Transcript Day 1 – Session 2:45-4:45 - Okaloosa County School District

Common Core State Standards
Session 6
6-12 English Language Arts
Day 1 – Session
2:45-4:45
OUTCOMES
Participants will increase their knowledge of:
1. the structure of the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS);
2. the implications of the CCSS Anchor Standards;
3. text complexity.
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Instructional Shifts
Implementation of the Common Core State
Standards
Data Driven
Instruction
Teacher/
Leader
Effectiveness
College &
Career
Ready
Students
Common
Core State
Standards
3
Instructional Shifts
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards
Shift 1
K-5, Balancing Informational & Literary Texts
Students read a true balance of informational and literary texts.
Elementary school classrooms are, therefore, places where students access
the world – science, social studies, the arts and literature – through text. At
least 50% of what students read is informational. A focus on the
Foundational Skills.
Shift 2
6-12, Knowledge in the Disciplines
Content area teachers outside of the ELA classroom emphasize literacy
experiences in their planning and instruction. Students learn through
domain-specific texts in science and social studies classrooms – rather than
referring to the text, they are expected to learn from what they read.
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Instructional Shifts
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards
Shift 3
Staircase of Complexity
In order to prepare students for the complexity of college and career ready
texts, each grade level requires a “step” of growth on the “staircase”.
Students read the central, grade appropriate text around which instruction is
centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space in the curriculum
for this close and careful reading, and provide appropriate and necessary
scaffolding and supports so that it is possible for students reading below
grade level.
Shift 4
Text-based Answers
Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on a
common text. Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply
connected to the text on the page and that students develop habits for
making evidentiary arguments both in conversation, as well as in writing to
assess comprehension of a text.
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Instructional Shifts
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards
Shift 5
Writing from Sources
Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument
rather than the personal narrative and other forms of decontextualized
prompts. While the narrative still has an important role, students develop
skills through written arguments that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and
arguments presented in the texts they read.
Shift 6
Academic Vocabulary
Students constantly build the vocabulary they need to access grade level
complex texts. By focusing strategically on comprehension of pivotal and
commonly found words (such as “discourse,” “generation,” “theory,” and
“principled”) and less on esoteric literary terms (such as “onomatopoeia” or
“homonym”), teachers constantly build students’ ability to access more
complex texts across the content areas.
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ANCHOR STANDARDS
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Reading
Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly
and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support
conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central idea or themes of a text and
analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas
develop and interact over the course of a text.
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Reading
Craft and Structure
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in
a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and
analyze how specific word choices shape
meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how
specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter,
scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the
whole.
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Reading
Craft and Structure
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes
the content and style of a text.
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Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in
words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a
text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the
relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics
in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts
independently and proficiently.
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Writing
Text Types and Purposes
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and
convey complex ideas and information clearly and
accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Writing
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce and publish writing and to interact and
collaborate with others.
Writing
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects
based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of
the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source,
and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support
analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a
single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes,
and audiences.
Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range
of conversations and collaborations with diverse
partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing
their own clearly and persuasively.
2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in
diverse media and formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and
use of evidence and rhetoric.
Speaking and Listening
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence
such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and
the organization, development, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays
of data to express information and enhance
understanding of presentations.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and
communicative tasks, demonstrating command of
formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Language
Conventions of Standard English
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
Knowledge of Language
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how
language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
Language
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases by using context clues,
analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general
and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
5. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and
nuances in word meanings.
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 considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or expression.
COGNITIVE DEMAND AND
RIGOR
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Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and
Bloom’s Taxonomy
The CCSS standards
incorporate Webb’s
Depth of Knowledge
and Bloom’s Taxonomy.
The cognitive demand
of the standards rises
across the grades.
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The “Demands” of the Standards
The cognitive demand of the standards
incorporates Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s
Depth of Knowledge.
How is this accomplished?
The standards “ramp up” the demands made
on student thinking.
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Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
READING STANDARDS FOR LITERATURE, Key Ideas and Details
2. With prompting
and support, retell
familiar stories,
including key
details.
2. Retell stories,
including key details,
and demonstrate
understanding of
their central
message or lesson.
2. Recount stories,
including fables and
folktales from diverse
cultures, and determine
their central message,
lesson, or moral.
2. Recount stories,
including fables,
folktales, and
myths from diverse
cultures; determine
the central message,
lesson, or moral and
explain how it is
conveyed through
key details in the
text.
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3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
2. Recount stories,
including fables,
folktales, and
myths from diverse
cultures; determine
the central message,
lesson, or moral and
explain how it is
conveyed through
key details in the
text.
2. Determine a
theme of a story,
drama, or poem
from details in the
text; summarize the
text.
2. Determine a theme
of a story, drama, or
poem
from details in the
text, including how
characters in a story or
drama respond to
challenges or how the
speaker in a poem
reflects upon a topic;
summarize the text.
2. Determine a
theme or central idea
of a text and how it is
conveyed through
particular details;
provide a summary
of the text distinct
from personal
opinions or
judgments.
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7th Grade
2. Determine a theme or
central idea of a text and
analyze its development
over the course of the text;
provide an objective
summary of the text.
8th Grade
2. Determine a theme or
central idea of a text and
analyze its development
over the course of the text,
including its relationship to
the characters, setting,
and plot;
provide an objective
summary of the text.
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9th -10th Grade
2. Determine a theme or
central idea of a text and
analyze in detail its
development over the
course of the text, including
how it emerges and is
shaped and refined by
specific details; provide an
objective summary of the
text.
11th -12th Grade
2. Determine two or more
central ideas of a text and
analyze their development
over the course of the text,
including how they interact
and build on one another
to provide a complex
analysis; provide an
objective summary of the
text.
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TEXT COMPLEXITY
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One hot summer's day a
famished fox was strolling
through an orchard until he
came to clusters of grapes
just ripening on a trellised
vine. "Just the thing to
quench my thirst," quoth
he. Drawing back a few
paces, he took a run and a
jump, and just missed the
bunch. His mouth was
watering and he could feel
gnawing hunger pains.
Again and again he tried
after the tempting morsel,
but at last had to give up.
Once a fox walked through
the woods. He came
upon a grape orchard.
There he found beautiful
grapes hanging from a
high branch. “Boy those
sure would be tasty,” he
thought to himself. He
backed up and took a
running start and
jumped. He did not get
high enough.
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One hot summer's day a
famished fox was strolling
through an orchard until he
came to clusters of grapes
just ripening on a trellised
vine. "Just the thing to
quench my thirst," quoth
he. Drawing back a few
paces, he took a run and a
jump, and just missed the
bunch. His mouth was
watering and he could feel
gnawing hunger pains.
Again and again he tried
after the tempting morsel,
but at last had to give up.
Once a fox walked through
the woods. He came
upon a grape orchard.
There he found beautiful
grapes hanging from a
high branch. “Boy those
sure would be tasty,” he
thought to himself. He
backed up and took a
running start and
jumped. He did not get
high enough.
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What is right with “simplified” text?
• Provides for scaffolding for ELL students, students
with disabilities
• They can become a foundation for understanding
complex text as long as students have the
opportunity to read complex texts as well.
• Gradated Text Collection – a collection of texts on a
topic that advance in degrees of complexity. Some
students may read simpler texts first, then move on
to complex text (a form of instructional support).
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What’s wrong with the simplified
text approach?
• Simplified usually means limited, restricted, 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 their 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 that struggling readers—especially at
middle and high school--catch up by gradually increasing
the complexity of simpler texts.
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Gradated Texts
Article: Breathing and Its
True Role in Our Life,
Health and Longevity
A collection of texts that
increase in difficulty from
simple to moderate to
complex, around a common
topic.
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WHY TEXT COMPLEXITY
MATTERS
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Text Complexity - ACT Study
• Purpose: Determine what distinguished the
reading performance of students likely to
succeed in college and not.
• Process:
• Set benchmark score on the reading test
shown to be predictive of success in
college (“21” on ACT composite score).
• Looked at results from a half million
students.
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Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Comprehension Level
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Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Textual Element
(Averaged across Seven Forms)
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Text Complexity Matters
Texts used in the ACT Reading Test
reflect three degrees of complexity:
uncomplicated, more challenging,
and complex.
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Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Degree of Text Complexity
(Averaged across Seven Forms)
In this figure, performance on questions associated with uncomplicated and more
challenging texts both above and below the ACT College Readiness Benchmark for
Reading follows a pattern similar to those in the previous analyses.
Improvement on each of the two kinds of questions is gradual and fairly uniform.
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Text Complexity
Text complexity is defined by:
Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure,
language conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands often best measured by an
attentive human reader.
Quantitative measures – readability and other scores
of text complexity often best measured by
computer software.
Reader and Task considerations – background
knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and
complexity generated by tasks assigned often best
made by educators employing their professional
judgment.
Reader and Task
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Recap of ACT Findings
Question type and level (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT
the chief differentiator between student scoring above and below
the benchmark.
The degree of text complexity in the passages acted as the “sorters”
within ACT. The findings held true for both males and females, all
racial groups and was steady regardless of family income level.
What students could read, in terms of its complexity - rather than
what they could do with what they read - is greatest predictor of
success. FCAT has complex passages and highly cognitive
demanding questions.
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Guiding Questions
What do the Common Core Learning
Standards mean by text complexity?
What is a text complexity band?
and
How do we ensure the texts our students are
reading are in the appropriate text
complexity band?
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The Common Core Standards' three equally important
components of text complexity
Quantitative measures – readability and other
scores of text complexity often best measured by
computer software.
Qualitative measures – levels of meaning,
structure, language conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands often best measured by an
attentive human reader.
Reader and Task considerations – background
knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and
complexity generated by tasks assigned often best
made by educators employing their professional
judgment.
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Where do we find texts in the appropriate text
complexity band?
We could….
Use available resources to
determine the text complexity of
other materials on our own.
Choose an excerpt of text
from Appendix B as a
starting place:
or…
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Determining Text Complexity
A Four-step Process:
1.
Determine the quantitative
measures of the text.
2.
Analyze the qualitative
measures of the text.
3.
Reflect upon the reader and
task considerations.
4.
Recommend placement in the
appropriate text complexity
band.
Reader and Task
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Step 1: Quantitative Measures
Quantitative Measures
Measures such as:
• Word length
• Word frequency
• Word difficulty
• Sentence length
• Text length
• Text cohesion
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Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Measures such as:
• Structure
• Language Demands
and Conventions
• Knowledge Demands
• Levels of
Meaning/Purpose
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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
Structure
Simple  Complex
Explicit  Implicit
Conventional Unconventional
Events related in chronological order  Events related out of
chronological order (chiefly literary texts)
 Traits of a common genre or subgenre  Traits specific to a
particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)
 Simple graphics  Sophisticated graphics
 Graphics unnecessary or merely supplemental to
understanding the text  Graphics essential to understanding
the text and may provide information not elsewhere provided




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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
Language Demands: Conventionality and Clarity
Literal  Figurative or ironic
Clear  Ambiguous or purposefully misleading
Contemporary, familiar  Archaic or otherwise unfamiliar
Conversational  General Academic and domain specific
Light vocabulary load: few unfamiliar or academic words
Many words unfamiliar and high academic vocabulary present
 Sentence structure straightforward Complex and varied
sentence structures
 Though vocabulary can be measured by quantifiable means, it is
still a feature for careful consideration when selecting texts
 Though sentence length is measured by quantifiable means,
sentence complexity is still a feature for careful consideration
when selecting texts





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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
Knowledge Demands: Life Experience
• Simple theme  Complex or sophisticated themes
• Single theme  Multiple themes
• Common everyday experiences or clearly fantastical situations 
Experiences distinctly different from one’s own
• Single perspective  Multiple perspectives
• Perspective(s) like one’s own  Perspective(s) unlike or in opposition
to one’s own
• Everyday knowledge  Cultural and literary knowledge
• Few allusions to other texts  Many allusions to other texts
• Low intertextuality (few or no references to other texts) 
High intertextuality (many references or citations to other texts)
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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
Levels of Meaning (chiefly literary texts) or
purpose (chiefly informational texts)
• Single level of meaning Multiple levels of
meaning
• Explicitly stated purpose  Implicit purpose,
may be hidden or obscure
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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
Structure
Simple  Complex
Explicit  Implicit
Conventional Unconventional
Events related in chronological order  Events related out of
chronological order (chiefly literary texts)
 Traits of a common genre or subgenre  Traits specific to a
particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)
 Simple graphics  Sophisticated graphics
 Graphics unnecessary or merely supplemental to
understanding the text  Graphics essential to understanding
the text and may provide information not elsewhere provided




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Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Because the factors for literary texts are different from
information texts, these two rubrics contain different content.
However, the formatting of each document is exactly the
same.
And because these factors represent continua rather than
discrete stages or levels, numeric values are not associated
with these rubric. Instead, six points along each continuum is
identified: not suited to the band, early-mid grade level, midend grade level, early-mid grade level, mid-end grade level, not
suited to band.
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Step 3: Reader and Task
Considerations such as:
• Motivation
• Knowledge and
experience
• Purpose for reading
• Complexity of task
assigned regarding text
• Complexity of questions
asked regarding text
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Vocabulary and Syntax
The educational implications of the measures of text
difficulty include:
• Single biggest predictor of student achievement is vocabulary and
syntax.
• Need to be addressed throughout schooling (kindergarten through
12th grade). Schools and districts should plan a coherent, intensive
and systematic program for vocabulary and syntax.
• Syntax is one of the most powerful predictors of difficulty.
• Some features of text are more important than others—syntax and
vocabulary are an example of two essential text features to pay
particular attention to during instruction.
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What Complex Text Demands of Readers
• A Willingness to Pause and Probe
• Students must be patient as they read complex texts
and be willing to devote time to contemplation of the
text
• The Capacity for Uninterrupted Thinking
• Time devoted to the text and thinking about the text
exclusively - single-tasking rather than multi-tasking
• A Receptivity to Deep Thinking
• Contemplation of the meaning of the text and not a
quick response voicing an opinion based on a shallow
interpretation
(Mark Bauerlein, 2011)
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Step 3: Reader and Task
Ten Guiding Principles
1. Make close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
2. Provide scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text.
3. Ask text dependent questions from a range of question types.
4. Emphasize students supporting answers based upon evidence
from the text.
5. Provide extensive research and writing opportunities (claims
and evidence).
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Step 3: Reader and Task
Ten Guiding Principles
6. Offer regular opportunities for students to share ideas, evidence
and research.
7. Offer systematic instruction in vocabulary.
8. Ensure wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
9. Provide explicit instruction in applied grammar and conventions.
10. Cultivate students’ independence.
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Shorter, Challenging Texts
• The study of short texts is useful to enable students at a
wide range of reading levels to participate in the close
analysis of more demanding text.
• Place a high priority on the close, sustained reading of
complex text. Such reading emphasizes the particular over
the general and strives to focus on what lies within the four
corners of the text.
• Close reading often requires compact, short, self-contained
texts that students can read and re-read deliberately and
slowly to probe and ponder the meanings of individual
words, the order in which sentences unfold, and the
development of ideas over the course of the text.
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Reflective Journal
Please take a moment to reflect on
the instructional implications of text
complexity.
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