Shifting to Complex Text in K - 5 Alabama Reading Initiative MEGA Conference 2013

Insomniacs: What keeps you awake at night when transitioning to the new College and Career Ready Standards?

Outcomes: Participants will... Gain a deeper understanding of how the key shift, regular practice with complex text…, supports the implementation of the standards (K-5). Clarify their understanding of what the standards look like in practice (K-5).

Three Key Shifts in ELA 1. Building knowledge through content- rich nonfiction and informational texts. 2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational 3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

Why shift to more complex text? A primary goal of the CCRS is to develop active, thoughtful, and engaged learners who are able to embrace the benefits and challenges of the 21 st century, both in school and in the workplace.

What does this learner look like? Demonstrates the ability to read complex text independently Possesses strong content knowledge Responds to a range of texts covering many genres and topics Comprehends, critiques, and values evidence Employs technology Understands other cultures and perspectives

What is text complexity? Quick Write: What makes a text complex? Text Complexity is defined as those characteristics that make a specific text more challenging than another. CCRS uses a three-pronged model to identify how easy or challenging a specific text is to read: Quantitative, Qualitative & Reader and Task. How does your definition compare to this definition? Turn and talk to your neighbor about your thoughts.

The Standards Model of Text Complexity

Step 1: Quantitative Measures 10 Measures such as: Word length Word frequency Sentence length Text length

Text Complexity Grade Bands Text Complexity Grade Bands in the Standards Old Lexile Range Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR Expectations K – 1N/A 2 – – – – – 8860 – – – – CCR1070 –

Where do we find texts in the appropriate text complexity band? Choose an excerpt of text from Appendix B as a starting place: 12 We could…. or… Use available resources to determine the text complexity of other materials on our own.

Quantitative Measures Finding a Lexile Measure for Text:

Step 2: Qualitative Measures Measures such as: Structure Language Demands and Conventions Knowledge Demands Levels of Meaning/Purpose 16

From Little Bear by Else Minarik Mother Bear, Mother Bear, where are you? calls Little Bear. Oh dear, Mother Bear is not here and today is my birthday. I think my friends will come, but I do not see a birthday cake. My goodnessno birthday cake. What can I do? Qualitative Activity: Exploring Text Complexity

From My Fathers Dragon by Ruth Gannett My father opened the pack and took out the comb and the brush and the seven hair ribbons of different colors. Look, he said, Ill show you what to do on your forelock, where you can watch me. First you brush a while, and then you comb, and then you brush again until all the twigs and snarls are gone. Then you divide it up into three and braid it like this and tie a ribbon around the end. Activity: Exploring Text Complexity

From Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY out of the way to hear Rabbit say to itself, Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late! (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural): but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit- hole under the hedge. Activity: Exploring Text Complexity

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 20

Reader & Task: Guiding Principles

Reader and Task Ten Guiding Principles 22 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).

Reader and Task Ten Guiding Principles 23 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 grammar and conventions. 10. Cultivate students independence.

Guiding Principle #1: Make close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons. Reader & Task 1. Read with a pencil in hand; annotate the text. 2. Reread to look for similarities in your current practices. 3. What new practices do I need to include in my reading routine? 4. What practices do I need to revise?

Video of Close Reading Grappling with Complex Informational Text

Guiding Principle #2: Provide scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text. Pondering Partners: Read each quote. Respond in writing to the quote. Share with a partner. Reader & Task

Guiding Principle #3: Ask text dependent questions from a range of question types. Reader & Task

Text-Dependent Questions? 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? What makes Caseys experiences at bat humorous? What can you infer from Kings letter about the letter that he received? The Gettysburg Address mentions the year According to Lincolns speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Guiding Principle #4: Emphasize students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text. Reader & Task Model close reading. Select a variety of that will draw students into the texts. Pre-teach vocabulary and/or background and scaffold the texts to make them accessible to students without pre-teaching the content of the texts. Step back and allow the readers space and time to experience the texts unmediated – productive struggling.

Guiding Principle #4 (cont.): Emphasize students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text. Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on students reading a central text. Set up questions so each student has an opportunity to draw their own conclusions and back them up with evidence from the text. Reader & Task

Basal Alignment Project The Basal Alignment Project offers: A library of 300+ revised lessons for common Basal reading series (3rd-5th grades), each carefully aligned to the CCSS. Each new lesson includes quality text- dependent questions, improved tasks, and a focus on academic vocabulary.

Resources Helpful websites: o o o o o Helpful articles: o Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading by Fisher, Frey and Lapp o Education Update: Its Complicated by Laura Varlas, April 2012, Vol. 54 #4 o Educational Leadership: The Challenge of Challenging Text by Shanahan, Fisher and Frey, March 2012, Vol. 69, #6

3 – Things that you have learned about text complexity 2 Things you cant wait to implement in your classroom as it relates to text complexity 1 Thing you still have a question about as it relates to text complexity