Deconstructing the Common Core State Standards for Literacy and the Concept of Text Complexity

1. Deconstructing the Common Core State Standards for Literacy and the Concept of Text Complexity Heather Mullins Professional Development Consultant, NCDPI

2. http://rt3region7.ncdpi.wikispaces.net

3. Outcomes • Participants will engage with the Common Core State Standards for Literacy and gain an understanding of what teachers already do and what needs to be a focus for teachers. • Participants will gain an understanding of what teachers should know and be able to do in their classrooms to ensure students are college and career ready. • Participants will understand the concept of text complexity and how to support the work teachers do to determine the complexity band of a text.

4. Implications to the NCEES

5. Deconstructing the Concepts of Text and Text Complexity

6. Talking with Teachers • What text structures are most prevalent in your classroom? • What special skills do students need to navigate these texts? • Definition • Narrative • Problem-Solution • Cause-Effect • Comparison-Contrast • Time-Order • Graphs-Charts • Maps • Art • Multimedia

7. Deconstructing Text Complexity Anchor Standard: R.CCR.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. Example Grade-level Standard (6th grade): RI.6.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

8. “The Common Core Standards hinge on students encountering appropriately complex texts at each grade level in order to develop the mature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they need for success in school and life” (p. 3).

9. Understanding the Components

10. Deconstructing Text Complexity

11. Example

12. Initial Data

13. Quantitative Measure Sites to Explore Lexile Measures and the Common Core State Standards Find the Lexile Level of a Book AR Book Finder Analyze the Lexile Level of a Text What Does the Lexile Measure Mean? Overview Video Accelerated Reader Site Accelerated Reader and the Common Core State Standards

14. Determining the Qualitative Measure

17. Step 1 Results: 5th Grade

18. Building on Lexile Level

20. Step 2: Qualitative Measures

21. Step 2 Results: 9th – 10th Grade

22. Discrepancies Revealed

23. Final Analysis

24. Reader and Task Considerations Questions

25. Final Stage

27. Template for Text Complexity Analysis

29. What Can Teachers Do About Text Complexity? The Work of Timothy Shanahan

31. What Teachers Can Do • Knowledge of text complexity can help teachers design three important components of literacy instruction: • Building skills • Establishing purpose • Fostering motivation

32. College and Career Readiness Understanding and Implementing the Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects

33. What does it mean to be College & Career Ready?

35. College and Career Readiness • How do you share this vision with your staff in your own words? • If you had to choose one that needs to be a focus for your staff, which one would you choose and why?

37. Common Core Anchor Standards • Define what students should know and be able to do by the end of their 12th grade year. • Teachers in grades 6-12 are building toward these standards • 10 Reading (page 60) • 10 Writing (page 63) • 6 Speaking and Listening (page 48)

38. The Elephant in the Room “It’s not my job to teach reading and writing!” “I’m not a literacy specialist!” “I don’t have the training or the skills to teach literacy and writing!” “I have my own curriculum and don’t have time for anything else!”

39. Food for Thought “All reading eventually leads to writing.” David Coleman “Students should read like a detective, and write like an investigative reporter.” …but what happens in between?

40. Task 1: 5 Minutes • Break into groups of three • Read the Literacy Standards for Reading, Writing, or the Speaking & Listening Standards in one grade level span to gain an understanding of what students should know and be able to do to be College and Career Ready. • Answer the questions found on the Region 7 Wiki

41. Instructional Talk • What “big ideas” did you find in the standards? • What do you see that your teachers are already doing well? • What do you see that could be a focus in your school?

42. Reading: Focus on Variety of Appropriate Texts Students need to analyze a variety of challenging texts. Students must be able to evaluate and make connections.

43. Writing: Focus on Evidence Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument rather than the personal narrative.

44. Speaking and Listening Standards • Provide students the opportunity to… • Explore text • Create and express meaning • Synthesize and justify understandings • Collaborate and view each other as sources of wisdom http://goo.gl/pM0kz

45. Paideia: The Perfect Complement • “The Paideia philosophy gives students lifetime skills. It teaches them how to engage in civil dialogue, think critically, and look at both sides of issues.”  – Steve Ball

46. The Art of Paideia • Text and Question Selection • Risk-Taking Environment • Use of Evidence • Higher-Order Thinking Skills

47. Rethinking Literacy Task As you watch, target two big ideas to share with the group.

48. http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/

49. Task 2: 10 Minutes • Explore the Literacy Design Collaborative Website, specifically the Resources section of the website. • Be prepared to share one to two resources you found useful. • How can this site inform your work as the instructional leader in your school?

50. Getting Started