1. Common Core/FCAT 2.0 Reading/Language Arts February 2012 1 Welcome. Please sign in.

2. Essential Question: How do we teach in a time of transition from FCAT 2.0 to Common Core? Our goals for today: Provide update on Common Core Standards in Florida. Analyze organization and content of Common Core Standards. Discuss text complexity and its implications for students close reading of text. Participate in a close reading exercise. Review FCAT 2.0. Discuss with colleagues best practices for instruction and assessment. 2

3. What is Common Core? knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). English-language arts and math were the first subjects chosen for the common core state standards. The Common Core State Standards Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort

4. Updates on Common Core CCSS are fewer, deeper, clearer. Students will be assessed on the FCAT 2.0 (based on NGSS) through the spring of 2014. Floridas adoption of Common Core includes implementation of the content area literacy standards. Florida Statute includes Next Generational Content Area Professional Development (NGCARPD) for content area teachers which sets the stage for Common Core content area literacy standards. Level 2 students must be served in a reading class with reading endorsed/certified teacher or a content class with an NGCARPD trained teacher.

5. What are the PARCC Assessments? The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a 24-state consortium working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math. The PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year. PARCC is contracting with two research universities to develop models of innovative, online-delivered items and rich performance tasks proposed for use in the PARCC assessments. These prototypes will include both assessment and classroom-based tasks.

6. Lets take a look at the English Language Arts standards.

7. Organization of Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Grade 6-12 Highlight the strand labels at the top of the following pages: Reading – Literature and Informational (page 35) Writing (page 41) Speaking and Listening (page 48) Language (page 51)

8. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading Strand – page 35 Read the introductory paragraph. Based on what you read, what are anchor standards? There are 10 anchor standards for reading. Study each of them and the four categories of organization. Explain the organization of the standards.

9. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading – page 35 Read Note on range and content of student reading. Highlight words and phrases that describe the types of texts students should be reading to become college and career ready. Underline the words and phrases that show the outcomes of using these types of text.

10. Discuss at your table. Be prepared to share. Based on page 35, how are the standards for Reading a departure from the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards?

11. Organization of Reading Standards Highlight reading strand on page 36 – Literature. Highlight reading strand on page 39 – Informational Text. There are two types of text within Reading Strand.

12. Go to page 36 – Reading Standards for Literature 6-12. Reading Strand (R) Literature (L) Grade (6, 7, 8, 9/10, 11/12) Standards (1-10) Identify the standard: RL.9-10.7.

13. Go to page 36 – Reading Standards for Literature 6-12. Identify the standard of this: RL.9-10.7. Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare.

14. At your table, locate the following Reading standards: RL. 7.2 Reading Literature Grade 7 Standard 2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

15. Now lets try locating standards for Informational Text. Locate the following standards. RI.8.8 RI.11-12.8

16. RI.8.8 - Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced. RI.11-12.8 – Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal US texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning.

17. Take a few minutes to review the information for writing, speaking and listening, and language strands. See pages 41 (writing), 48 (speaking and listening, and 51 (language). For each of the pages referenced above: (1) Read the Note on range and content…. in the right margin. Highlight elements that are a departure from Sunshine State Standards. (2) Review categories and anchor standards. Highlight elements that are a departure from Sunshine State Standards. (3) Be prepared to share with whole group.

18. Discuss at your table. Be prepared to share. Review the Performance Items provided for you. Select a couple of the literary standards from Common Core we identified earlier. Locate the corresponding literature performance task. What challenges will this present for teachers of language arts/reading? How will it impact our teaching?

19. Go to page 57 in the Standards packet to review elements of text complexity.

20. Text Complexity Text complexity is defined by: Qualitative Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands often best measured by an attentive human reader. Quantitative Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity often best measured by computer software. Reader and Task Reader and Task considerations – background knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned often best made by educators employing their professional judgment. 20

21. Step 1: Quantitative Measures 21 Measures such as: Word length Word frequency Word difficulty Sentence length Text length Text cohesion Quantitative Measures

22. 22 Additional Resources Lexile Measures and the Common Core State Standards http://www.lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-measures-and-the-ccssi/ Accelerated reader and the Common Core State Standards http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004572117GKC46B.pdf Coh-Metrix http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/cohmetrixpr/index.html Coh-Metrix calculates the coherence of texts on a wide range of measures. It replaces common readability formulas by applying the latest in computational linguistics and linking this to the latest research in psycholinguistics.

23. Step 2: Qualitative Measures Measures such as: 1.Structure 2.Language Demands and Conventions 3.Knowledge Demands 4.Levels of Meaning/Purpose 23

24. Step 3: Reader and Task Considerations such as: Motivation Knowledge and experience Purpose for reading Complexity of task assigned regarding text Complexity of questions asked regarding text 24

25. Determining Text Complexity A Four-step Process: 25 Quantitative Qualitative Reader and Task 4.Recommend placement in the appropriate text complexity band. 3.Reflect upon the reader and task considerations. 2.Analyze the qualitative measures of the text. 1.Determine the quantitative measures of the text.

26. Where do we find texts in the appropriate text complexity band? Choose an excerpt of text from Appendix B as a starting place: 26 We could…. or… Use available resources to determine the text complexity of other materials on our own.

27. Common Core Lesson Plans by Grade Common Core Curriculum Maps http://www.commoncore.org/free/

28. The Common Core Standards also focus on Performance Tasks that include written response to complex texts. 28 1.Review the texts for your particular grade and subject. See CCSS Appendix Table of Contents. 2.Discuss with your colleagues the appropriateness of documents in the Appendix for your standards and students. Also discuss the question: How can we ensure that the documents we use in our classes are appropriately complex? 3.Be prepared to share with the group.

29. What strategies can you incorporate in your teaching that addresses the types of texts and tasks required in Common Core while continuing to teach benchmarks assessed on FCAT 2.0? 29

30. Implications for Instruction Article: Engaging the Adolescent Learner 30 Locate section entitled, Building Capacity Through Close Reading. Select short, worthy passages. Design the lesson so students re-read. Ask students to read with a pencil. Remind students to note confusions. Model the text. Discuss the text. Ask text dependent questions.

31. Close Reading Activity Laurie Lee Just Read Florida Office 31

32. Lunch Time 32

33. 2012 FCAT 2.0 Please answer questions on pretest to the best of your knowledge.

34. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 1.More standards are addressed on the 9 th and 10 th grade tests than are addressed on the 6 th, 7 th, or 8 th grade tests. 2.Each FCAT 2.0 question must be written to address only one benchmark.

35. 3.One benchmark may be broken down into multiple tasks reflected by different types of questions. 4.Words used in vocabulary questions may be two grade levels above the tested grade. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

36. 5.Test writers may use the exact wording from the passage for correct answer choices in low complexity questions. 6.In multiple choice items, one- word answer choices are always arranged alphabetically; longer answer choices are always arranged by length.

37. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 7.What is the passing score, or score to achieve a level 3, for your grade level?

38. What groups are most affected by the State Board of Educations recent decision to change the FCAT Reading Achievement Levels? Elementary schools Middle schools

41. Students (grades 6-12) who scored Level 3 on the 2011 FCAT Reading who would be 2s Under the New Achievement Levels Chiles – 3Deerlake – 44 Godby – 4Fairview - 81 Lincoln – 3Ft. Braden - 34 Rickards – 1Griffin - 52 Cobb – 56Montford - 84 Nims – 52Raa – 76 Swift Creek - 52

42. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 8.What is the percentage of literary text vs. informational text for your grade level?

43. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 9.What is the percentage of points in each reporting category for your grade level?

44. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 10. What is the average length of a text for your grade level?

45. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test 11.What is the percentage of low, moderate, and complex questions for your grade level?

46. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test Low Complexity – may require a student to solve a one-step problem Moderate Complexity – may require multiple steps High Complexity – may require a student to analyze and synthesize information The complexity of a question can be affected by the complexity of its answer choices!

47. If youve got the time, check the specs!

49. Test Prep: The Elephant in the Room Talk with your table about lesson/activities that you do to help prepare students for FCAT. List strategies on chart paper. Be prepared to share with the group.

50. M/HS Content Focus & Sample Item Crosswalk

51. Look through the crosswalk and choose one of the content foci that has been underrepresented on past FCAT tests. Discuss what routines you currently do or should add/tweak to prepare students for that particular task on the FCAT 2.0. Be prepared to share with group.

52. Beyond Test Prep Comprehension increases when all teachers implement the following 5 practices: 1. Making close reading and rereading of texts and complex questions central to lessons, 2. Providing scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text, 3. Asking text dependent questions from a range of question types, 4. Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text, and 5. Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence). -Just Read, Florida!

53. Comprehension Instruction Sequence 1. Hook 2. Predictive Writing 3. Reading #1: Text Marking 4. Writing #2 5. Reading #2: Directed Note- Taking 5. Question Generation 6. Extended Text Discussion (Socratic seminar) 7. Writing #3 53