Understanding Rigor in Reading: Text Complexity and Supported Struggle

Agenda Feedback on Think-Alouds (Digital & Revisions) Slideshow/Discussion: (turn/talk > lecture) – What makes a text difficult? – Formal (and informal) measures of readability and text complexity Workshop/Discussion: (Discussion Web) – Students should read challenging (complex) texts in their content area on a regular basis Homework: Qualitative Aspects of Text Complexity & Discussion Web 2

Sound familiar?

Connect Two TEACHMODELASK QUESTIONSTEST

Where do think-alouds fit?

Guiding Question Should students be required to read challenging/complex texts in your discipline on a regular basis??

Defining Text Complexity – Four Factors 7 HUMAN RATED Levels of meaning Structure Language conventionality Clarity Knowledge demands COMPUTER SCORED Word length Word frequency Sentence length Text Cohesion Co-Metrix and Lexiles READER Motivation Knowledge Experiences TASK Purpose/Context Complexity Questions Posed Common Core Standards

What makes a text difficult? (Turn and talk…) X 8

What makes a text difficult (or complex)? According to Fisher & Fry… – Writing style (formality, genre, historical time, language, literature features) – Content (vocabulary; assumptions about prior knowledge) – Text Structure: arrangement of ideas (narrative/expository) – Coherence: logical connections & explained – Sentence Complexity (coreference/coherence) – Unity: sticks to the topic – Themes and Ideas: easy texts, but big ideas – Purpose/Task: (for pleasure or to analyze) – Audience Appropriateness: match target reader PK 9

What makes a text difficult? According to Buehl (Ch. 2) – Relationships between ideas (straightforward vs. need to make inferences; single vs. multiple perspectives) – Richness of detail: more details; multiple forms and media to move back and forth between “some assembly required for comprehension”; reader should expect to make intertextual connections – Text structure: explicit with signals vs. implicit structures with multiple logical relationships – Writing style: bricks (concepts) & mortar (connector words) – Vocabulary density: technical and disciplinary concepts – Author purpose: “Why is the author telling me this?” 10

What makes a text difficult? Disciplinary Discourses (Buehl, Ch. 2) 11 Discipline Specific Text ChallengesYour role? Science: Vocabulary load, assumed knowledge, academic language, visual information Mentor science readers to read through a scientific lens Social Studies: conceptual vocabulary, historical references, historian perspectives, visual information (augment or replace) Mentor readers to see whys and hows of history (rather than whats and whens) and tease out arguments vs. facts vs. generalizations Math: multiple modes; compacted prose; re-reading a math sentence Avoid pedagogy of telling and mentor to think mathematically Literature: indirect communication (figurative language, interpretation); author’s craft; track theme & character development over time; writing conventions; literary terminology Mentor with a range of diverse and complex texts and explicit support with lots of relevant tasks to practice application

Determining Appropriate Leveled Texts for Readers… Goldilocks Method – 5 fingers, too hard Oral reading (decode vs. comprehend) but…

Understanding Readability – The Shocker… The estimated reading level is “the break-off point” (or a student’s limit)! Readability formulas are linked to a 50% correct answer score on a comprehension test (Johnson, 2005). So, if a book has a reading level of 14 years, an average 14-year old student would score only 50% on a test of comprehension! For a student to read independently (without help, but with comprehension), the reading level of the text should be 2 years below the students’ reading level!

What are some more formal ways of determining/calculating readability?? TURN AND TALK

How is readability determined? Word difficulty is determined by… COUNTYING SYLLABLES & SENTENCE LENGTH Fry Readability: sentence length & syllables [Grades 1-12] [Do this by hand] Flesh-Kinkaid: sentence length & syllables [How many years of schooling to understand the content … 0-12] - Use Microsoft Word (Tools: Options: Spelling) Gunning-Fox Index: sentence length & difficult words (3 syllables) [How many years of schooling to understand the content…0-17] Juicy Studio’s Online Readability CalculatorOnline Readability Calculator WORD FREQUENCY/Commonness

Fry Readability Formula = # of sentences and # of syllables 16 ONLY CONSIDERS LIMITED TEXT FEATURES

Digital Estimates of Readability MS WORD - Tools: Spelling & Grammar Juicy Studio’s Online Readability CalculatorOnline Readability Calculator

Word Frequency: Lists of Frequently Used Words Dale Chall’s List of 3,000 Most Frequent Words – see the wiki Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List Get to later in vocabulary

Levels, Levels, Levels! “Zombies with Scripts”…. CCSS Appendix A

Lexile Level = sentence length and word frequency 21 CONSIDERS THE READER & THE TEXT

22 If better, why so scary?? Standard #10: Text Complexity Common Core Standards Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently

Appendix B List…So now what? The standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers, and states to determine How those goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed. Teachers are free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting goals set In the Standards.

What should you know about each reader in your classroom to match with texts? Reader’s Academic Knowledge Reader’s Processing Ability

Text Complexity Factors 25 HUMAN RATED Levels of meaning Structure Language conventionality Clarity Knowledge demands COMPUTER SCORED Word length Word frequency Sentence length Text Cohesion Co-Metrix and Lexiles READER Motivation Knowledge Experiences TASK Purpose/Context Complexity Questions Posed Common Core Standards Considers Teacher, text, reader, & task/context

Students should read challenging texts in their content area on a regular basis (small groups – then large group) YES (Reasoning to Support) NO (Reasoning to support)

Students should read challenging texts in their content area on a regular basis(small groups – then large group) YES Learn more when they question – active reading Makes them reach (ZPD) Practice helps them – rereading and revisiting hard text helps them feel successful Productive failure: learn through the struggle Gives them a range of reading so they can transfer to new hard texts NO Easier texts build reading fluency and basic skills Just teach/tell them (rather than making them struggle) Takes too much time in class Too hard WITHOUT support doesn’t work > creates failure

Upcoming Homework Assignments Please review…(left menu of wiki) Diversity Task: ELL Interview - Due March 24 Diverse Text Set - Due March 26 Right after Spring Break! These dates may change…

Text Complexity Factors 29 HUMAN RATED Levels of meaning Structure Language conventionality Clarity Knowledge demands COMPUTER SCORED Word length Word frequency Sentence length Text Cohesion Co-Metrix and Lexiles READER Motivation Knowledge Experiences TASK Purpose/Context Complexity Questions Posed Common Core Standards Considers Teacher, text, reader, & task/context

Homework

What can you control? And how? NO – JUST BY SELECTION How can you design/change/scaffold the task? HUMAN RATED Levels of meaning Structure Language conventionality Clarity Knowledge demands COMPUTER SCORED Word length Word frequency Sentence length Text Cohesion Co-Metrix and Lexiles We’ll consider later…

The Case for Struggle? Failure vs. Struggle Struggle Alone vs. Struggle With Support Productive Failure (Fisher & Fry, Ch 1, p. 11 ) = Supported Struggle – Role of “easy” texts with big, complex ideas – Role of guided high-level questioning before, during, and after reading – Role of conversation/dialogue during re-readings – Role of summary, synthesis, transformation

Noticing Good Teaching What are ten effective teaching techniques that Ms. Chin uses that foster “supported struggle” with a complex text?

10 Effective Teaching Techniques for Supported Struggle 1.Pre-read with authentic purpose (character change) 2.Pre: Provide organizer (Beginning, middle, end) 3.During: Read hard text indep. for purpose (get familiar with character, language, and how change) 4.During: (Time 1) Annotate and note author craft 5.After: (Time 1) Dialogue/conversation with evidence- based reasoning 6.During: (Time 2) Revisit purpose to analyze more closedly 7.During: (Time 2) Think-aloud (notice strategy links) 8.After: (Time 2) Discuss with text-dependent questions 9.After: Respond/Transform (Write/new dialogue) 10.Together: Use dialogues and writing as multiple forms of formative assessment (to prepare for PARRC test!)

Discussion Web Part 2

Supporting Your Argumentation Essay ClaimCounter Claim Students should read challenging (complex) texts in their content area on a regular basis Accessible Text Doesn’t Have To Sacrifice Rigor YES NO YES NO Conclusion FINAL CONCLUSION