Examining ELA Shifts, Text Complexity, Text-Dependent Questions, and Academic Vocabulary Within the Common Core Standard

1. ExaminingELA Shifts, Text Complexity, Text-Dependent Questions, and Academic Vocabulary Within the Common Core Standards (NxG) Facilitators: Bridget Call and Rita Scott Secondary ELA Coaches Mingo County Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

2. Snapshot of CCR Students • demonstrate independence; they are self-directed learners • build strong content knowledgeby researching, reading, writing, speaking, and listening critically • respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and disciplineby adapting their communication • comprehend, as wellas critique, by questioning authors’ or speakers’ assumptions • value evidence and cite it • use technology and digital media strategically and capably • understand other perspectives and culturesspectivescultures

3. Part I: ELA Shifts Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

4. Shift 1: Building knowledge through content-rich nonfictionShift 2: Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational.Shift 3: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

5. Recommended Percentages for Reading throughout the Day

6. Recommended Percentages for Reading during English Language Arts Class

7. Recommended Percentage of Each Type of Writing

8. Part II: Examining Text Complexity Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

9. Activity: Appendix A Read pages 2-9 of Appendix A Be prepared to discuss implications for classroom instruction Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

10. The Crisis of Text Complexity Complexity of texts K-12 has eroded: • High school textbooks have declined in all subject areas over several decades. • Average length of sentences in K-8 textbooks have declined from 20 to 14 words. • Vocabulary demands have declined, e.g., 8th grade textbooks equivalent to former 5th grade texts; 12th grade anthologies equal to former 7th grade.

11. What’s wrong with the simplified text approach? • Simplified texts are often synonymous with “restricted, limited, and thin in meaning.” • Academic vocabulary can only be learned from complex texts––by noticing how it works in texts, engaging with, thinking about, and discussing its more complex meanings with others. • Mature language skills needed for success in school and life can only be gained by working with demanding materials. • No evidence suggests that struggling readers—especially at middle and high school--catch up by gradually increasing the complexity of simpler texts. . .

12. Standards’ Model of Text Complexity • Levels of meaning • and purpose • Structure • Conventional • language • Knowledge • demands • Readability • measures: • Word length • Frequency • Sentence length • Text cohesion Lexiles • Reader variables: motivation, knowledge, experiences • Text variables: purpose, complexity generated by assigned • task, and questions posed

13. Lexile Alignment to College and Career Readiness to Close the Gap

14. Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp

15. Activity: Appendix B • Read three excerpts in your grade band from Appendix B • Grades 9 and 10 (pages 101-130) • Grades 11 and 12 [CCR] (pages 140-171) • Pay close attention to the sample performance tasks for different text types (found at the end of each section). • Be prepared to share with the group implications for classroom instruction.

16. Part III: Text-Dependent Questions Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

17. Text-dependent Questions Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

18. 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

19. 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. 19

20. Text-Dependent Questions are not… • Low-level, literal, or recall questions • Focused on comprehension strategies • Just questions… 20

21. Text-Dependent Questions... • Can only be answered with evidence from the text. • Can be literal (checking for understanding) but must 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. 21

22. Three Types of Text-Dependent Questions When writing or reviewing a set of questions, consider the following three categories: • Questions that assess themes and central ideas • Questions that assess knowledge of vocabulary • Questions that assess syntax and structure 22

23. Taken from Ohio Title I Conference March 2013

24. Creating Text-Dependent Questions 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.

25. Non-Examples and Examples 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? Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent • 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? 25

26. Text-Dependent Question Worksheet andText-Dependent Tips Worksheet from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cd/documents Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

27. Activity • Read “The Surprise Party” by Katherine Brush • Create a text-dependent question based on the text • Be prepared to share your questions

28. They were a couple in their late thirties, and they looked unmistakably married. They sat on the banquette opposite us in a little narrow restaurant, having dinner. The man had a round, self-satisfied face, with glasses on it; the woman was fadingly pretty, in a big hat. There was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an Occasion—in fact, the husband’s birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him. It arrived, in the form of a small but glossy birthday cake, with one pink candle burning in the center. The headwaiter brought it in and placed it before the husband, and meanwhile the violin-and-piano orchestra played “Happy Birthday to You,” and the wife beamed with shy pride over her little surprise, and such few people as there were in the restaurant tried to help out with a pattering of applause. It became clear at once that help was needed, because the husband was not pleased. Instead, he was hotly embarrassed, and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him. You looked at him and you saw this and you thought, “Oh, now, don’t be like that!” But he was like that, and as soon as the little cake had been deposited on the table, and the orchestra had finished the birthday piece, and the general attention had shifted from the man and the woman, I saw him say something to her under his breath—some punishing thing, quick and curt and unkind. I couldn’t bear to look at the woman then, so I stared at my plate and waited for quite a long time. Not long enough, though. She was still crying when I finally glanced over there again. Crying quietly and heartbrokenly and hopelessly, all to herself, under the gay big brim of her best hat. The Surprise Party by Katharine Brush

29. Large Group Discussion What are the implications for classroom practice?

30. Why Academic Vocabulary? Engage NY Video Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

31. Part IV: Addressing Vocabulary within the Common Core Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

32. There’s an app for that! Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

33. Today’s Targets • Identify how the English Language Arts Common Core Standards (NxG) address vocabulary • Become familiar with the concept of academic vocabulary (Tier 2 words) and its importance in instruction • Explore strategies and resources for teaching vocabulary Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

34. Shift 3 Regular Practice with Complex Text and its Academic Language Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

35. Activity Participants will review Appendix A: “The Longitude Prize” (pages 15-16) and “Vocabulary” (pages 32-35) Discuss the implications for classroom practice. Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

36. ELA Common Core Vocabulary Standards Reading Strand Reading Anchor Standard #4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. Language Strand Language Anchor Standard #4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials as appropriate. Language Anchor Standard #6 Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

37. Research Behind Vocabulary Instruction • Effective vocabulary instruction has to start early, in preschool, and continue throughout the school years (Nagy 2005). • Teaching vocabulary helps develop phonological awareness (Nagy 2005) and reading comprehension (Beck, Perfetti, and McKeown 1982). • Vocabulary instruction needs to be long-term and comprehensive (Nagy 2005) for ELLs (Carlo, August, and Snow 2005; Calderón et al. 2005). Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

38. More Research… • Command of a large vocabulary frequently sets high-achieving students apart from less successful ones (Montgomery 2000). • The average 6-year-old has a vocabulary of approximately 8000 words, and learns 3000-5000 more per year (Senechaland Cornell 1993). • Vocabulary in kindergarten and first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension in the middle and secondary grades (Cunningham 2005; Cunningham and Stanovich 1997; Chall and Dale 1995; Denton et al. 2011). Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

39. Context Clue Steps For Students For Teachers • Identify the unknown word. • Look for the words that give hints about its meaning in the sentence. • If you need more cues, read the sentences before and after the one with the word in it. • Infer the word’s meaning based on what you found. Then model it… “As Tom stepped out of the tent, the moist grass soaked his shoes and he wondered if it had rained.” Say aloud… “The grass is moist. It soaks Tom’s shoes. Tom thinks it rained. Rain makes things wet. ‘Moist’ must mean…..” “Now try ‘wet’ in place of ‘moist’ to see if it makes sense.” Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Adapted from Vocabulary Instruction Module developed for Reading Excellence Act. Graves (2002)

40. The SLAP Strategy • Say the word. • Look for clues. • Ask yourself what the word might mean; think of a word that expresses that meaning. • Put the word in the passage in place of the unfamiliar word. Does it make sense? Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

41. Try the SLAP strategy He tried to open the box with no luck. He couldn’t find the key, so he decided to use a smidget. • Say the word. • Look for clues. • Ask yourself what the meaning might be. • Put that word in the passage; does it make sense? Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

42. Academic Vocabulary Isabel L. Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan (2002 and 2008) have outlined a useful model for conceptualizing 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 or less frequently occurring) and applicability (broader to narrower). Common Core State Standards, Appendix A, page 33 Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

43. Academic Vocabulary … is not unique to a particular discipline and as a result [is] 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. Common Core State Standards (English Language Arts, Appendix A) Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

44. 3 Tiers of Words • Tier 3 – Highly specialized, subject-specific; low occurrences in texts; lacking generalization • lava, aorta, legislature, circumference • Tier 2 –Abstract, general academic (across content areas); encountered in written language; high utility across instructional areas • vary, relative, innovation, accumulate, surface, layer • Tier 1 – Basic, concrete, encountered in conversation/ oral vocabulary; words most student will know at a particular grade level • clock, baby Common Core State Standards, Appendix A, page 33 Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

45. Why are academic words important? • They are critical to understanding academic texts. • They appear in all types of texts. • They require deliberate effort to learn, unlike Tier 1 words. • They are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech. • They often represent subtle or precise ways to say otherwise relatively simple things. • They are seldom heavily scaffolded by authors or teachers, unlike Tier 3 words. Common Core State Standards, Appendix A Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

46. Choosing words Jose avoided playing the ukulele. • Which word would you choose to pre-teach? Which word? Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

47. “avoided” Why? • Verbs are where the action is (we know linking verb do not exhibit this trait, but strong verbs become the focus). • Teach “avoid,” “avoided,” “avoids” • Likely to see it again in grade-level text • Likely to see it on assessments • We are going to start calling these useful words “Tier 2 words” • Why not “ukulele”? • Rarely seen in print • Rarely used in stories or conversation or content-area information Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

48. How to determine that a word is TIER 2 Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

49. IBelow are sources offering a variety of strategies to teach academic vocabulary. Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan Robert Marzanoand Debra Pickering Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

50. Step by Step Vocabulary Instruction For Tier 2 words • Read the story/text. • Contextualize the word. • Have students say the word. • Provide student friendly definition. 5. Give an example in another context. Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License