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Reminders about the CCSS
Knowledge and skills needed
for success after high school in
our global and social economy.
Rigorous content
Application of higher-order
thinking skills
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High Level Text-Based Discussions
Focus on Text Complexity
Focus on Process
Create assignments for real
audiences (with real purpose)
Argument vs. Persuasion
Session Goals
Understand the Common Core
Shifts that emphasize:
•Text Complexity
•Lead High Level,
Text-Based Discussions
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Two content area–specific sections for
grades 6-12
One set of standards for ELA teachers
One set of standards for history/social studies, science, and
technical subject teachers
The literacy standards in history/social studies,
science, and technical subjects are meant to
complement rather than supplant content
standards in those disciplines
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The CCSS Requires Three Shifts
in ELA/Literacy
1. Building knowledge through contentrich nonfiction
2. Reading, writing and speaking
grounded in evidence from text, both
literary and informational
3. Regular practice with complex text
and its academic language
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What is Text Complexity?
An evaluation of text
based upon
consideration of
purpose or meaning,
text structure, language
, and knowledge
demands.
A numeric quantity
that represents Lexile or
grade level readability.
It is usually based on
word frequency and
sentence length.
An evaluation that considers
the student in terms of their
knowledge and motivation
with the demands of the text
or task.
Text Lexile Measure (L)
Lexile Framework® for Reading Study
Summary of Text Lexile Measures
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1600Summary of Text Lexile Measures
1400
1200
1000
800
600
High College High College Military Personal Entry- SAT 1,
School Lit. School Texts
Use Level ACT,
Occupa- AP*
Lit.
Texts
tions
* Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics
Quantitative Measures
uses factors such as:
• sentence length
• word length
• frequency of unfamiliar words
to calculate the difficulty of the
text and assign a single measure
(grade level, Lexile, etc).
Qualitative Measures
an informed judgment on the difficulty
by considering a range of factors:
• purpose
• levels of meaning
• structure
• language conventionality and clarity
• knowledge demands
Reader and Task
The third measure looks at what
the student brings to the text and
the tasks assigned.
Teachers need to use their
knowledge of their students and
texts to match texts to particular
students and tasks.
Some Considerations
(see handout for others):
Do readers at this grade level possess
the necessary inferencing skills,
visualization skills, questioning skills,
and comprehension strategies
necessary for future reading
endeavors?
Will the readers at this grade level
understand the purpose—which might
shift over the course of the reading
experience—for reading the text (i.e.,
skimming, studying to retain content,
close reading, etc.)?
Appendix Reminders
Appendix A contains more
research on text complexity.
Appendix B provides
examples of exemplar texts.
These are not mean to be the
new curriculum, but rather, as
it states, strong examples.
Teachers will Lead High Level,
Text-Based Discussions
The goal is for students to become
skilled at holding high-level
discussions on their own.
The primary element of art
used in the sky in Van
Gogh’s Starry Night is
_____________________, as
shown through the
______________________.
Basic Steps for
Text Based Discussions
Students should read before expressing
their opinions or personal reactions.
Students should refer to the text for
their responses.
Explicitly teach speaking and listening
skills before discussion.
Consider the “time in” the text.
Some Practical Reasons for
Engaging Students in Text Based
Discussions
 The Literacy standards are redundant across the strands.
 How you “read” connects directly with how you “speak and
listen,” which directly connects to what and how you “write.”
 We often say “Don’t write how you talk,” but our students have no
verbal academic model to check their writing against.
 The full sentence language approach or Format Matters (Teach
Like a Champion) reinforces academic language.
 The end product is dependent upon the process of reading.
 In Performance Tasks, students will synthesize
informational text from across disciplines.
 In Selected Choice assessments, students will, for
example, selected the text that supports an author’s
claim.
Students should:
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California Standard
Common Core Standard for California
Reading
Reading Standards for Informational Text (ELA)
2.4 Make warranted and
reasonable assertions
about the author’s
arguments by using
elements of the text to
defend and clarify
interpretations.
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text, including determining where the text
leaves matters uncertain.
Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies
1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of
primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained
from specific details to an understanding of the text as a
whole.
Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical
Subjects
1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of
science and technical texts, attending to important
distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or
inconsistencies in the account.
Two Suggestions to
Engage Text
Annotation
https://www.teachingchannel.org/v
ideos/student-annotated-readingstrategy
Evidence Based Claims Graphic
Organizer
See Handout - Forming EvidenceBased Claims
Examples of Annotations
The Thinking Notes
Annotation Technique
A Few Guidelines to Developing
an Annotation Guide/Strategy
for your Department
It is imperative that students have an initial
independent read of text. The following is a list
of basic steps that can be used to annotate
texts.
Number the paragraphs.
Read for unfamiliar terms, then define them.
Underline the author’s claims.
Indicate the examples/relevant information
of the claim.
Circle key terms and essential words.
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Text-Dependent Questions
(TDQ’s) are not…
Low-level, literal, or recall questions
Focused on comprehension
strategies
Not Text-Dependent
In “Letter from a
Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King
discusses nonviolent
protest. Discuss, in writing,
a time when you wanted
to fight against something
that you felt was unfair.
In “The Gettysburg
Address” Lincoln says the
nation is dedicated to the
proposition that all men are
created equal. Why is
equality an important value
to promote?
Text-Dependent
What can you infer
from King’s letter about
the letter that he
received?
“The Gettysburg
Address” mentions the
year 1776. According
to Lincoln’s speech,
why is this year
significant to the
events described in the
speech?
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
Step One:
Identify the core understandings and
key ideas of the text.
Step Two:
Start small to build confidence.
Step Three:
Target vocabulary and text structure.
Step Four:
Tackle tough sections head-on.
Step Five:
Create coherent sequences of textdependent questions.
Step Six:
Identify the standards that are being
addressed.
Create the Culminating Assessment
Step Seven:
 Analyze paragraphs on a sentence by sentence basis
and sentences on a word by word basis to determine
the role played by individual paragraphs, sentences,
phrases, or words
 Investigate how meaning can be altered by
changing key words and why an author may have
chosen one word over another
 Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in
informational text, each key detail in literary text, and
observe how these build to a whole
 Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or
explanation are achieved and the impact of those
shifts
 Question why authors choose to begin and end when
they do
 Note and assess patterns of writing and what they
achieve
 Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated
Examples of
Text Dependent Questions
 Describe the problem in this text and how it is solved.
Use information from the article/passage to support
your answer.
 Describe the process of ______using information from
the text.
 What is the author’s purpose of structuring the
paragraphs in this way? Use details from the
passage to support your answer.
Creating a Text Based
Question
 Model - The American Dream Example
 Reading the article reveals that the author argues that
the definition of the American Dream has shifted over
time and may be less attainable.
A question might be: According to Adam’s essay,
how has the American Dream changed over time
from the ideals of the Declaration of Independence?
What different interpretations have people had over
time?
Structured Practice –
 What important aspect of this article do we need to
address? (Step 1)
 What text/information supports that?
 Create a question that results in students engaging that text.
Small Group Work
Please find two to three
people that share your
text.
Create a text based
question with them.
Share out with the whole
group.