Common Core Standards Bradley County Summer Administrative Leadership Academy June 4, 2013

CCSS Update - Math K-12 Full Implementation CRA – Grades 3-8, Algebra I, Geometry, & Algebra II Interim CRAs in October and February with printed materials provided by the state and scored locally. Summative CRA in May (and Dec. for block) to be decided by the district academic team. Printed and scored locally. 1 st and 2 nd grade CRA tasks available on TNCore. Grades 3-6: 60 minutes for 3 tasks and a fluency section and no calculator. Grades 7-8: 60 minutes for 4 CRA tasks (no fluency) High School: 75 minutes for 3 CRA tasks 2

CCSS Update - Writing 4 week testing window for online testing Administered in grades 3-11 and centrally scored Time limit is expanding to more closely mimic PARCCs Research Simulation Task (RST) Students will read 2 complex informational texts Texts will cover social studies or science topics Students will write 2 essays- 1 analytical summary for one text and an analytical essay about both texts that will be informational/explanatory or argumentative. Purpose –to assess students ability to read multiple texts on the same topic and synthesize information into a coherent idea or argument. 3

The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in ELA/Literacy 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 4

Our Focus: Preparing students for the transition to PARCC Text Dependent Questions Close Reading 5

Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text: Why? Most college and workplace writing requires evidence. Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak student performance on NAEP Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards: Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and Listening standards 2, 3 and 4, all focus on the gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from text. Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks of strong readers and writers 6

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 textespecially for students reluctant to engage with reading. The CCSS are College and Career Readiness Standards. 7

Text-Dependent Questions are not… Low-level, literal, or recall questions Focused on comprehension strategies Just questions… 8

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. 9

Three Types of Text-Dependent Questions When you're 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 10

America Achieves Grade 2 – The Wonders of Nature Grade 5 – The Making of a Scientist 11

Non-Examples and Examples 12 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? Not Text-DependentText-Dependent

Creating Text-Dependent Questions 13 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.

Structure and Text-Dependent Questions Text-dependent questions can be crafted to point students attention to features of text that enhance understanding (such as how section headers and captions lead to greater clarity or provide hints regarding what is most important in informational text, or how illustrations add to a narrative). 14

Reading Strategies and Text-Dependent Questions Text-dependent questions generally call on students to employ reading strategies. Strategies are no longer taught in isolation. The text and readers need to comprehend it should determine what strategies are activated - not the other way around. 15

Activity Linda R. Monk- Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution – Grade 8 16

Thoughts There is no one right way to have students work with text dependent questions. Providing for the differing needs of students means providing and scaffolding supports differentially - not asking easier questions or substituting simpler text. Listening and speaking should be built into any sequence of activities along with reading and writing: Re-read it, think it, talk it, write it The CCSS require ALL students to read and engage with grade appropriate complex text regularly. This requires new ways of working in our classrooms. 17

18 ACTIVITY: PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLNS SPEECH THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS,

What are the Features of Complex Text? Subtle and/or frequent transitions Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes Density of information Unfamiliar settings, topics or events Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences Complex sentences Uncommon vocabulary Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things together for the student Longer paragraphs Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures 19

Scaffolding Complex Text The standards require that students read appropriately complex text at each grade level – independently (Standard 10). However there are many ways to scaffold student learning as they meet the standard: Multiple readings Read Aloud Chunking text (a little at a time) Provide support while reading, rather than before. 20

Close Analytic Reading Requires prompting students with questions to unpack unique complexity of any text so students learn to read complex text independently and proficiently. Not teacher "think aloud. Virtually every standard is activated during the course of every close analytic reading exemplar through the use of text dependent questions. Text dependent questions require text-based answers – evidence. 21

Table Talk So…….how does close reading and asking text dependent questions support the changes in the writing assessment? How will it prepare our students for the upcoming PARCC assessments in ? 22

23 Sample Writing Task, Grade 3 You have just read two articles about successful athletes who overcame problems. Text 1: The Fastest Woman in the World by Pat Parker. Text 2: In Jackies Footsteps: Helping Kids and Honoring a Baseball Hero by Michael Ruscoe. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the problems Wilma Rudolph and Jackie Robinson faced and how they overcame them. Be sure to explain the sequence of events in each athletes life. Use key details from both texts to support your explanation. Remember to follow the conventions of standard written English.

24 Sample Writing Task, Grades You have read three speeches about the right of women to vote. These three texts provided you with arguments in support of womens suffrage. The three texts are: Address to the Senate on the Nineteenth Amendment by President Woodrow Wilson The Crisis by Carrie Chapman Catt On a Womens Right to Vote by Susan B. Anthony Write an essay that delineates and evaluates the reasoning in all three speeches and argues which speech has the most effective reasoning. Be sure to cite strong and thorough evidence from all three texts to support your analysis. Follow the conventions of standard written English.

Resources America Achieves – Teaching Channel – Read Works – 25