Informational Reading and Writing and Connections to the Common Core, K-12

1. Informational Reading and Writing and Connections to the Common Core, K-12 Nell K. Duke Michigan State University Literacy Achievement Research Center Presentation at Literacy Partnership Statewide Meeting April 27, 2011, Marlboro, MA

2. Plan for the Presentation • Informational text in the Common Core Standards and the National Assessment of Educational Progress • Select Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for • Language • Reading • Writing And specific instructional strategies that would put students on the road to meeting them. • One important thing largely missing from the Common Core Standards Nell Duke

3. Common Core Standards - Reading “To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts.”

4. Common Core Standards - Reading

5. Common Core Standards - Writing Two of the ten College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards address informational text broadly defined: 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. Nell Duke

6. National Assessment of Educational Progress - Reading • Distribution of Literary and Informational Passages by Grade in the 2009 NAEP Reading Framework National Assessment Governing Board. (2008). Reading framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Nell Duke

7. National Assessment of Educational Progress - Writing • Distribution of Communicative Purposes by Grade in the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework National Assessment Governing Board. (2007). Writing framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, pre-publication edition. Iowa City, IA: ACT, Inc. Nell Duke

8. NAEP 2009 Framework • The NAEP 2009 Framework uses the term “Informational Text” broadly to include • “exposition [which is like what call “informational text”]. • argumentation and persuasive text. • procedural text and documents.” Nell Duke

9. NAEP 2009 Framework • NAEP 2009’s other big category is “Literary Text,” in which they include: • “fiction. • literary nonfiction, such as essays, speeches, and autobiographies or biographies. • poetry.” Nell Duke

10. A released NAEP item • Students read an informational article on the blue crab. • They are asked the following question (from the 1998 NAEP): The growth of a blue crab larva into a full-grown blue crab is most like the development of A) a human baby into a teen-ager B) an egg into a chicken C) a tadpole into a frog D) a seed into a tree • The answer to this question is not explicitly stated in the text. • What does a student need to know and be able to do to answer this question correctly? Nell Duke

11. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. [emphasis added]

12. Semantic Ambiguity Instruction • A recently-published intervention designed to help students deal with multiple meaning words and sentences is: Zipke, M., Ehri, L. C., & Cairns, H. (2009). Using semantic ambiguity instruction to improve third graders' metalinguistic awareness and reading comprehension: An experimental study. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(3), 300–321. • Four sessions, 45 minutes each, taught individually • Improved reading comprehension over that of a control group that read during the sessions. Nell Duke

13. Semantic Ambiguity InstructionZipke, Ehri, & Cairns (2009) Session 1: Multiple Word Meanings • Brainstorm and discuss multiple meaning words • Pick out homonyms from a set of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (22 of 40) • Teach strategies for identifying homonyms: • Can it fit another form class? “(e.g., if it’s a thing, can it also be something you do?).” • Are synonyms for the words really different? “(e.g., for the word ball, baseballs and basketballs are both still sports equipment so they are not really different meanings of ball).” Nell Duke

14. Semantic Ambiguity InstructionZipke, Ehri, & Cairns (2009) Session 2: Multiple Sentence Meanings • Discuss seven ambiguous sentences with pictures for each meaning • e.g., “The dog chased the man on a bike” • Represent eight sentences by using Colorforms • e.g., “The ball was found by the kitten” • Had three-column chart: whodoes whatto whom Nell Duke

15. Semantic Ambiguity InstructionZipke, Ehri, & Cairns (2009) Session 3: Riddles • Discuss riddles • E.g., “Why do spiders like baseball? They’re good at catching flies.” • Use three-column chart (see previous slide) and manipulatives to explain answers • Invite riddles students know • Have students write their own riddles • Identify topic of interest • List of words related to topic • Identify homonyms on list • Write riddles in riddle book Nell Duke

16. Semantic Ambiguity InstructionZipke, Ehri, & Cairns (2009) Session 4: Amelia Bedelia • Read Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower (Parish, 1979) • Have children stop at every multiple meaning sentence • how did Amelia understand it? • what was the intended meaning? and how do you know? • Read Amelia Bedelia’s Family Album (Parish, 1988) • Cover up Amelia’s interpretation and ask what Amelia would say (e.g., of what a boxer does) • Have children add their own entries to the book Nell Duke

17. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language 5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. [emphasis added]

18. Teaching Word Relationships • Relating new words to known words and examining relationships among words have long been recommended and researched elements of vocabulary instruction. • Three instructional techniques that engage students in examining relationships among words are: • Semantic word mapping (e.g., Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999) • Semantic feature analysis (e.g., Bos & Anders, 1986) • Concept wheel (e.g., Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999) Nell Duke

19. Semantic Word Map: Grow plants for people or animals to eat or use What They Do Equipment plow Tractor Milking machines Raise animals for people to eat or use silo barn Farms Crops Animals Nell Duke cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, ostriches!, fish. . . corn, wheat, soy beans, rice, fruit, vegetables. . . (Duke & Bennett-Armistead, 2002)

20. Elkader:IS:bberry:Public:SEC: MISC.:x2005-06:MATH/ELL PSTR & HNDTS:SPANISH:Semantic 3 Sp ver.doc from ReadingRockets.org

21. Example Concept Wheel: Hibernation Sleep Rest Winter Dens Low heart rate Bats Bears Turtles Garter snakes Toads Hibernation Sleep Winter Bears Nell Duke (Duke & Bennett-Armistead, 2003)

22. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language 6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. [emphasis added]

23. Vocabulary in Informational Text (particularly expository informational text) • Vocabulary in informational text is different than in narrative text (Hiebert, 2006; Purcell-Gates, Duke, & Martineau, 2007). • The words themselves • Repetition • Definitions • Clues to word meaning Nell Duke

24. Vocabulary in the Common Core TIER ONE WORDS • “Tier One words are the words of everyday speech usually learned in the early grades, albeit not at the same rate by all children. They are not considered a challenge to the average native speaker, though English language learners of any age will have to attend carefully to them. While Tier One words are important, they are not the focus of this discussion.”

25. Vocabulary in the Common Core TIER TWO WORDS • “Tier Two words (what the Standards refer to as general academic words) are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech. They appear in all sorts of texts: informational texts (words such as relative, vary, formulate, specificity, and accumulate), technical texts (calibrate, itemize, periphery), and literary texts (misfortune, dignified, faltered, unabashedly). Tier Two words often represent subtle or precise ways to say relatively simple things—saunter instead of walk, for example. Because Tier Two words are found across many types of texts, they are highly generalizable.”

26. Vocabulary in the Common Core TIER THREE WORDS • “Tier Three words (what the Standards refer to as domain-specific words) are specific to a domain or field of study (lava, carburetor, legislature, circumference, aorta) and key to understanding a new concept within a text. Because of their specificity and close ties to content knowledge, Tier Three words are far more common in informational texts than in literature. Recognized as new and “hard” words for most readers (particularly student readers), they are often explicitly defined by the author of a text, repeatedly used, and otherwise heavily scaffolded (e.g., made a part of a glossary)”.

27. Working Toward Standard 6 • Encourage students to notice unfamiliar words • Model noticing unfamiliar words • Praise students for identifying unfamiliar words • Have students collect unfamiliar words at school and at home • Go out of your way to use words students are just learning • Play word games • Teach use of context clues • Definitions • Appositives • Larger context • Graphics • Teach word parts Nell Duke

28. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading 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. [emphasis added]

29. Discussion Can Improve Comprehension Murphy, Wilkinson, Soter, Hennessey, & Alexander, 2009: • Analyzed 42 studies of discussion with comprehension outcomes • Many approaches resulted in improved comprehension • Nature of impacts varied • Some approaches that showed improved comprehension were: • Instructional Conversations • Philosophy for Children • Questioning the Author Nell Duke

30. Discussion • Many effective approaches involve higher-order questions and follow-up questions as in: Higher-order questions • What do you think about . . . ? • Why do you think . . . ? • What does . . . . remind you of? • Have you ever . . . ? • What is the author. . . ? • If you were the author. . . ? Nell Duke

31. Discussion • Follow-up questions • What makes you say that? • What did the author say about that? • Say more. . . • Do you agree with _______? • How does that connect with what ______ said? Nell Duke

32. A Discussion-based Approach: QtA • Questioning the Author (QtA) is one approach to fostering high quality discussion: • See the following slides for examples of queries (Beck, McKeown, Sandora, Kucan, & Worthy, 1996, p. 389; reprinted in Duke,  Bennett-Armistead, & Moses, 2003). • For additional information, see • Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., Hamilton, R. L., & Kucan, L. (1997). Questioning the author: An approach to enhancing student engagement with text. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. • Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2006). Improving comprehension with Questioning the Author: A fresh and expanded view of a powerful approach. New York: Scholastic. Nell Duke

33. Queries to Guide Questioning-the-Author Discussions Beck, McKeown, Sandora, Kucan, & Worthy, 1996

34. Queries to Guide Questioning-the-Author Discussions Beck, McKeown, Sandora, Kucan, & Worthy, 1996

35. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading 5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

36. Shanahan, T., Callison, K., Carriere, C., Duke, N. K., Pearson, P. D., Schatschneider, C., et al. (2010). Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: A practice guide (NCEE 2010-4038). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.

37. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

38. From the Common Core • “To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students . . . learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and they begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose.” (p. 18)

39. Purcell-Gates. Duke, & Martineau, 2007 Use real-world texts for real-world reasons • Having students read and write real-world infotexts for real-world purposes. • Reading for the purpose of obtaining information you want or need to know • Writing to convey information to people who want or need to know it • Second and third graders in classrooms in which infotext reading was of more real-world texts for real-world purposes showed higher growth on several measures. Nell Duke (Purcell-Gates, Duke, & Martineau, 2007)

40. Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall, & Tower, 2006/2007 Some set-ups for real-world reading of informational text in science • Discrepant events to generate questions • E.g., prisms on the overhead • Demonstrations of phenomena to generate questions • E.g., volcano, caterpillars • Serendipitous events brought from world outside • E.g., broken arm • Announcing topic and asking for questions • E.g., K-W-L charts (topic: sound) Nell Duke (Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall, & Tower, 2006/2007)

41. Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall, & Tower, 2006/2007 Some set-ups for real-world reading of informational text in science • Literacy in response to a community need • E.g. pond brochure • Literacy as part of problem-solving • E.g. dying tadpoles (Audience integral to authentic writing -- audiences include distant readers (e.g., Costa Rican pen pals), within-school audiences, and within-classroom audiences) Nell Duke (Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall, & Tower, 2006/2007)

42. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

43. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing • There is a great deal of research to suggest the importance teaching students to plan their writing (e.g., Graham & Perin, 2007). • The following slides help to illustrate how one fifth-grade teacher, Niki McGuire, engaged students in planning content-rich science text. Nell Duke

47. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

48. The WWWDOT Approach to Teaching Evaluation of Websites as Sources of Information WWWDOT Approach • Who wrote it and what credentials do they have? • Why was it written? • When was it written or updated? • Does it help meet my needs? • Organization of site • To do list for the future Zhang & Duke, in press Zhang & Duke, 2010 Zhang & Duke, under review Duke & Zhang

49. Duke & Zhang

50. Duke & Zhang