WORKING TOGETHER ACROSS THE CURRICULUM CCSS ELA and Literacy In Content Areas

Goals for Today  Understand the connection between the Standards for ELA and Literacy in Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects  Learn how assessments linked to the Standards can guide teacher understanding of the CCSS in their content area  Discover how we can use pre- and post -assessments in Social Studies inform instruction in Common Core literacy skills and show student growth

What do we know? On a piece of paper, write a number from 1 to 4 that represents how familiar you are with CCSS for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects: 1= very unfamiliar 4= quite familiar This information will be confidential

Common Core State Standards - ELA

ELA in Content Areas -Elementary The Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school. The K–5 standards include expectations for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language applicable to a range of subjects, including but not limited to ELA The level of intentionality of this shared responsibility is heightened with the CCSS.

How does this look in the classroom? text-as-a-group

ELA CCSS in Content Areas K-5 Literacy Standards (History/Social Studies/Science and Technical Subjects are integrated) 6-12 English/Language Arts Literacy Standards 6-12 History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Literacy Standards Appendix A: Research that Supports the Standards Appendix B: Text Exemplars Appendix C: Samples of Student Writing by Grade and Type

ELA in the Content Areas For middle and high school students, the shift to the CCSS does not mean dramatically more nonfiction reading in their Language Arts classroom…  The CCSS say “because ELA classrooms must focus on literature (stories, drama, poetry) as well as literary nonfiction, a great deal of informational reading in grades 6-12 must take place in other classes. (Pathways to the Common Core page 28)

ELA in Content Area - Elementary If you would like to focus more specifically on the CCSS for K-5, you may direct the following activities to those Standards and look for specific language that relates to content areas. You may look at the Standards for 6-12 and think about how these requirements for students might influence instruction in elementary schools

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading in History, Science, and Technical Areas 1. The Anchor Standards for Reading are the same for all subject areas, but there is more specificity with individual standards with subject areas. Go to page Read the “Note on Range of Content for Student Reading” for subjects other than English. Highlight key words that reflect the increasing demands of Common Core. 3. Discuss – How do you compare the Note on page 35 with the note on page 60?

Take a look… Locate the Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects that begin on page 59. There are two strands for these subjects: Reading and Writing. Locate them and mark with Post-it notes:  Reading for Social Studies (p. 61) and Reading for Science & Technical Subjects (p. 62)  Writing for Social Studies, Science & Technical Subjects (p. 63)

Reading Standards for Literacy in Social Studies/History, Science, and Technical Subjects Reading Standards for History/Social Studies begin on page 61. Reading Standards for Science and Technical Subjects begin on page 62.

Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies Grades 6-8Grades 9-10 Grades Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text. 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

Integrated K-5 Standards Determine which Reading Standards specifically target Social Studies or Science Determine which Reading Standards specifically target Social Studies or Science CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3

How does this look in the classroom? text-as-a-group

Writing Standards for Social Studies/History, Science and Technical Subjects Writing Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Other Technical Areas begin on page 63. Read the “Note on Range and Content of Student Writing” on page 63. Highlight phrases that show the increasing demand of Common Core Standards. Discuss and share back

Writing Standards for Social Studies/History, Science and Technical Subjects Look at the Standards for Writing in Social Studies for 6-8 grade on pages 64 and 65 Talk with your table groups about the progression you see Compare what you observe with the ELA Standards for Writing in Grades 6,7 and 8 on pages

Whose Responsibility? All teachers are responsible for teaching these Standards to their students!  The ELA teacher will not be the only one addressing these skills  Teachers should collaborate so students hear a common language  In your table groups, discuss ways to foster collaboration

What are our next steps? Once teachers understand the CCSS for their subject area, we need to determine exactly where students are in relationship to those Standards:  If we don’t know this, we won’t know which way to proceed!

Where are student skills?  There are no content specific CCSS for Social Studies; CCSS skills are addressed through the course content  We need to find out how our students perform using CCSS for Literacy in Social Studies  We will need to use documents, primary and secondary sources, maps, videos, from our Social Studies grade level curriculum in order to do this – the content becomes the context for the assessment

Creating Pre and Post Assessments Aligned to CCSS ELA in Social Studies Teachers create a rubric based on the CCSS  This extends teacher understanding of the Standards  It allows teachers to see connections to between their curriculum and the Standards Teachers choose a prompt and documents related to their courses Teachers choose a similar prompt for a post assessment and a different set of documents  The pre-assessment will provide data so teachers know where students are beginning and to inform instruction  The post-test will show student growth, or areas for continued focus.

Sample Rubric Sample Draft Scoring Rubric – Grades 6-8  The Grade Band is 6-8, so anchor papers became critical  The rubric will not provide a holistic score, but a score in each category on the rubric. This provides data for both Instructional and Growth purposes)  This rubric is for teachers and students  Students will be instructed in the academic language on the rubric  Students will see where they begin the year  Teachers and students will develop strategies to move students to Standard or above

Sample Rubric

Sample Assessment and Student Response This was based on a middle school

Scoring the Assessments Teachers met to collaboratively score assessments  Teachers collaboratively score papers together to norm scores for each rubric category at a grade level  This established a consistent expectation for all students

Dr. Douglas Reeves – Founder of the Center for Performance Assessment

+ Guidelines for Analyzing Student Work When reflecting on your own thinking Ask yourself, “Why do I see this student work in this way? What does this tell me about what is important to me?” Look for patterns in your own thinking. Tune in to the questions that the student work and your colleagues’ comments raise for you. Compare what you see and what you think about the student work with what you do in the classroom. When listening to colleagues’ thinking Listen without judging. Tune in to differences in perspective. Use controversy as an opportunity to explore and understand each other’s perspectives. Focus on understanding where different interpretations come from. Make your own thinking clear to others. Be patient and persistent. Source: National School Reform Faculty at Handout #2

Collaborative Scoring Using the student sample and the rubric, score the student work in each category When finished, we will share our scores and thinking with the larger group. Determine as a group an appropriate score for each category.

Process: Scoring Continue group scoring until a bank of anchor papers are established and teachers are all looking through the same lens At this point, teachers may begin scoring independently, bringing clarifying questions back to the group or another teacher as needed

Analyzing the Data After teachers have scored papers, have them stop. Look at the handout in your packet, “Analyzing Student Work” With a small group, fill out your paper. Share back with the large group our findings to date.

One teacher’s data…

Instructional Strategies Your packet includes a set of instructional strategies that you can share with teachers.  “Drawing Evidence from the Text to Support Claims”  Writing an Argument to Support Claims using Evidence from a Text  Resource List to Support Evidence in Writing and Effective Feedback

The Post- Assessment This assessment will look very similar to the pre- assessment The prompt will ask for similar question but use different documents Teachers can see student growth in the area of  Creating a claim  Logically supporting it with evidence  Understanding the significance of what they read in light of the claim they support.