Etowah County Text Complexity Etowah County Text Complexity November 2014 Presented by Keitha Segrest & Kathy Allen

SAY WHAT? In three sentences answer the following questions: 1. What is text complexity? 2. What makes it important? 3. What will get students out of their comfort zones?

Outcomes:  Use the “close reading” strategy.  Explore the process of implementing practices that scaffold complex text.

Close Reading intensive analysis whathow means “Close Reading – an intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means.” Tim Shanahan

Where does Close Reading appear in the College and Career Ready Standards? Anchor Standards for Reading R.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

“Deep reading,” or slow reading, is a sophisticated process in which people can critically think, reflect, and understand the words they are looking at. With most, that means slowing down – even stopping and rereading a page or paragraph if it doesn’t sink in – to really capture what the author is trying to say. Experts warn that without reading and really understanding what’s being said, it is impossible to be an educated citizen of the world, a knowledgeable voter or even an imaginative thinker. -Laura Casey Contra Costa Timesmercurynews.com International Reading Association:

How To Do a Close Reading 1. Read with a pencil in hand; annotate the text. Mark the big ideas and skills. 2. Reread to look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed about the text – repetitions, contradictions, similarities. Find the commonalities. 3. Ask and/or answer questions about the patterns you’ve noticed – how and why are these patterns important to the overall text?

Close Reading of Charlotte’s Web 1. Read with a pencil in hand; annotate the text. Mark the big ideas and skills. 2.Reread to look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed about the text – repetitions, contradictions, similarities. Find the commonalities. 3.Ask and/or answer questions about the patterns you’ve noticed – how and why are these patterns important to the overall text?

Close Reading of Charlotte’s Web CCR Anchor Standard 1 "Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text."

Close Reading of Charlotte’s Web CCR Anchor Standard 2 "Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.“ CCR Anchor Standard 3 "Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.“ What’s the story beginning to be about? What in the story makes you say that?

A final thought…. comprehending, inferring, synthesizing “If young readers do the work of the first three anchor standards well— comprehending, inferring, synthesizing —then they’ll move rapidly up levels to the kinds of stories where paying attention to craft, structure, and language will become an essential part of their everyday reading work.” -Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Lehman, 2012

Text Complexity “Text complexity is the hallmark of the Common Core State Standards.”

WHAT IS TEXT COMPLEXITY? QUICK-WRITE: DEFINE COMPLEXITY Complexity Complexity: the state of being complex Complex Complex: a whole made up of interrelated parts Interrelated Interrelated: having a mutual relation Mutual Mutual: shared in common What is the Whole? Text

TEXT COMPLEXITY TEXT COMPLEXITY “ It is not about just giving students harder texts. It is about consistently getting them out of their comfort zones.” Sarah Brown Wessley, The TeachingChannel.org

1. Dial up the difficulty to help students grow

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 –

Webinar Tim Shanahan hosts an informative webinar on the CCRS Instructional Shifts that can be found at:

2. Strategically Use a Variety of Texts

Different Text Require Different Strategies Does the strategy support the selected text? Does the graphic organizer selected take students deeper in their understanding of the text? Does the strategy selected support the standard?

How It Has Been Think about “How It Has Been” in your classroom. Jot your thoughts. Share your thoughts with someone at your table. SO what are the implications for you? Jot your thoughts.

3. Layer the Text

Anchor Standard 10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently. Appendix A, pp part model of text complexity Equally important considerations of text complexity To be used with the 9 reading standards for Reading Literature Quantitative Qualitative Reader and Task

Why Use Complex Text? Complex text holds the vocabulary-, language-, knowledge-, and thinking-building potential of deep comprehension. If students have not developed the skills, concentration, and perseverance to read challenging texts with understanding, they will read less in general. Limited access to complex texts is an equity issue. The consequences are disproportionately harsh for students in poverty or high-mobility situations. Oregon Dept. of Education

Scaffolding of Complex Text Temporary guidance or assistance provided to a student by a teacher, another adult, or a more capable peer, enabling the student to perform a task he or she otherwise would not be able to do alone, with the goal of fostering the student’s capacity to perform the task on his or her own later on. Appendix A, page 43

scaffolding independently and proficiently

Instructional Supports 1. Cultivates student interest and engagement in reading, writing, and speaking about texts. 2. Addresses instructional expectations and is easy to understand and use for teachers (e.g., clear directions, sample proficient student responses, sections that build teacher understanding of the whys and how of the material). 3. Integrates targeted instruction in multiple areas such as grammar and syntax, writing strategies, discussion rules and aspects of foundational reading. 4. Provides substantial materials to support students who need more time and attention to achieve automaticity with decoding, phonemic awareness, fluency and/or vocabulary acquisition. 5. Provides all students (including emergent and beginning readers) with extensive opportunities to engage with grade-level texts and read alouds that are at high levels of complexity including appropriate scaffolding so that students directly experience the complexity of text.

“The Challenge of Challenging Text” Shanahan, Fisher, & Frey leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/The-Challenge-of-Challenging-Text.aspx

What Makes Text Complex? Read the Text Identify the factors that make text complex. Explain the challenges students may experience due to the identified factors.

What Makes Text Complex? Directions You will not be able to take the text with you (due to copyright restrictions) when you leave so you may choose a tool that best suits you to note your learning. Use the graphic organizer provided for you Use sticky notes to write your annotations Use notebook paper Choose another way that helps you better comprehend the text

What Can Teachers Do About Text Complexity? Read the Text Identify three important components of literacy instruction. Explain actions teachers can take to help students read complex text.

What Can Teachers Do About Text Complexity? Directions You will not be able to take the text with you (due to copyright restrictions) when you leave so you may choose a tool that best suits you to note your learning. Use the graphic organizer provided for you Use sticky notes to write your annotations Use notebook paper Choose another way that helps you better comprehend the text

How It Has Been Think about “How It Has Been” in your classroom. Jot your thoughts. Share your thoughts with someone at your table. SO what are the implications for you? Jot your thoughts.

Planning Scaffolds for Complex Text

This is How We Do It!

Know, Understand, Do Statements 1. The elements of a short story keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way. 2. Describe the evolution of the characters and how they affect the outcome of the story. 3. There are five Elements of a Short Story (Plot, Character, Conflict, Theme & Setting).

Know (concepts, facts, formulas, Key vocabulary) Understand (big idea, large concept, declarative statement of enduring understanding) Do (skills, competencies) Additional Information There are five Elements of a Short Story (Plot, Character, Conflict, Theme & Setting). The elements of a short story keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way. Describe the evolution of the characters and how they affect the outcome of the story. Unit formative assessment(s )

Steps for Scaffolding Complex Text + Steps for Scaffolding Complex Text Step 1: determine the purpose of the reading Step 2: determine the levels of scaffolding you will need Step 3: design the scaffolding activities, starting at the top level Know, Understand, Do Step 4: check your scaffolding activities against your Know, Understand, and Do outcomes Adapted from:

This is How We Do It With Insight! KNOWLEDGESKILLS (DO) UNDERSTAND

Scaffolding makes the impossible possible!

“What’s the opposite of scaffolding a lesson? It would be saying to students something like `Read this nine- page science article, write a detailed essay on the topic it explores, and turn it in by Wednesday.’ Yikes – no safety net, no parachute, no scaffolding – just left blowing in the wind.” Rebecca Alber, “Six Scaffolding Strategies to Use with Your Students.”

RESOURCES

SAY WHAT? In three sentences answer the following questions: 1. What is text complexity? 2. What makes it important? 3. What will get students out of their comfort zones?