{ Helping English Learners Access Complex Text in the Common Core CATE-FACET: Yosemite Conference Alesha M. Ramirez, Tulare County Office of Education

Build knowledge through reading. Extract and employ evidence from text. Engage with complex text. Reading to learn through a variety of text Reading deliberately and revisiting text Responding to text- dependent questions

Just as it's impossible to build muscle without weight or resistance, it's impossible to build robust reading skills without reading challenging text. (Shanahan, Fisher, & Frey, 2012)

Text Complexity Qualitative: Levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands Quantitative: Readability measures, (words per sentence, length of words, etc.)…ATOS, Lexile, etc. Reader & Task: Reader motivation, background knowledge, purpose for reading, etc. Source: corestandards.org, CCSS, 2010 For more info, see CCSS ELA Appendix B

 We, as educators, must “recognize the role played by language itself in literacy.” This is more than simply vocabulary. (L. Wong Fillmore & C.J. Fillmore, 2012) EL Students & Complex Text

 Vocabulary  Sentence structure  Coherence  Organization  Background knowledge Factors Contributing to Complexity

 Foster & facilitate “sticktuitness” Address the challenges of challenging text: “Create successive successes.” (Shanahan, Fisher, & Frey, 2012)  Establish Purpose What kind of text?, What will we do with what we read?  Build Skills Decoding, fluency, vocabulary

 “To communicate complex ideas and information calls for the lexical and grammatical resources of mature discourse – students must master these if they are to succeed in school and career. Note that we do not say that students need to learn the grammatical and linguistic terms... Rather, they need to learn how to gain access to the ideas encoded in this complex language. “ (L. Wong Fillmore & C.J. Fillmore, 2012)

“ There is only one way to acquire the language of literacy, and that is through literacy itself. Why? Because the only place students are likely to encounter these structures and patterns is in the materials they read. And that is possible only if the texts they read in school are written in such language. Complex texts provide school-age learners reliable access to this language, and interacting with such texts allows them to discover how academic language works.” Complex Texts = Models

 Choose shorter texts that are sufficiently complex and worthy of close reading. Use those text with increasing complexity.  Determine why a particular text might be difficult, i.e., language features  “Let the author do the talking.”  Allow time for reading and rereading text with purpose.  Plan for time to examine text down to the sentence level.  Build in time for processing orally & in writing As teachers we can… Engage All Domains of Literacy: Listening, Speaking Reading, Writing, Viewing

1. Preview the text 2.Partner talk:  What makes this text complex?  What might be the challenges for English Language Learners? Let’s practice.

DO THIS:  Number paragraphs  Read (skim) text individually  Underline unknown words that (may) inhibit comprehension Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite Mark the text !Something that surprises you ?Confusion that arose or question you have *Discussion point or main idea  Connection made

THINK-WRITE-PAIR-SHARE: Summarize Understanding:  It is my understanding that ________________. Question:  I am confused by _________________________. Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite

Focus on a short excerpt at a time: Paragraph 5:  Examining sentence by sentence “ Even though the Buffalo Soldiers wore the uniform of the U.S. Army, their ethnicity combined with the racial prejudice of the time made the performance of their duties quite challenging...” Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite

Focus on a short excerpt at a time: Paragraph 5: QUESTIONING  What did the author say?  How did the author say it?  What is the value of the text? How does it connect to other texts or understandings? Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite

Helping English Learners Access Complex Text in the Common Core Alesha M. Ramirez Access resources from this session at THANK YOU!