1. The Common Core State Standards and English Language Learners
14 February 2012

2. Agenda: Text complexity Exploring exemplary CCSS texts How do ELLs access exemplary texts? Focused Instruction

3. Text Complexity

4. Qualitative Difference between a classic and just a good read
Levels of meaning (literature) eg. reader needs to make inferences
Purpose (informational text)
Text structure
Knowledge demands
Language conventionality – literal to figurative
P 6 of Appendix A

5. Quantitative Usually measured by a computer program
Difficulty of a text
Word length or frequency
Sentence length

6. Reader and Task
Variables specific to particular readers - motivation, knowledge, and experiences
Particular tasks - purpose and the complexity of the task assigned
Best made by teachers employing their professional judgment, experience, and knowledge of their students and the subject.

7. CCSS Text Complexity Grade Bands Old Lexile Range CCSS Lexile Range
2-3
450 – 725
4-5
645 – 845
DRA equivalent – 450 – 790 = 16 – 40
770 – 980 = 40 – 60

8. Leveling Resources

9. Let’s explore some texts

11. Strategies for ELLs to access more rigorous material

12. Provide access to grade level content
Build on students first language skills and knowledge
Build on effective practices used with native English speakers
Make adjustments
Have ell students interact with other students
Access to grade level content – content lessons - can build background knowledge, before class lesson pre teach academic and content vocab. Can use videos, photos, pictures, other texts etc
Build on L1 – at times may be appropriate to provide a translation of the material, use cognates- english word and meaning and spanish word and meaning where appropriate
Effective practices - have been covered in previous workshops – teach one thing, allow time for independent, model your thinking and writing, use short texts to teach, read and write across a variety of genres, let students rehearse their thinking, differentiate instruction by conferring and group work, enrich vocabulary
Make adjustments – focus students on important ideas in a text by asking guiding questions

13. How do ELLs access exemplary texts?

14. Teacher reads aloud text Student reads text independently
Student oral retell of text with a partner
Teacher guided discussion
Student written summary with partner work with sentence frames/cloze passage/word bank when appropriate
Orally present summary
Affirmation of ELLs participation
Diane August 2011

15. Focused Instruction

16. Warm-Up
Purpose: To set the stage for the teaching that will be shared in the lesson. Connect previous teaching, capture students’ attention and interest, and activate prior knowledge.
Methods: Refer to yesterday’s lesson; refer to an anchor chart; share an example/excerpt from your own reading/writing experience; share an analogy that connects to the upcoming teaching point; share an example/excerpt from a student’s reading/writing experience.
Possible Language: Varies according to angle/content of the warm-up, which may include a connection to a previous lesson, a related anecdote, a brief read-aloud, and/or other devices to set the stage “Yesterday we learned…”, “For the past week we have been studying…”, “In this unit we are exploring…”

17. Teach
Purpose: To state your explicit teaching point. DEMONSTRATE using your work, examples, students’ work and anecdotes, and published work.
Methods: Be very explicit - read/write in front of your students, modeling your process and naming it; read aloud a portion of text that supports your teaching point or display it in some way as a shared reading; role-play with a student to demonstrate a successful strategy
Possible Language:
First to signal the teaching point…“ Today I am going to teach you how readers/writers…”
Next to demonstrate the teaching point…“Watch me as I…” or “Look how this reader/writer…”

18. Try
Purpose: To practice the skills/strategy with guidance; to assess students’ understanding of the teaching point; to engage students
Methods: Try this strategy/convention/genre element/process in your own reading/writing; turn and talk with a partner to restate what you have just learned; talk through your thinking; practice a strategy, convention, process with a partner; try the teaching as a shared writing experience, create a shared text to be used the next day.
Possible Language: “Now, it’s your turn to…”, “Think about what I have just said, and practice this strategy with a partner beside you: think, turn and talk”, “Take a few minutes to try this in your own writing while we are here together.”

19. Clarify
Purpose: To connect your teaching point to ongoing independent practice
Method: Restate your teaching point. Have students restate the teaching point.
Possible Language:
To connect to lives as readers/writers—“So whenever you are reading/writing…”
and/or
To connect to day’s independent practice—“Today in the workshop, you will…”, “When you are reading/writing today, I want you to…”, “Today we learned … and we are going to … in our own reading/writing”, When you return to your Independent Practice today, I will be looking for…”

20. Reflection
Think about lesson planning and reflect upon each component of focused instruction. Is it a challenge or a strength for you? Why?
Warm Up
Teach
Try
Clarify

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