Integrating English
Language Arts
Academic Skills into
CTE Curriculum
Is not “one more thing to do”!
It’s part of what we should be doing whenever
lessons require that students read or write.
Being proficient communicators, both orally
and in writing are success skills needed in all
occupations!
Arizona College Career Ready Standards
(also known as Common Core Standards)
Are our documents:
You have:
O Anchor Standards (the same for all grades)
O Reading/Writing Standards specifically for
Technical Subjects in grades 6-12
Reading - Yellow
Writing – Blue
Take five
minutes
now to
Reading Anchors
skim
over
There are 10 Standards that fit within these
the
categories:
standards
1. Key Ideas and Details
Read closely
2. Craft and Structure
Interpret
3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analyze and evaluate
4. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Comprehend
Take five
minutes
now to
Writing Anchors
skim over
There are 10 Standards that fit within these
the
categories:
standards
1. Text Types and Purposes
Argumentative, Informative, Narrative
2. Production and Distribution of Writing
Produce, revise, and use technology
3. Research to Build and Present Writing
Gather information and draw evidence
4. Range of Writing
Write routinely for a range of tasks and
purposes
Section Objective:
Topic: Arizona College and Career Ready
Reading and Writing Standards for
Technical Subjects
Do: Examine standards to see what CTE
teachers can do to address them in
their programs
Level of Thinking: Analyzing
Close Reading:
Critical to AzCCR
Reading Standard
Attainment!
Let’s break every PowerPoint rule in the
book on the next slide….
Close Reading
(PARCC, 2011, p. 7)
Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text
of sufficient complexity directly and examining
meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging
students to read and reread deliberately. Directing
student attention on the text itself empowers
students to understand the central ideas and key
supporting details. It also enables students to reflect
on the meanings of individual words and sentences;
the order in which sentences unfold; and the
development of ideas over the course of the text,
which ultimately leads students to arrive at an
understanding of the text as a whole.
Let’s look
at the
definition
bit by
bit…
Engaging with sufficient
complexity…
O Students need to be assigned challenging text
with the expectation that eventually they will
read it successfully independently
O They will need help (scaffolding) at first, but the
degree of support should lessen over time
O Most likely the text you are using has a high
Lexile level, but you can check any text by
creating a free account and following the steps
to analyze text on the www.lexile.com website
The Lexile® measure: a scientific way
to match readers with text
O Uses a common scale for measuring
individual readers and texts
• Lexile scores are determined by the
difficulty of text measured by
sentence and word lengths
O Enables accurate matching of reader
ability with text complexity to
enhance learning
Measuring Text Complexity
Lexile scores are the “Quantitative” task factor
“Qualitative” = teacher’s professional decisions
based upon the difficulty of the text based on text
structure, visual supports, language used, etc.
“Reader and task” = the factor like
O student background knowledge
O motivation
O reading skills
Common Core Lexile Levels
Encouraging students to read
and reread deliberately
O Have students determine central ideas or
themes (Standard 2)
O Each time they reread a selection they
should have a different purpose for reading
(task you have given)
Direct students to the text
itself
O Help students realize that they will learn by
reading for the rest of their lives
O Don’t just “answer their questions.” Have
them dig into the text to find the answers
themselves
Reflect on meanings of
individual words and sentences
O Guide students to extract meaning from the
words, sentences, and paragraphs
O Analyze how the use of symbols and
domain-specific vocabulary shape meaning
or tone (Standard 4)
Focus on the development of
ideas over the course of the text
O Analyze how ideas develop (Standard 3)
O Demonstrate how each part of the text
contributes to the overall message
Let’s take a look at text
Close Reading
(Lexile level 1330)
Article by Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher
Step 1: Examine Text Features
O Title/subtitles
O Who wrote it?
O Graphs/illustrations if present
O Print features (bold, italics, etc.)
O Number and chunk paragraphs or sections (if
not done by the teacher)
Step 2: First Read
For this exercise, let’s look at paragraphs 3-7
(continue to read all of 7 on back side)
O Circle any key vocabulary along with any that
is unknown
O Put a ? In the margins for unknown
Please do this now…
Step 3: Second Read
O Underline key details
O Put exclamation marks !! by important ideas
Step 4: Third read
O On the left margin, write statements in your own
words about what you learned
O Write an “about statement” for each chunk of the
text
(LEFT = Learned)
O On the right margin make reflections:
O
O
O
O
Predictions
Opinions related to text
Connections
Patterns/repetitions
(RIGHT = Reflect)
Step 4: Subsequent Readings
O If done, direct the student to mark
according to one or more of these things:
O Author’s point of view
O Support for claims/opinions
O Connections
O Cause and effect
O Compare and contrast
Students as
independent,
proficient readers of
complex text
is the ultimate goal of AzCCR Reading Standards
How do we get them there?
Students must learn to effectively
gather evidence, knowledge, and
insight directly from the text in
order to comprehend and draw
inferences
This can be taught through the use of well-crafted
text dependent questions written
specifically to selections of complex text
The text MUST BE:
O First closely read by you, the teacher
O Worth reading
O Of sufficient complexity to be challenging yet “doable”
The questions MUST BE:
• Worth asking
• Specific to the text selection (kids get bored with
answering generic questions)
• Crafted deliberately
• Answered first by you the teacher to insure that
answers require referring back to the text
Writing Text
Dependent Questions
Quality Text Dependent
Questions:
O Require students to be close readers of text
O Set the stage for critical thinking
O Are crafted in a way to elicit extended thoughts
O Usually have more than one correct response
O Require that students refer back to the text
O Provide opportunity for students to cite evidence
3 Types of text dependent
questions
•
•
•
Questions that assess themes and central ideas
Questions that assess knowledge of vocabulary
Questions that assess syntax and structure
O
O
O
Why did the author choose particular words?
How do portions of the text relate to the whole?
What info is gained from examining graphics/photos?
6 Steps
To writing quality text
dependent questions
Step 1:
Identify the standards that are
being addressed
O Determine which AzCC Reading/Writing
Standards are being addressed by the
text and questions
O Your CTE Program’s Technical Standards
would be the basis for your learning
objective
Step 2:
Identify core understandings
of text
O What is it that you want students to
understand or learn from the text?
O This could be stated in the form of a
critical focus question
Core Understanding /
Critical Focus Questions
Examples from the article you have read:
Guided close reading lessons help students
develop skills and stamina needed to successfully
comprehend complex text. Close reading should be
done periodically in all classes with well-chosen
selections for which text dependent questions
have been written.
How do teachers prepare for, and students
participate in and benefit from close reading
lessons?
Step 3:
Start small
The first questions …
O Orient students to the text
O Simple enough to encourage confidence
to tackle more challenging subsequent
questions
Step 4:
Target vocabulary and
text structure
O Identify how text is set up
O Focus attention on diagrams and
charts imparting information
O Write questions to ensure
understanding of key vocabulary
Step 5:
Tackle tough sections directly
O Identify areas that are likely to pose
challenges to craft questions to ensure
understanding
Step 6:
Create a coherent series of text
dependent questions
O Questions should build upon one
another
O Sum of the questions should lead to
core understanding (answer critical
focus question)
Sample text dependent questions…
1. What is the recommended length of text
to be used for close reads?
2. Why should close reading text selections
be relatively short?
3. Paragraph 6 refers to the teaching of
close reading not being the purview of
English teachers, meaning what?
4. What is an ultimate goal of close reads?
You’re the experts!
PLC groups will work together to:
O Select appropriate complex text
O Determine core understandings / critical
questions
O Craft quality text-dependent questions
O Critique one another's questions to select
the best
O Write AzCCRS Reading/Writing tasks – at
least one quarterly
“3, 2, 1” Section Closure –
Take out the ½ sheet in your binder pocket
Time for a short