Rigorous Reading:
Accessing Complex Texts
Doug Fisher
www.fisherandfrey.com
The teacher needed to…
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Establish learning goals
Check for understanding
Provide feedback
Align future instruction with student
performance
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focused Instruction
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Collaborative
“You do it
together”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Structure for Instruction that Works
In some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focused Instruction
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
In some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
And in some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focused Instruction
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focused Instruction
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Collaborative
“You do it
together”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Structure for Instruction that Works
10. Read and comprehend complex
literary and informational texts
independently and proficiently.
Assessing Texts
• Quantitative measures
• Qualitative values
• Task and reader considerations
Comparison of Former and CCR-Aligned Lexile Ranges
Former Lexile Range
Grade Band
K-1
2-3
4-5
6-8
9-10
11-CCR
CCR Aligned Lexile Range
N/A
450
725
420
820
645
845
740
1010
860
1010
925
1185
960
1115
1050
1335
1010
1220
1185
1385
• Density and
Complexity
• Figurative
Language
• Purpose
• Standard English
• Variations
• Register
• Genre
• Organization
• Narration
• Text Features
• Graphics
Levels of
Meaning
Structure
Language
Convention
and Clarity
Knowledge
Demands
• Background
• Prior
• Cultural
• Vocabulary
Levels of Meaning and Purpose
• Density and complexity
• Figurative language
• Purpose
Levels of Meaning and Purpose
Is it about talking
animals, or the USSR?
Is it entertainment,
or political satire?
Is it
straightforward, or
ambiguous?
1370L
Grades 11-12
Author’s Purpose
• Allegory for tolerance
• Mirrored events of early Civil
Rights movement (1961)
530L
Grades 2-3
“Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars. Those stars weren’t so big.
They were really so small
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all..”
But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, ‘We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the
beaches.’
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d
snort
‘We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!’
And whenever they met some, when they were out
walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking.”
Complex themes
• Relationship
between love and
pain
• Masculinity
• Loyalty and war
730L
Grades 2-3
Structure
• Genre
• Organization
• Narration
• Text features and
Structure
Changes in narration,
point of view
Changes in font signal
narration changes
Complex themes
560L
Grades 2-3
Structure
• Stream of
consciousness
narration
• Unreliable narrators
• Nonlinear structure
• Time shifts written in
italics
870L (grades 4-5)
Language Conventions
• Standard English and
variations
• Register
Language Conventions
Non-standard English usage
“Out in the hottest, dustiest part of
town is an orphanage run by a
female person nasty enough to
scare night into day. She goes by the
name of Mrs. Sump, though I doubt
there ever was a Mr. Sump on
accounta she looks like somethin’
the cat drug in and the dog
wouldn’t eat.”
(Stanley, 1996, p. 2)
AD 660L (Adult-directed)
Knowledge Demands
• Background knowledge
• Prior knowledge
• Cultural knowledge
• Vocabulary
Knowledge Demands
Domain-specific vocabulary
(radioactive, acidity,
procedure, vaccination)
Background knowledge
(diseases, safety risks,
scientific experimentation)
1100L
Grades 6-8
Cultural Knowledge
Demands
• Buddhist philosophy
• Search for spiritual
enlightenment
• Eightfold Path to Nirvana
1010L
Grades 6-8
Simply assigning hard books
will not ensure that students
learn at high levels!
Close
reading is
only a
PART
of high
quality
instruction
Use a short
passage
Re-reading
“Read with a pencil”
Text-dependent questions
Give students the chance to struggle a bit
Creating a Close Reading
A Close Reading of
“Salvador, Late or Early”
(Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, 1991)
Text-dependent Questions
• Answered through close
reading
• Evidence comes from
text, not information
from outside sources
• Understanding beyond
basic facts
• Not recall!
Progression of
Text-dependent Questions
Whole
Opinions, Arguments,
Intertextual Connections
Across texts
Inferences
Entire text
Author’s Purpose
Segments
Vocab & Text Structure
Paragraph
Key Details
Sentence
Word
Part
General Understandings
General Understandings
• Overall view
• Sequence of
information
• Story arc
• Main claim and
evidence
• Gist of passage
General Understandings in Kindergarten
Retell the story in order using the words
beginning, middle, and end.
Key Details
• Search for nuances in
meaning
• Determine importance of
ideas
• Find supporting details that
support main ideas
• Answers who, what, when,
where, why, how much, or
how many.
Key Details in Kindergarten
• How long did it take to go from a hatched egg
to a butterfly?
• What is one food that gave him a
stomachache? What is one food that did not
him a stomachache?
It took more than 3 weeks.
He ate for one week, and
then “he stayed inside [his
cocoon] for more than two
weeks.”
Foods that did not give
him a stomachache
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Apples
Pears
Plums
Strawberries
Oranges
Green leaf
Foods that gave him a
stomachache
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Chocolate cake
Ice cream
Pickle
Swiss cheese
Salami
Lollipop
Cherry pie
Sausage
Cupcake
watermelon
Vocabulary and Text Structure
• Bridges literal and
inferential meanings
• Denotation
• Connotation
• Shades of meaning
• Figurative language
• How organization
contributes to
meaning
Vocabulary in Kindergarten
How does the author help us to understand
what cocoon means?
There is an illustration of the cocoon,
and a sentence that reads, “He built a
small house, called a cocoon, around
himself.”
Author’s Purpose
• Genre: Entertain? Explain? Inform?
Persuade?
• Point of view: First-person, third-person
limited, omniscient, unreliable narrator
• Critical Literacy: Who’s story is not
represented?
Author’s Purpose in Kindergarten
Who tells the story—the narrator or the
caterpillar?
A narrator tells the story, because
he uses the words he and his. If it
was the caterpillar, he would say I
and my.
Inferences
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.
Inferences in Kindergarten
The title of the book is The Very Hungry
Caterpillar. How do we know he is hungry?
The caterpillar ate food every day “but he
was still hungry.” On Saturday he ate so
much food he got a stomachache! Then
he was “a big, fat caterpillar” so he could
build a cocoon and turn into a butterfly.
Opinions, Arguments, and
Intertextual Connections
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Author’s opinion and reasoning (K-5)
Claims
Evidence
Counterclaims
Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Rhetoric
Links to other texts throughout the grades
Opinions and Intertextual
Connections in Kindergarten
Narrative
Informational
Is this a happy story or a
sad one? How do you
know?
How are these two books
similar? How are they
different?
Progression of
Text-dependent Questions
Whole
Across texts
Opinions, Arguments,
Intertextual Connections
8&9
Inferences
3&7
Author’s Purpose
6
Entire text
Segments
Vocab & Text Structure
Paragraph
Key Details
Sentence
Word
Part
Standards
General Understandings
4&5
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Comprehension and Collaboration
1. Prepare for and participate in collaborations with
diverse partners, building
on each others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.
Talk occurs on
grade level
topics,
texts, and
issues.
K-2 Features
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Following the rules of discussion
Moving from participation to turn taking
Sustaining discussion through questioning
Adult support
3-5 Features
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Preparation for discussion
Yielding and gaining the floor
Posing and responding to questions
From explaining own ideas to explaining the
ideas of others
6-8 Features
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Using evidence to probe and reflect
Collegial discussions include goals and deadlines
Questions connect ideas from several speakers
Acknowledge new information
9-10 Features
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Use prepared research in discussion
Voting, consensus, and decision making
Ensure hearing full range of opinions or options
Summarize and synthesize points of disagreement
11-12 Features
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Civil, democratic discussions
Questions probe reasoning and evidence
Resolving contradictions
Determine what additional info is needed
Thank you!