text-dependent questions melrose public schools november 2012

Text-Dependent QuestionsMelrose Public SchoolsNovember 2012

www.achievethecore.org

The questions which one asks oneself begin,at least, to illuminate the world, and becomeone’s key to the experience of others.

James Baldwin, American Essayist,Playwright, and Novelist, 1924–1987

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The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in ELA/Literacy

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

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Shift # 2: Text Dependent Questions

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

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Time – In and Out of the Text

• More instructional time spent outside the text means less time inside the text.

• Departing from the text in classroom discussion privileges only those who already have experience with the topic.

• It is easier to talk about our experiences than to analyze the text—especially for students reluctant to engage with reading.

• The CCSS are College and Career Readiness Standards.

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What is a Close Reading

www.achievethecore.org“X-ray the book”“X-ray the book”

www.achievethecore.org“X-ray the book”“X-ray the book”

Not every re

ading is a close one!


In the primary grades, close reading is accomplished through interactive read alouds and shared readings.


Creating a Close ReadingCreating a Close Reading

www.achievethecore.orgCreating a Close ReadingCreating a Close Reading

Short passage


Creating a Close ReadingCreating a Close Reading

Short passage

Complex text


Short passage

Complex text

Limited frontloading


Short passage

Complex textLimited frontloadingRepeated readings


The Role of Background Knowledge and Close Reading

Close reading, then, should not imply that we ignore the reader’s experience and attend closely to the text and nothing else. It should imply that we bring the text and the reader close together.

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Short passageComplex textLimited frontloadingRepeated readingsText-dependent questions


Annotation is a note of any form made while

reading text.

“Reading with a pencil.”


People have been annotating texts since there have been texts to annotate.


Annotation is not highlighting.


Annotation slows down the reader in order to

deepen understanding.


Annotation in KindergartenAnnotation in Kindergarten

• Language experience approach• Interactive writing and shared pen activities


1 23 4

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Kemp, L. M. (1996). One peaceful pond: A counting book. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Modeled Annotation in Kindergarten


Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Modeled Annotation in Second


Even young students can annotate.


Annotations in Grades 3-5• Underline the major points. • Circle keywords or phrases

that are confusing or unknown to you.

• Use a question mark (?) for questions that you have during the reading. Be sure to write your question.


Using Questioning in Fifth Grade


Same text, different student, different strategy: Inferring.


• Questions that can only be answered with evidence from the text

• Can be literal but can also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation

• Focus on word, sentence and paragraph as well as larger ideas, themes or events

• Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency

• Can also include prompts for writing and discussion questions.


Progression of Text-dependent Questions

Part

Sentence

Paragraph

Entire text

Across texts

Word

Whole

Segments


General Understandings

Overall view Sequence of informationStory arcMain claim and evidenceGist of passage


General Understandings in Kindergarten

Retell the story in order using the words beginning, middle, and end.


Key Details

Search for nuances in meaningDetermine importance of ideasFind supporting details that support main ideasAnswers who, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many.


Key Details in Kindergarten

How long did it take to go from a hatched egg to a butterfly?What is one food that gave him a stomach ache? What is one food that did not him a stomach ache?


It took more than 3 weeks. He ate for one week, and then “he stayed inside [his cocoon] for more than two weeks.”


Chocolate cakeIce creamPickleSwiss cheeseSalamiLollipopCherry pieSausageCupcakewatermelon

Foods that did not give him a stomachache

ApplesPearsPlumsStrawberriesOrangesGreen leaf

Foods that gave him a stomachache


Vocabulary and Text StructureVocabulary and Text Structure

Bridges literal and inferential meaningsDenotationConnotationShades of meaningFigurative languageHow organization contributes to meaning


Vocabulary

Which words should be taught?

• Essential to understanding text

• Likely to appear in future reading

Which words should get more time and attention?

• More abstract words (as opposed to concrete words)persist vs. checkpoint

noticed vs. accident

• Words which are part of semantic word familysecure, securely, security, secured

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Vocabulary in Kindergarten

How does the author help us to understand what cocoon means?


There is an illustration of the cocoon, and a sentence that reads, “He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself.”


Genre: Entertain? Explain? Inform? Persuade?Point of view: First-person, third-person limited, omniscient, unreliable narratorCritical Literacy: Whose story is not represented?

Author’s Purpose


Author’s Purpose in Kindergarten

Who tells the story—the narrator or the caterpillar?


A narrator tells the story, because he uses the words he and his. If it was the caterpillar, he would say I and my.


InferencesInferences

Probe each argument in persuasive text,

each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, and observe how these

build to a whole.


Inferences in Kindergarten

The title of the book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. How do we know he is hungry?


The caterpillar ate food every day “but he was still hungry.” On Saturday he ate so much food he got a stomach ache! Then he was “a big, fat caterpillar” so he could build a cocoon and turn into a butterfly.


Opinions, Arguments, and Intertextual Connections

Author’s opinion and reasoning (K-5)ClaimsEvidenceCounterclaimsEthos, Pathos, LogosRhetoric

Links to other texts throughout the grades


Opinions and Intertextual Connections in Kindergarten

NarrativeIs this a happy story or a

sad one? How do you know?

InformationalHow are these two books

similar? How are they different?


A Close Reading of “Post-it Notes”

Jones, C. F. (1991). Post-it notes (p. 51). In Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions and How They Came to Be. New York: Doubleday.


Purpose

Students are learning about the invention of various products toward the development of an essay that explains their findings of the investigative question, “What does it take to be an inventor?


Read with a pencil…

Underline sentences that trace the history of this product. Circle words or phrases that are unfamiliar or confusing.


“I was amazed to learn that __________!”

Write your fact and your partner’s fact.


Post-It Notes

By now everyone knows what Post-it brand notes are. They are those great little self-stick notepapers.

Most people have Post-it Notes. Most people use them. Most people love them.

But Post-it Notes were not a planned product. No one got the idea and then stayed up nights to invent it.

A man named Spencer Silver was working in the 3M research laboratories in 1970 trying to find a strong adhesive. Silver developed a new adhesive, but it was even weaker than what 3M already manufactured. It stuck to objects, but could be easily lifted off. It was superweak instead of superstrong.


No one knew what to do with the stuff, but Silver didn’t discard it.

Then one Sunday four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in his church’s choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they kept falling out of the book.

Remembering Silver’s adhesive, Fry used some to coat his markers.

Success! With the weak adhesive, the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the pages.

3M began distributing Post-it Notes nationwide in 1980—ten years after Silver developed the superweak adhesive. Today they are one of the most popular office products available.


Text-dependent Questions

Post-it notes began as an idea that didn’t work, but then became a very useful product. What was the sequence of events that led to this invention?

General Understandings Question



The author tells you twice when Spencer Silver first invented the adhesive that would be used in the Post-it Notes. The first time is in the third paragraph, when she tells us it was 1970. But she tells us the same information again later, in a different way. How did you figure out the answer?

Key Details Question



Spencer Silver wasn’t alone. How did Arthur Fry contribute to the development of Post-it notes. How did you figure out the answer?

Key Details Question



Do you believe that the author had a positive or negative view of Post-it Notes and its inventors? What words or phrases lead you to believe so?

Vocabulary Question



What does the author want readers to know about the invention of this product? What sentences help you determine the author’s purpose?

Author’s Purpose Question



What were some of the qualities of the inventors that you can infer from this text? What passages help you to draw this conclusion?

Inference Question


Don’t over-teach. Don’t over-teach. Students with Students with

disabilities and disabilities and English learners English learners have the right to have the right to

appropriatelyappropriately struggle! struggle!


Provide students with copies of text-dependent questions in advance of reading.Pre-teach reading, especially background knowledge and cognates. Provide realia or visual glossaries to support student learning. Highlight contextual clues.

Accommodations for Close Reading


Develop Text-dependent Questions for Your Reading

Do the questions require the reader to return to the text?Do the questions require the reader to use evidence to support his or her ideas or claims?Do the questions move from text-explicit to text-implicit knowledge?Are there questions that require the reader to analyze, evaluate, and create?


Creating Text-Dependent Questions

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Step One: Identify the core understandings and key ideas of the text.

Step Two: Start small to build confidence.

Step Three: Target vocabulary and text structure.

Step Four: Tackle tough sections head-on.

Step Five: Create coherent sequences of text-dependent questions.

Step Six: Identify the standards that are being addressed.

Step Seven: Create the culminating assessment.


Core Understanding and Key Ideas

Core Understanding and Key Idea:

Two people of very different ages may still have much in common and become friends.

Synopsis:

Opal has just moved to a new town in a new state and has no friends yet. Through a series of comic mishaps inadvertently started by her very special dog, Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny, the town librarian. Opal realizes they have much in common and a friendship is ignited.

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Vocabulary and Text Dependent Questions

From “Hot and Cold Summer” - 5th grade fictional text

•“To avoid someone means to keep away from them so that you don’t have to see them and they don’t have to see you. How did the boys avoid meeting Bolivia at first?” (pg. 23)

•Re-read the last two paragraphs on page 39. Rory had a “strong suspicion”. What is a suspicion? What details in the story made Rory suspicious of Bolivia?

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Syntax and Text Dependent Questions

• Syntax can predict student performance as much as vocabulary does.

• Questions and tasks addressing syntax are powerful.

Example:

Who are the members of the wolf pack? How many wolves are in the pack? To answer this, pay close attention to the use of commas and semi-colons in the last paragraph on pg. 377. The semi-colons separate or list each member in the pack.

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Structure and Text-Dependent Questions

Text-dependent questions can be crafted to point students’ attention to features of text that enhance understanding (such as how section headers and captions lead to greater clarity or provide hints regarding what is most important in informational text, or how illustrations add to a narrative).

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Structure and Text Dependent Questions

Examples:

• “Look at the illustrations on page 31. Why did the illustrator include details like the power outlets in the walls?”

• “Dillard is careful to place opposing descriptions of the natural and man-made side-by-side. How does this juxtaposition fit with or challenge what we have already read? Why might she have chosen this point in the text for these descriptions?”

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Reading Strategies and Text-Dependent Questions

• Text-dependent questions generally call on students to employ reading strategies.

• Strategies are no longer taught in isolation.

• The text and readers’ need to comprehend it should determine what strategies are activated - not the other way around.

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When writing questions…

Always follow up the question with statements such as:

• Point to this in the text.• Use details from the text.• How do you know?• Support your answer with the text.• What effect does/do these choices make?

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Culminating Tasks

• Should relate to core understanding and key ideas.

• A coherent sequence of text dependent questions will scaffold students toward successfully completing the culminating task.

Example:

“The title of this selection is ‘Because of Winn-Dixie.' Using your answers from the questions above and class discussion, explain why this is an appropriate title for the selection. Be sure to clearly cite evidence from the text for each part of your answer.”

“Officer Buckle’s final safety tip is 'ALWAYS STICK WITH YOUR BUDDY.' How did he and Gloria each learn this lesson for themselves throughout the story?”

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Bands

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9-10

6-8

4-5

2-3

K-1 Incr

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Standards Two through Nine

Bands

11-CCR

9-10

6-8

4-5

2-3

K-1

Standard One Standard Ten

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78www.achievethecore.org

WORKING WITH AN EXAMPLE: BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE

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Is the Question Text Dependent? Is it a “Good” Text Dependent Question?

• Was there ever a time where an animal scared you? •Should Ms. Franny have felt embarrassed?•Can bears really eat people? •As you read this story think about plants and animals in Florida•How can an older woman make her library safe from unwanted visitors?

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•This author has won prizes for her books. Why? Find a part of this story you think could win a prize. •Research wildlife and plant life in Florida. •Research how to safeguard libraries from “unwanted visitors” •In Because of Winn-Dixie Opal tells about her experiences after moving to a new town. Think about a time that you were a newcomer to a place or situation. Now use vivid words to write a memoir about that experience.

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•What book was Miss Franny reading when the bear came into the library?•What did the men say when they were teasing Miss Fanny? •Why was Miss Franny sitting on the floor when Amanda met her?•What did Miss Franny say when Amanda asked if dogs were allowed in the library?.

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Final Thoughts

• There is no one right way to have students work with text dependent questions.

• Providing for the differing needs of students means providing and scaffolding supports differentially - not asking easier questions or substituting simpler text.

• Listening and speaking should be built into any sequence of activities along with reading and writing:

• “Re-read it, think it, talk it, write it”

• The CCSS require ALL students to read and engage with grade appropriate complex text regularly. This requires new ways of working in our classrooms.

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text-dependent questions melrose public schools november 2012

Documents

close reading slide

close reading close

book slide

kindergarten slide

text dependent questions

reader close

modeled annotation

shared readings