1. Module 1: Common Core Instruction for ELA & Literacy
Session 5: Text-Based Answers
Audience: 6 – 12 ELA & Content Area Teachers
Welcome participants, and introduce the subject for today.
Suggest that participants sit in small groups with others who teach the same grade level(s).
Check to see that everyone has the handouts.
Explain that one of the instructional implications of implementing the CCSS will be an increased emphasis on close reading and text-based answers.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“We have seen how preparing students to be college and career ready by graduation will mean an increased emphasis on reading informational text and an increase in the level of text complexity. As part of this, students will need to learn to read closely and form habits of returning to the text for evidence to support their conclusions.
Students who are college and career ready value evidence:
They cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text;
They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking, making their reasoning clear to the reader or listener;
And they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.
Let’s look at how this is reflected in standards for Grades 6 – 12.”

2. Expected Outcomes
Become familiar with the emphasis on reading instruction that stays closely connected to the texts.
Understand the importance of argument and evidence in the Common Core State Standards.
Identify some examples and non-examples of classroom practices that encourage students to return to the text for text-based answers and evidence.
Become aware of resources in the Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework and K-12 Teachers: Building Comprehension in the Common Core.
Go over the expected outcomes for this session.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Today we will consider close reading and textual evidence, and we will look at some of the classroom practices that encourage this, as well as the prominent place that argument and evidence have throughout the CCSS. Additional resources are available in the Oregon Department of Education online documents.”

3. Emphasis on citing textual evidence
Reading 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.
Writing Anchor Standard 9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Explain that two of the inclusive Reading and Writing Anchor Standards directly address textual evidence.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“These two CCSS Anchor Standards set expectations for students to cite specific evidence from literary and informational texts to support their inferences, conclusions, analyses, reflections, and research.
As they progress through the grades, students need to become increasingly adept at drawing evidence from the text and explaining that evidence orally and in writing. This will require that teachers make sure that classroom experiences stay connected to the text and that students develop habits of reading closely and backing up their claims, in discussion as well as in writing, with text-based answers.”

4. Emphasis on argument & evidence
Writing Anchor Standard 1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Speaking & Listening Anchor Standard 3
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, use of evidence and rhetoric.
Speaking & Listening Anchor Standard 5
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence….
Explain that argument and evidence are important threads that run through the Common Core State Standards.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Understanding argument and evidence – both from a reader’s perspective as well as a writer’s/speaker’s perspective, is an important thread that runs through the CCSS. So, students are expected not only to marshal text-based evidence in support of their own conclusions and positions, but also evaluate a speaker’s use of evidence.”

5. Emphasizing text-based answers
Model close reading.
Select works that are worth teaching in depth.
Create interesting sequences that draw students into the texts.
Pre-teach vocabulary and/or background and scaffold the texts to make them accessible to students without pre- teaching the content of the texts.
“Step back” and allow the readers space and time to experience the texts unmediated.
Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on students reading a central text.
Set up questions so students make their own judgments and back them up with evidence from the text.
Explain that these are several classroom practices that keep reading instruction closely connected to the text and allow students to generate their own judgments, supporting them with text-based answers.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Here are some classroom practices that support text-based reading instruction:
First, teacher modeling demonstrates what a “close read” might entail.
The literary and informational texts, or passages from longer works, merit the close attention and time devoted to them, and questions relating to them are ones worth consideration.
Pre-reading activities that activate prior knowledge and create a connection (or a “hook”) for students derive from the texts themselves rather than focus outward on external connections, experiences, etc.
Scaffolding and pre-teaching vocabulary and essential background make the text accessible to students; they do NOT pre-teach the content of the text.
Sufficient time is allotted for students to access, consider, and respond to texts.
Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on students reading a central text.
Among the myriad related activities possible, the teacher chooses ones that stay closely related to the texts.
“Finally, all students should have the opportunity to formulate and support with textual evidence their own conclusions – not just ones they have heard from the teacher or other students.”

6. Modeling close reading
Brown v Board of Education “Neither the atom bomb nor the hydrogen bomb will ever be as meaningful to our democracy as the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that racial segregation violates the spirit and letter of our Constitution.” -- The Chicago Defender, 1954
Explain that lessons illustrating the modeling strategy for a close read are contained in the resources linked to the former Oregon ELA Standards on the ODE website. Although the standards are written differently than the CCSS, they do, of course, share many of the same goals, including paying close attention to the text and using textual evidence to support conclusions.
This lesson excerpt is for the 7th grade resource for ELA Standard EL.07.RI.21.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Here is an example of the ‘think aloud’ modeling strategy included in one of the lesson examples in the ODE online resources associated with the current Oregon standards. The purpose is to model for students a close read and, in this case, determine the author’s purpose or perspective. The teacher might say,
‘The first thing I notice, even before I read it, is that it is from a newspaper and was written right at the time of the decision. It was a big change for everybody then. Probably no one now would argue with the decision, but I bet at the time there was a lot of controversy over it. I wonder what this author’s reaction is.
‘I’ll read the first sentence aloud. Neither the atom bomb nor the hydrogen bomb will ever be as meaningful to our democracy as the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that racial segregation violates the spirit and letter of our Constitution. Well, I can’t really tell whether this writer supports the decision or not. By referring to the atom bomb and the hydrogen bomb, it sounds kind of negative. At least I think most people would think of those things as terrible. And the author emphasized them by naming them both, saying bomb twice. But then the phrase meaningful to our democracy doesn’t sound negative at all. I suppose meaningful could be neutral – though if you were against something, I think you would use a word like serious or a negative word, like damaging. Taken together, it sounds like the writer thinks the decision will be meaningful in a constructive way. And by naming the full title of Supreme Court of the United States and saying our Constitution, using the phrases unanimous and spirit and letter, the author adds great weight to the sentence. He or she could have just said the decision that segregation violates the law. So, I think so far, the author’s intent at the time was not just to support or criticize the decision, but to try to convey what a huge, important event it is.’”

7. Nurturing close reading
Examples
Non-examples
Scaffolding supports the text.
Pre-reading activities allow the text to unfold itself to the reader, preserving the reading experience.
Questions lead students deeper into the text and cause them to pay closer attention to it.
The classroom experiences stay deeply connected to the text.
Scaffolding supplants the text.
Pre-reading activities pre-empt or deflate the reading experience
“Connection” questions and discussions lead away from the text.
Activities are not text-based.
Point out the differences between text-based classroom instruction that draws the student deeper into the text and practices that replace the text or draw the reader away from it.
For instance, the teacher might say,
“What distinguishes classroom practices that engage students in close reading and citing evidentiary text from those practices that do not?
First, scaffolding strategies and pre-reading activities should support students in deriving meaning from the text – not deliver the information in advance. To become college and career-ready readers, students need to be able to learn by reading. In our efforts to help struggling readers, we don’t want to inadvertently remove the need to read the text by conveying the information in simpler terms during a discussion, in an advance organizer, summaries within the text itself.
Readers should be allowed to experience the text as the author unfolds it, preserving the rewarding aspects of reading high-quality writing. We don’t want to pre-empt the discovery of what is interesting, challenging, beautiful, surprising in a piece. We sometimes see these in the introductory summaries in reading textbooks and in examples of “hooks” for kids. For instance, a website offers this example: ‘You've told me how you would create a society where everyone is happy, and in Brave New World everyone is happy, but it they had to give up a few things…‘ In a way, these well-intended introductions are little thieves; they have usurped the author’s role and stolen a little (or sometimes a lot) of what should belong to the reader.
Just as important, discussions and activities after reading should stay deeply connected to the text, allowing students to draw conclusions on their own, encouraging the reader to engage with the author and what the author is trying to say.”

8. Differentiate between
Classroom activities that support content standards (e.g., language, literature , social studies, science) aimed at building students’ knowledge base.
Classroom activities that support reading standards aimed at enabling students to enlarge their knowledge base through unassisted reading.
Explain that it is important to differentiate between learning activities that are aimed at building content knowledge from those that are aimed at building independent reading proficiency.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“It is helpful and important to keep in mind the distinction between learning activities that are designed primarily to help students’ acquire content knowledge and those that are designed to build students’ ability to read complex text independently. These practices will differ. Ultimately, to be college and career ready, students need to be able to read informational text with enough proficiency and independence to build their knowledge base with little or no teacher support..
So, the sequence of presenting content in classroom activities first, before the student reads the chapter or work, may be very appropriate if the objective is mastery of highly complex content that requires scaffolding. However, it is important that, in addition, other instructional time and activities be dedicated primarily to supporting students’ ability to read complex material.”

9. From “Winston Churchill Braces Britons to Their Task” I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”
Invite participants to read the text, which is included in the handout.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Let’s look at a concrete example. This reading passage is included in CCSS Appendix B as an example of high quality informational text at the 6-8 grade level of text complexity.
As you read this to yourselves, try to be aware of what the text selection has to offer as it unfolds. This was part of one of the most powerful, pivotal speeches of the 20th Century. It remains one of the most well-known and quoted in the 21st Century. Where does its power and appeal come from? What are the rhetorical pleasures, the surprises, the powerful turns of phrase?
“After you have finished reading the excerpt, we will examine instructional practices that support text-based reading of this selection and those that do not.”
[Allow a few minutes for participants to read the passage.]

10. Non-examples
Scaffolding that supplants the text, essentially replacing the need to read it.
Read Churchill’s call-to-arms to the House of Commons, where he warns Britons that the war ahead will be long and difficult, but that victory is crucial to their survival.
Pre-reading activities that pre-empt or deflate the reading experience.
Look for Churchill’s powerful phrases: “blood, toil, tears, and sweat”; “monstrous tyranny”; and ‘”lamentable catalogue of human crime.”
Questions that lead the reader away from the text to other trains of connections, never to return.
Where else have you heard a variant of the phrase “blood, sweat, and tears”? What ordinary, everyday experiences might fit the phrase?
“Reading” activities that are not text based.
Write about a time you used powerful words to persuade someone.
Make a map showing the situation in Europe in the spring of 1940.
Explain the examples of practices that do not support text-based instruction.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Let’s start with a few negative examples -- practices that we want to avoid. Here’s what we do not want to do:
In the first non-example, we are telling the students in advance what we would like them to come up with themselves. Deriving the main ideas from texts is critical, and this obviously precludes students’ opportunity to practice the skill themselves and limits the possibility that they will see the text a bit differently.
The second is a non-example that takes away much of the ‘punch’ of this piece in advance, dissecting and decontextualizing what should be discovered and experienced as Churchill presented it.
Helping students make connections between the text and themselves, other texts, and the world has been an important part of getting students engaged with the text and making meaning from it. The caution here is that the connections should be central to the meaning of the text and should lead students more deeply into the text, not away from it. Non-example three does not do this.
Finally, while activities designed to build content knowledge or writing skill may not be text dependent, reading activities always bring the students back to the text for a close read and text-based answers to support conclusions.”

11. Examples of pre-reading activities that support the text, allowing it to unfold to the reader
Pre-teach vocabulary
selected academic vocabulary (e.g., ordeal, grievous, lamentable, suffered);
clarify other terms (e.g., minister);
remind students to use context (e.g., juncture)
Clarify the situation in Europe and Britain up to May 1940, setting the stage for students to “discover” Churchill’s intent and argument, as well as understand his references.
Offer advance organizers and other scaffolding that enable the students to experience the complexity of the text (rather than avoid it).
Explain that these are examples of classroom practices that allow the text to unfold to the reader.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Let’s look at some scaffolding and pre-reading activities that would be appropriate, enabling students to experience the complexity of the text, rather than avoid it.
The passage has a number of words that may be unfamiliar to students, like lamentable, or that have a meaning specific to the context, like minister. The teacher might select a few academic words to teach in depth; in this piece, several of the words cluster around similar meanings.
Some background knowledge of the context of the speech would help students understand Churchill’s purpose and the need for a powerfully persuasive speech, as well as understand the references. It is important that this simply ‘set the stage’ for the speech rather than summarize it or what happened as a result of it.
Advanced organizers, such as one based on the detail in the next slide, could help selected students navigate the structure of this passage.”

12. Example of scaffolding, advance organizer
Main idea of paragraph 1
Details that support or develop and main idea
Words that stand out
More common words for the same idea
Present the example of an advance organizer.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Here is an example of a detail from a note-taking worksheet that might be given to selected students, before or after the first reading. It is reproduced on the handout.
It is important to ensure that all students demonstrate a careful understanding of what they read before engaging their opinions, appraisals, or interpretations. Before students are asked to go beyond the text and apply their learning, they should demonstrate their grasp of the specific ideas and details of the text.
Close reading often focuses on the importance or role played by specific sentences, phrases, or words. For instance, students might be asked to consider how the meaning or impact might change if the author had chosen a different word, key detail, order or pattern of presentation, etc.”
[same boxes for paragraphs 2, 3, 4….]
Main idea of the piece as a whole?

13. Text-dependent Reading Anchor Standards
For instance, address these Reading Anchor Standards
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development….
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of the text.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text … relate to each other and the whole.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning….
Explain that teachers can craft advance organizers for selected students that will help them focus on specific aspects of text included in the Reading Standards. These standards will, in turn, guide the text-dependent questions that will lead students back to the text for closer attention.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Let’s revisit some of the Reading Anchor Standards that describe ways in which we want students to be able to interact with the text. Each one, of course, is translated slightly differently as each grade-specific content standard.
A teacher might use the note-taking advance organizer in the previous slide to prepare selected students to respond to questions about central ideas (Reading Anchor Standard 2).
Or, in preparing students to analyze the structure of texts (Reading Anchor Standard 4), the teacher might set up an advance organizer for selected students that causes them to note parallel beginnings of the paragraphs (Para 2 – You ask, what is our policy?; Para 3 – You ask, what is our aim?) or show how the paragraphs provide three reasons supporting the policy of war."

14. Questions encourage a closer read
Use evidence from the text to support answers.
What is Churchill's purpose in this speech, and what makes it so powerful?
What does each paragraph contribute to the main idea?
What reasons does Churchill give to support his proposed policy?
How does Churchill’s word choice develop his main ideas?
Explain that these are examples of specific questions that are responsive to the Reading Anchor Standards and invite students to formulate conclusions that they can support with textual evidence.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“Here are some example prompts that a teacher might use to encourage students to closely examine the text prior to drawing conclusions, making comparisons across texts, or other text analysis activities.
Struggling readers may benefit from having copies of the text so they may make notations on the text itself. Two examples of this are included on the handout.”

15. Reading Anchor Standard 7 Showing the film
Students read the text first, then view film or listen to audio.
Then, they come back to the text.
7.RI.7 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or mulitmedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words.)
7.RL.7 Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or mulitmedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium….
Explain that several Reading Standards can be addressed with a single complex activity if the sequence allows students to read closely and demonstrate their understanding of the text first, then go on to comparative analyses.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“In planning instruction that includes audio, video, or multimedia versions of the text, the teacher can preserve the opportunity for initial close reading and text-based evidence by having students first experience the text and demonstrate that they follow the details of what is explicitly stated as well as inferred. After the multimedia version is viewed/heard, then students return to the text for their comparative analysis. This gives a second opportunity for students to formulate positions and support them with text-based answers.”

16. Activity: Planning for close reading
Read one of the other passages on the handout. With a partner or two, come up with a few classroom practices/prompts that would nurture close reading and elicit text-based answers. Refer to the lists on Slide 7.
Come up with a few non-examples, as well.
Invite participants to read one of the other text examples on the handout and identify examples and non-examples of classroom practices that encourage close reading and elicit text-based answers. Allow time to work.
Invite participants to share.

17. How did we do?
What is meant by the shift toward greater emphasis on text-based answers?
What are a couple of classroom practices that inadvertently deflect students from close reading?
What are a couple of classroom practices that nurture close reading and a focus on text-based answers?
Invite participants to turn to partners to answer the questions.
For instance, the facilitator might say,
“The Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework includes many, many more strategies for supporting students before, during, and after reading. like “One strategy identified in the Framework for after reading is think-pair-share to increase factual recall and conceptual understanding of content information.
“Let’s take a few minutes to practice this strategy by considering the questions on the slide, thinking independently about your ideas, and then discussing them briefly with a partner.”

18. Suggested follow-up activities
In grade level teams, develop lesson(s) focused on a text selection that include
An interesting sequence as a “hook” that derives from the text itself (rather than extraneous experiences, etc.)
Pre-reading activities and scaffolding that make the text more accessible to students who might find it very challenging – and still preserve the reading experience for them.
Uses journal or discussion prompts that cause students to return to the text for a close reading.
Poses questions that prompt students to respond with evidence- based answers.
Suggest the activities listed as possible follow-ups to this session.
Invite participants to fill out the Reflections page.