1. M/J Language Arts 1/Advanced
Citing Evidence and Analyzing Central Idea/Theme
Hello! Welcome to our first mini academy for M/J Language Arts 1 and M/J Language Arts 1 Advanced. Each lesson progression will include curriculum resource materials, now known as “CRMs”. This presentation covers the first CRM of quarter 1, which you may hear referred to as CRM 1.1 or by its formal name “Citing Evidence and Analyzing Central Idea/Theme.”
This CRM begins on August 16th and ends on August 29th, which allows for 10 days of instruction.
Please note that the scope and sequence for this course is 4 pages in length. You will see the CRMs organized by quarters on page 1 and 2. On pages 2 and 3 you will note a suggested academic writing progression below each corresponding quarter.
Language standards and speaking and listening standards are also listed on page 3, as these should be embedded throughout the course.
Finally, CAPE notes can be located on page 4.
During the course of this presentation, you may pause if needed to read information on the slides.

2. Citing Evidence and Analyzing Central Idea/Theme (1.1) Standards
LAFS.6.RI.1.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Complexity level: 2
LAFS.6.RI.1.2 Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
LAFS.6.RL.1.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.6.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
LAFS.6.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
Complexity level: 4
The focus standards during this CRM are: RI.1.1, RI.1.2, RL.1.1, RL.1.2 and W.1.2. Notice that the Reading standards on this CRM begin with a 1; this indicates that they are from the first cluster of standards that address Key Ideas and Details. You will likely hear these standards referred to as CLuster 1 standards when they are being referenced. This CRM includes cluster 1 informational and literary standards paired with informative/explanatory writing. 1.1 and 1.2 are really the foundations needed to be successful in the other standards. No matter if we are analyzing informational text or literary text, students need to be able to cite textual evidence to support their analysis. By bundling the literary and informational standards together we are able to utilize paired text to really focus on the type of thinking called for by the standard, and we can really show students that this type of thinking is not necessarily two distinctly different concepts. When these are taught, consider bringing in paired texts and/or determine how you want to teach this progression. You can teach the cluster together or focus on one pair at a time. By pairing standards and texts, you have the opportunity to create high interest thematic units.
Take a moment and review the standards on the screen (pause).

3. Citing Evidence and Analyzing Central Idea/Theme (1.1) Standards
LAFS.6.RI.1.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Complexity level: 2
LAFS.6.RI.1.2 Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
LAFS.6.RL.1.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.6.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
LAFS.6.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
Complexity level: 4
With RI.1.1 and RL.1.1 the new knowledge or concept in the standard is the idea of citing textual evidence to support analysis. You will notice that textual evidence is introduced in the foundational target, or level 1, on the scale on the CRM -- “Identify explicit textual evidence.”
RI.1.2 and RL.1.2 deal with central idea and theme. One piece of new knowledge that exists in both the informational and the literary standards is that students are introduced to the term “central idea” as opposed to main idea, so they will need those terms explicitly connected. Students will also determine how that theme or central idea is conveyed through particular details. The final piece of new knowledge within these standards is that students should write a summary that is absent of personal opinions or judgments. This summary should include the theme/central idea. Note that the term theme is only used with literary texts.
When scaffolding, think about how you can build up students on the level 1 and 2 of your scale so they can reach the level of thinking required for mastery. When teaching these standards please also remember that they build on one another. For example, when teaching students RL.1.3, note they will need to know the themes/central ideas of a story and how they are conveyed in order to understand how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text.
When teaching writing to inform or explain with literary reading standards, look at at least 2 pieces of literature and ask students to discuss themes and other elements taught through the standards. Explicit writing instruction should begin with this first CRM, though this does not mean students should write entire essays. The process should be scaffolded. Students may begin by creating topic sentences, thesis statements and planning a body paragraph.

4. Clarification and Content Limits
The item specifications document for each grade level is housed on the FSAssessments site at the end of this presentation. These documents help to clarify the type of thinking and conditions required to meet mastery of the standard. Many of the clarifications and content limits are taken from the “Assessment Limits” section of these documents.
The next section, text types, will tell you the type of text, or in some cases the genre of text, the standard should be applied to. In this case the standard is a literary standard, and the text types clearly tells us that items assessing this standard may be used with “one or more grade-appropriate texts.” this is key information that will be important during the planning process.
The response mechanisms gives directions on where to find more information on the item types seen on the assessment. The task demands listed underneath will tell us exactly what type of thinking will be demanded of a student who has mastered this standard, and often times is very similar to the standard itself. The sample response mechanisms give examples of how this may look on the assessment, and can be used in the planning process to create more detailed higher order thinking questions.
So let’s discuss the clarifications and content limits in the standards covered in CRM 1.1: Citing Evidence and Analyzing Central Idea/Theme

5. Clarification and Content Limits
Please take a moment to read the content limits for this standard. You can find this additional information about the standards in the “notes about the standard” section of the CRM.
Since the standard requires textual evidence to support analysis, this standard should be paired or clustered with other standards as opposed to taught in isolation, as the paired standard will provide the type of thinking that needs to be done. When looking for evidence, students need to have an answer for the question, “Evidence of what?” For example, if students are asked to look for evidence that supports a specific central idea or theme, then teaching RL.1.1 with RL.1.2 will allow students to provide that evidence based on the ideas taught through those standards.
Keep in mind, items on the test may ask for support that is directly stated in the text or may require the student to find evidence to support an inference.

6. Clarification and Content Limits
Please take a moment to read the content limits for this standard.
Remember, the new knowledge in both standards is that students determine how that central idea is conveyed through key details. The central ideas and themes in the text could be explicit, but they may also be implicit and require the students to draw conclusions about the text and topics.
The summary of the text must be distinct from personal opinions/judgments and should include the central idea/theme.
Also, students must make an explicit connection between the terms “main idea” and “central idea.”

7. Clarification and Content Limits
LAFS.6.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. (DOK 4)
Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Establish and maintain a formal style.
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.
It is important to note the complete writing standard, which appears under the essential standards portion of the CRM. Specific learning targets are also provided for writing on the CRM that align to the suggested academic writing progression that you can find on page 3 of the scope and sequence.
For this particular lesson sequence we are focusing on creating thesis statements, which align with part a and part b in the standard on your screen.
As you read through the standard, part a, and part b of the standard, note the bolded text, as these words and phrases are ideas or concepts that are new in 6th grade and may need to be scaffolded during instruction.
Students are now being asked to examine and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content when writing an informative or explanatory essay.
In part a of the standard, students should be able to not only introduce a topic and develop a plan for writing, but also organize ideas, concepts, and information, using specific strategies. They may also need to include graphics when appropriate.
The development of ideas in Part B now includes choosing evidence that is relevant. Students should read the writing prompt prior to reading the text to annotate and mark it appropriately in preparation for writing.

8. Clarification and Content Limits
LAFS.6.W.1.2:
Pre-assessment of the student’s writing ability should be completed.
Teacher instruction should focus on the planning process.
The standard should not be taught in isolation and should be paired with reading standards. Students will need to unpack the prompt, establish a purpose for reading, and read and mark the text to understand the topic that they are writing about. This writing progression is found at the bottom of the scope and sequence.
Students should write informatively about the texts they are reading in class.
Students will engage in routine writing prior to writing a full essay.
Note that students will be assessed on 2-4 sources on the FSA.
Keep the following in mind as you plan for writing instruction. You can find information about this standard in the “notes about the standard” section of the CRM.
Early in the first quarter, students should be given a pre assessment to help teachers identify trends and develop more focused writing opportunities throughout their lesson plans. For this CRM the emphasis should be on creating topic sentences, a thesis statement and planning an informative/explanatory academic paragraph. This emphasizes the importance of planning prior to writing. Students will need to unpack the prompt, establish a purpose for reading, and read and mark the text to understand the topic that they are writing about, which is stated on the scope and sequence. Students should write routinely, and will be assessed on multiple texts.

9. Resources
Scope and sequence and curriculum resource materials (CRM): ims.ocps.net
Grade 6 English Language Arts Item Specifications:
English Language Arts Text-based Writing Rubrics Grades 6–10: Informative/Explanatory:
SpringBoard resources (Close Reading/Writing Workshops)
There are many resources that might help with teaching these and future standards.
The scope and sequence and CRMs, available through ims.ocps.net, provide a roadmap and suggested time frame to teach the standards. The CRMs provide very specific information about each standard, essential vocabulary to infuse into instruction, and resources--such as lesson plans, question stems, and suggested texts-- to help teach the standards.
The English Language Arts Item Specifications document is housed on FSAssessments.org. Click on “About the FSA” along the top and scroll to your grade level under interpretive information. The item specifications are vital when preparing a lesson, as they help to clearly define exactly what is being assessed or asked of the student to demonstrate mastery. The task demands are another helpful resource on this document, as they can help to guide you in creating appropriate standards aligned questions.
The FSA Writing Rubric for Informative/Explanatory writing is also housed on FSAssessments.org. From the landing page, click on “FSA Resources” on the right hand side of the screen and scroll to ELA Writing to find the 6-10 Informative/explanatory rubric.
SpringBoard is the district adopted resource, which contains useful texts that can be used to teach the Language Arts Florida Standards. The Close Reading and Writing Workshops are a couple of the available resources that provide students with different text sets to help them synthesize passages and write in response to texts. The SpringBoard resources can be accessed digitally through launch.ocps.net and clicking on the “SpringBoard” app.