Elementary Teaching & Learning

Moving Forward with Literacy

2.26.13

Plymouth Church

Agenda

I. Deepening our Implementation of the Journeys Materials – Supporting Text Complexity i. Understanding Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity ii. Lessons from David Chard – Scaffolding Complex Textsiii. Text Dependent Questions & Close Reading iv. Collaborative Action Planning – How will we support

this shift in our building?

DEEPENING OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

JOURNEYS MATERIALS AND THE COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

SUPPORTING TEXT COMPLEXITY

THE “BIG VISION” IS NOT ABOUT “STANDARDS”…

IT IS ABOUT COLLEGE & CAREER READINESS!The Primary Outcome: Increased Math & Science proficiency by closing the “text gap” in content and comprehension.

Reading Challenging Text

• Text difficulty is specified in the standards

• This means that children in grades 2-12 will be asked to read more challenging text (which means that we have to teach more challenging text than we have in the past)

SHIFT 3: STAIRCASE OF COMPLEXITY

THIS VIDEO FEATURES A DISCUSSION BETWEEN NYS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION JOHN B. KING JR., DAVID COLEMAN (CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR TO THE COMMON CORE) AND KATE

GERSON (A SR. FELLOW WITH THE REGENTS RESEARCH FUND) ADDRESSING SHIFT 3 –STAIRCASE OF COMPLEXITY

What will be required to make the shift to increasing text complexity in our classrooms?

What will be required to increase text complexity in the

classroom?• An understanding of what makes a text

“complex”

• A set of instructional strategies to scaffold students in complex text

• Highly trained teachers who know WHEN & HOW to employ these scaffolding techniques

WHAT MAKES A TEXT

COMPLEX?Quick Write Reflection

Word or Text Length?

We defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it’s not to come, it will be now; if it’s not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Perfetti, Landi, & Oakhill (2005)

The Science of Reading

Comprehension

Blueprint of a

Reader

HOW DO THE JOURNEYS MATERIALS SUPPORT THIS BLUEPRINT?

Collaborative Group Work

Meaning Making Provide ample time and

opportunity to read complex text.

Create a classroom culture of discussions that are text-based.

Explicitly teach comprehension strategies.

Provide procedural facilitators

Access Skills

World/Background Knowledge Provide students with opportunities to

read widely and make text-text, text-world, and text-self connections.

Language Structure Teach comprehension skills, affixes, and

compound words explicitly. Draw attention to syntactic structures in

texts.

Vocabulary Select concept vocabulary to teach

thoroughly. Pre-teach complex vocabulary. Use and reuse vocabulary in discourse

and writing.

Access Skills Assume we are explicitly

teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and building fluency. Orthography

Assume access and knowledge of print.

TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

Text Dependent Questions

… a text dependent question specifically asks a question that can only be answered by referring explicitly back to the text being read.

It does not rely on any particular background information extraneous to the text nor depend on students having other experiences or knowledge; instead it privileges the text itself and what students can extract from what is before them.

~ www.achievethecore.org

Text-Dependent Questions…

• are questions that can only be answered correctly by close reading of the text and demand careful attention to the text.

• require an understanding that extends beyond recalling facts.

• often require students to infer.

• do not depend on information from outside sources.

• allow students to gather evidence and build knowledge.

• provide access to increasing levels of complex text.

• call for careful and thoughtful teacher preparation.

• require time for students to process.

• are worth asking.

ANALYZING TEXTS TO SUPPORT THE COMMON CORE

CLOSE READING

Shanahan’s Close Read Protocol

• For a 1st reading, you want to ask questions that ensure that the students

understand and think about the major ideas in the story or article. That means you limit your questions to big ideas or you query information that you think the students might be confused by.

(Key Ideas & Details)

Shanahan’s Close Read Protocol

• On the 2nd reading, you want to ask questions that require students to analyze how the text works: why the author made certain choices (example: word choice) and what the implications of those decisions would be in terms of meaning or tone.

(Craft & Structure)

Shanahan’s Close Read Protocol

• On the 3rd reading, the issue is how does this text connect to your life and your views, critical analysis of quality and value, and how the text connects to other texts.

(Integration of Knowledge and Ideas)

Shanahan Blog

First Read Second Read Third ReadSelect 3 MVPs from the text to share with your group.

Reread the last 4 paragraphs, starting with “It is sort of like translating too quickly…”

What point is Shanahan trying to make through the analogy of riding a bicycle?

What is your position on this issue? Defend your stance. Reference specific statements from the text in your response.

CLOSE READING & TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

Our work on this is far from done…

We will continue to develop our own understanding through study and practice during our Teaching & Learning Meetings.

We will support teacher understanding during our District PLCs next year.

COLLABORATIVE ACTION PLANNING1. What is our current reality regarding the text complexity expectations of the Common Core? What evidence do we have to support this? (Our data tells us we need to make changes… where will we start? ~ Jo Robinson)

2. What structures will be needed to support teachers in scaffolding students in complex text?

COMING IN APRILSupporting Data Teams, CFA

Creation, and planning with the Journeys materials.