, the percentages in the table reflect the sum of student writing, not justwriting in English Language Arts. Also, these modes of writing are not mutually exclusive; multiple purposes often exist within a single piece of writing.

Writing and Research the Analyzes and Deploys Evidence


Grammar and Usage Conventions

“The Language Standards provide a focus for instruction each year to ensure that students gain adequate mastery of the essential ‘rules’ of standard written and spoken English.”

“They also push students to learn how to approach language as a matter of craft so that they can communicate clearly and powerfully.”

Instruct students to understand “when [they] should adhere to formal conventions and when they are speaking and writing for a less formal purpose.”


Additional Points

Students should “skillfully use multimedia and technology to deepen encounters with texts and to provide opportunities for presenting and sharing information.”

Teachers should “plan engaging discussions around grade level topics and texts that students have studied and researched in advance.”


Sunflower Literacy Learning Framework Many of the ideas shared in the Publisher’s Criteria document

are also reflected in the Sunflower Literacy Learning Framework, available in DRAFT form on the KSDE website <http://www.ksde.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cBWsUCeRZQ8%3d&tabid=4678&mid=11155&forcedownload=true>.

The document contains a compilation of research and promising practices revolving around effective literacy instruction:

1. Provide explicit vocabulary instruction2. Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction3. Select texts purposefully4. Provide opportunities for extended discussion of text meaning and

interpretation5. Provide opportunities for writing across the curriculum and writing

within each discipline


For More Information

Matt CopelandLanguage Arts and Literacy ConsultantCareer, Standards, and Assessment ServicesKansas State Department of Education(785) [email protected]

Kris ShawLanguage Arts and Literacy ConsultantCareer, Standards, and Assessment ServicesKansas State Department of Education(785) [email protected]

english language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects

Documents

text reading

text complexity resources

scores of text complexity

students literacy development

kansas common core standards

career ready students

things students

literacy college