1. Balance of Literary and Informational Text
Module 3
K-2
Reading Cadre

2. Agenda
Linking Content and Disciplinary Literacy to K-5 Informational Text
The Shifts Across the Content Areas
Hands-on Activities with the Shifts
Defining Informational Text
Elementary Instructional Implications

3. Videos Elementary
Shift 1: PK-5 Balancing Informational Text and Literature
Video is 10 minutes long…use portion that applies to your audience

4. Literacy Development Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy
(content specific)
Intermediate Literacy
(cognitive endurance, monitoring comprehension, complex text, author’s purpose)
Basic Literacy
(decoding, print and literacy conventions)
Basic: decoding skills, print and literacy conventions, recognition of high frequency words
Intermediate: developing cognitive endurance, monitoring comprehension, using fix-up strategies. Access to more complex text organization, use author’s purpose as a tool for critical response.
Disciplinary: increasingly disciplinary and technical nature of literacy tasks. Content specific.
Shanahan and Shanahan (2008)

5. Publishers’ Criteria K-2
The most notable shifts in the standards when compared to state standards include explicit preparation to read informational text and a requirement that students’ reading material be substantive and linked in meaningful ways to content area learning. (p. 1)
The standards call for elementary curriculum materials to be recalibrated to reflect a mix of 50 percent literary and 50 percent informational text, including reading in ELA, science, social studies, and the arts. (p. 6)
The Publisher’s Criteria identifies a most notable shift…explicit preparation for students to read informational text.

6. Publishers’ Criteria 3-12
In grades 3–5, literacy programs shift the balance of texts and instructional time to include equal measures of literary and informational texts. (p. 5)

7. READING WRITING LANGUAGE SPEAKING & LISTENING 10 Anchor Standards
for College and Career Readiness
10 Anchor Standards
for College and Career Readiness
6 Anchor Standards for CCR
6 Anchor Standards for CCR
ELA Standards K-12
Literacy
Standards 6-12
Found-ational Skills
ELA Standards K-12
Literacy
Standards 6-12
ELA Standards K-12
ELA Standards K-12 1 2 3 4 5
Literary Text
Inform Text
Hist. / S.S.
Sci. / Tech Subj. 1 K 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9-10
→ → → → → → K 1 K 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9-10
11-12 K K K
→ → → → → → → → → → → 1 2 3 4 5 1
→ → → → → → → → → → →
→ → → → → → 1 2
→ → → → → → → → → → →
→ → → → → → 2 3
Roadmap from Kansas.
Shows the ELA strands beginning with the anchor standards for each strand. Talk at your table groups … what conclusions can you draw from this?
Look at the Reading section first. See how the content standards are integrated into the informational text. However in 6-12 the content standards are broken out. 3
→ → → → → → → → → → →
→ → → → → →
→ → → → → → 4 4
→ → → → → → → → → → →
→ → → → → → 5 5
→ → → → → → → → → → → 6 6
9-10
11-12 6 7
9-10
11-12
6-8
6-8 7
9-10
11-12
6-8 7 8 8 8
9-10
9-10
9-10
11-12
11-12
11-12
11-12

8. College & Career Anchor Standards for Reading
Big Ideas
1-Evidence
2-Central Ideas
3-Interaction
Getting deep into the text
4-Vocabulary
5-Text Structure
6-Point of View/Purpose
Author’s choices about the text
7-Multimedia
8-Argument (Evaluating Argument)
9-Mutliple Texts
Thinking across texts
10-Range and Complexity
LOTS of in-school reading
The anchor standards are our end-goal for education.
These are the big ideas. We need to keep sight of these big ideas.

9. College & Career Anchor Standards for Writing
Big Ideas
1-Write Arguments
2-Write to Explain/Inform
3-Write narratives
Types of Writing
4-Write with Coherence
5-Plan, Revise, Rewrite
6-Use Technology
Writing Process
7-Short and Sustained Research
8-Use Multiple Sources
9-Use Text Evidence
Research
10-Range of Writing
LOTS of In-school Writing
The anchor standards are our end-goal for education.
These are the big ideas. We need to keep sight of these big ideas.

10. College & Career Anchor Standards for Speaking & Listening
Big Ideas
1-Range of Conversations
2-Integrate and Evaluate
3-Evaluate Speaker’s Point of View
Comprehension and collaboration (LOTS of in-school discussions)
4-Present Information Clearly, Know your Audience
5-Use Digital Media
6-Adapts Speech to Context
Presentation of knowledge and ideas
The anchor standards are our end-goal for education.
These are the big ideas. We need to keep sight of these big ideas.

11. College & Career Anchor Standards for Language
Big Ideas
Grammar and Usage when Writing or Speaking.
Capitalization, Punctuation, and Spelling when Writing.
Conventions of Standard English
How Language Functions in Different Contexts, to Make Effective Choices for Meaning or Style.
Knowledge of Language
Using Context Clues, Word Parts and Reference Materials.
Figurative Language, Word Relationships, Nuances in Word Meaning.
Acquiring and Using Tier II and III Words; Demonstrating Independent Vocabulary Acquiring Skills.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
The anchor standards are our end-goal for education.
These are the big ideas. We need to keep sight of these big ideas.

12. 3 Shifts
6 Shifts
1. Building Knowledge through Content-rich Literary Non-fiction and Informational Texts.
PK-5, Balance of Informational and Literary Text
6-12, Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
2. Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text.
Text-based answers
Writing to/from sources
3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary.
Staircase of complexity
Academic vocabulary
Bolded text is the focus of this module.

13. Instructional Shifts Assessment Shifts
PK-5, Balancing Informational and Literary Texts
A Balance of Authentic Informational and Literary Texts.
6-12, Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
Knowledge-based Questions about Discipline-specific, Informational Text.
Staircase of Complexity
Higher level of text complexity appropriate to grade level
Text-Based Answers
Evidence from text, including paired passages, to make an argument, inform or explain; short, focused research.
Writing From Sources
Academic Vocabulary
Tier Two words which can be discerned from the text.
Adapted from engageNY
Assessments need to change for K-2 to prepare for the testing they will need to take later.

14. Shift #1: PK-5, Balance of Informational and Literary Text
Rationale: Elementary students typically encounter curriculum that is heavily influenced by literary text.
Implications for Instruction: Elementary students need a balance (50/50); they need to learn the structures of both literary and informational text to deepen comprehension.
This is the shift we will be addressing in this module.

15. A Balance of Informational Text K-5
Literary Text
Science
Biographies
Social Studies
History
Arts
Directions
Technical Text
Short Stories
Myths
Legends
Poetry
Drama
One of the most significant instructional impacts of the CCSS is the increase in the quantity of literacy materials and amount of instructional time devoted to informational text, so that it equals the time and weight given to literature.
Recent studies have shown that as little as 7-15% of elementary reading instructional time is devoted to informational text.
The CCSS calls for a balance of literature and informational text at every grade level, K-5. in other words, 50% of reading instruction will be devoted to supporting students at every grade level to become proficient at reading increasingly complex, high quality informational text.

16. NAEP Grade Literary Text Informational Text 4 50% 8 45% 55% 12 30% 70%
The Standards follow NAEP’s lead in balancing the reading of literary and informational texts, including texts in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.
Grade
Literary Text
Informational Text 4
50% 8
45%
55% 12
30%
70%
The National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, given every two years uses a balance of literary and informational text at the elementary level. The CCSS follows NAEP’s lead in calling for 50% of the texts students read to be informational starting from the very beginning in kindergarten.

17. *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.
Reminder

18. Shift #2: 6-12, Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
Rationale: Literacy needs to be owned by all.
Implications for Instruction: Students need an opportunity to read a variety of discipline-specific texts.
Literary Nonfiction and Informational Text for ELA
Discipline-specific texts across other content areas

19. Shift #3: Staircase of Complexity
Rationale: All students need to read a range of texts; they need appropriate scaffolding to be able to read closely and analyze challenging text.
Implications for Instruction: Choose short and extended texts that represent a range. Teach students how to choose books (independent, challenging, just right). Model how to read closely and analyze text. Let students productively struggle.
An analysis of schoolbooks found that text difficulty has been significantly reduced from texts published in 1919 to those published in 1991 (Adams, 2010–2011; Hayes Wolfer, & Wolfe, 1996).

20. Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges
Text Complexity Grade Band in the Standards
Old Lexile
Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR Expectations
K – 1
N/A *
2 – 3
450 – 725
450 – 790
4 – 5
645 – 845
770 – 980
6 – 8
860 – 1010
955 – 1155
9 – 10
960 – 1115
1080 – 1305
11 – CCR
1070 – 1220
*K-1 lexiles were added by Kansas (Matt Copeland)

21. Shift #4: Text-Based Answers
Rationale: Students need to discuss/ answer text-dependent questions – not text-inspired or “cookie cutter.”
Implications for Instruction: Teachers need to ask text-based questions and teach students how to refer back to the text to gather evidence. Encourage students to use text-dependent questions during discussions.

22. Examples Text-inspired: Text-dependent: Cookie cutter:
In _________, Charlotte encountered an altercation with her best friend. Tell about a time that you have had an altercation with a friend.
Text-dependent:
In __________, what caused Charlotte’s mood to change? What effect did this have on Charlotte’s day? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Cookie cutter:
Who is the main character of the story?

23. Shift #5: Writing From Sources
Rationale: Students need to learn how to gather evidence to marshal an argument, using multiple sources.
Implications for Instruction: Students need to do purposeful writing that requires text evidence. Short, focused research, using multiple texts, needs to be a staple in a unit.
We don’t learn to read well by being taught reading skills. We learn to read well by reading a lot for meaning: to analyze or support arguments, to arrive at our own opinions as we make inferences or attempt to solve problems. (Schmoker, 2011) p. 107

24. We don’t learn to read well by being taught reading skills
We don’t learn to read well by being taught reading skills. We learn to read well by reading a lot for meaning: to analyze or support arguments, to arrive at our own opinions as we make inferences or attempt to solve problems.
(Schmoker, 2011) p. 107

25. Shift #6: Academic Vocabulary
Rationale: Teachers need to spend more time on academic vocabulary (Tier 2).
Implications for Instruction: Tier 2 vocabulary (or academic vocabulary) exposes students to multi-meaning words that transcend all content areas. Tier 3 vocabulary is domain or discipline-specific and should be encountered in the content-area classroom in an authentic context.

26. What is Informational Text?
Literary Non-fiction
Biographies and autobiographies
Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts
Books about history, social studies, science, and the arts
Technical texts, including directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps
Digital Sources on a Range of Topics
The term literary may be a bit confusing. For the purposes of the Standards, literature is broadly defined to include stories (including myths, legends, folk tales) drama and poetry. Biography, autobiography, speeches, etc. – commonly referred to as literary nonfiction – are included in informational text.
Students typically are more familiar with the narrative structure found in stories of various types and have difficulty with the text structures found in most informational text. So it is important that the informational text selections chosen for students have a structure other than the more familiar narrative problem solution structure.
Equally important is that students receive explicit instruction and support in understanding these other text structures and using that knowledge to help them comprehend the text itself.
Standard 5 deals specifically with text features at K-3 and text structure at 4-5

27. What is Informational Text?
Emphasis is on Text Structure other than Narrative
Cause and effect
Chronological/sequential
Compare/contrast
Enumeration and description
Opinion and supporting arguments

28. Activity: Progression of Difficulty
Read through the K-5 Reading Informational Text Standards (#1-10).
Remember that each “step up” in task difficulty is matched by a “step up” in text complexity.
Identify the “step up” in task difficulty at each grade K-5 for Standard 9.
Handout needed
With a partner examine Standard 9 and identify how the tasks become more difficult at each grade.

29. Standard 9 Progression of Difficulty
1st – omitted “With prompting and support”
2nd – added “most important” points
3rd – added “and key details”
4th – added “Integrate” … “in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably”
5th – added “several” texts
These are the answers to the previous activity.

30. What’s New At Your Grade Level?
Identify grade-specific standards that are new at your grade or represent a new emphasis in classroom instruction at your grade.
Think about the instructional strategies and approaches that you will apply to these standards.
Participants need a copy of CCSS.
Partner activity.

31. Reading to Learn
Explicit comprehension instruction should not be delayed until students are able to read grade-level text independently.
Read-alouds and the use of text-based discussions are opportunities to help students learn from complex informational text, especially when students are just learning to read or if students struggle to read informational text independently.
(Beck & McKeown, 2001)
The belief that children should first learn to read in K-3 and later, at about 4th grade “read to learn” is NOT supported by research.

32. Students Who Struggle
Students who Struggle with Reading can Successfully Handle Informational Text when Instruction Includes:
Explicit teaching of text structure
Graphic organizers
The use of teacher modeling and guided feedback

33. Young Children’s Preference
When discussion followed the read-aloud, students seemed to prefer informational text.
When no discussion followed the read-aloud, the students preferred narrative text.
Research suggests that students are more likely to select informational text for independent reading if their teacher used the informational text in a read-aloud.
(Dreher & Dromsky, 2000; Duke, Bennett-Armistead, & Roberts, 2003)
Young children’s reading preferences are closely connected to the classroom context and how they have experienced informational texts.
No research evidence supports the notion that children don’t like informational text. Rather, it is important to put student text preference within the context of the classroom instructional activities. In other words, HOW texts are used in the classroom is more centrally related to how children form attitudes about texts.

34. Classroom Snapshot: You Would See
Time spent with informational text
Books on a wide variety of topics that interest elementary children
Children engaged and reading these books
Graphic organizers
Explicit comprehension strategy instruction
If a classroom is supporting all students in attaining the Reading Informational Text Standards what would it look like?

35. Classroom Snapshot: You Would Hear
Teacher and student initiated questions about the text
Teacher facilitated read-alouds and text-based discussions
Students discussing and applying comprehension strategies
Students retelling what they learned from an informational text with a partner
Teachers and students using content language and text-related academic language
If a classroom is supporting al students in attaining the Reading Informational Text Standards what would it sound like?

36. Instructional Implications Elementary
Provide students with equal exposure of informational and literary texts in the elementary grades (across disciplines).
Develop good readers who know, control, and use a range of strategies as they read informational text.
Explicitly teach reading comprehension skills in a similar manner across informational text and literature.
Build background knowledge to increase reading skills.

37. Informational Picture Books
Exemplar texts from Appendix A (CCSS)

38. Explicitly teach strategies for informational texts
Text Features
Content Features
Graphs
Headings
Title pages
Subheadings
Illustrations
Diagrams
Labels
Charts
Maps
Reading to meet the demands of science, history, math
Information rich
Linked to author’s purpose
Content-specific verbs
Structural vocabulary
Best Practices for teaching informational text strategies

39. Understand continuous text
Develop Good Readers who Know, Control, and Use a Range of Strategies as They Read Informational Text
Decode
Fluency and accuracy
Vocabulary
Understand continuous text
Sentence level
Within, between, and across paragraphs
Whole text and across a range of text
Understand Non-continuous text
Photographs and captions
Graphs and tables
Diagrams
As elementary teachers we need to develop basic good reader strategies that apply to all text.

40. Link to prior knowledge Make inferences Ask and answer questions
Explicitly Teach Reading Comprehension Skills in a Similar Manner Across Informational Text and Literature
Link to prior knowledge
Make inferences
Ask and answer questions
Vocabulary strategies
Talk aloud and think aloud by teachers and students
Visualization
Explicitly teach reading comprehension skills in a similar manner across informational text and literature.

41. Build Background Knowledge to Increase Reading Skills
Link to personal and cultural experiences.
From what I know about the prior. knowledge of my students.
What is the best way to introduce the ideas and possible challenges in this text?
What is the best instructional teaching approach?
What will I need to monitor as reading progresses?
Build background knowledge to increase reading skills.

42. Interactive Non-fiction Read Aloud
Interactive Read Aloud: Non-fiction
Identifying Features of Non-fiction Books
The first video is intended for second grade. It is a 14 minute video demonstrating an interactive read aloud.
The second video is for grades K-1.
The facilitator may choose whichever video may target their audience.

43. Reflection Time
Turn to a partner and recall a few details from the session as you discuss the following questions.
What will be the percentages of informational and literary text in your grade?
What are some text structures students may encounter in informational texts?
What is one new standard or new in emphasis at your grade that will impact your instruction?
What is one strategy or approach that supports learning to read informational text?

44. Resources DOE CCSS Website
Literacy Concept Organizers for Social Studies and Science
Literacy Standards by Content Areas
Literacy Design Collaborative
The Teaching Channel
AchievetheCore.org
Guide to the Shifts
HQPD Modules

45. Module Extensions
Ways to identify literacy demands of the content area
Evidence of the Shifts in Practice
List of discipline-specific genres (what do scientists read…)
List of anchor texts (examples of the above)
Examples of reading like, “a historian”, “scientist”, “mathematician”, etc.
Using discipline-specific text as models for writing
Research that supports literacy in this discipline
Examples of some of the literacy standards