Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects
Allen Parish Schools—Science and Social Studies Departments
July 23-24, 2012
Slides and templates available at:
http://www.21stcenturyschoolteacher.com/presentations.html
Our Understandings
 Common core literacy standards require shared responsibility for the
reading and writing process.
 Transfer of content as well as literacy skills is the ultimate goal.
(Transfer is defined as adaptation and application of skills to new
situations or contexts.)
 In order to transfer, students need time and guidance to make
meaning of the methodologies, structures, and relevance of the
reading and writing process.
Essential Questions:
 What are the day-to-day implications of the CCSS for Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects for our
classrooms?
 What is the biggest challenge in planning with the Common Core literacy standards in mind?
 How can we unpack the CCSS to guide planning at the lesson level?
 How can we best incorporate the literacy standards into our content
standards / goals?
 How should we assess both literacy and content standards?
Two views of . . .
 Video Clip
 Which way do you feel?
 Are you walking, dragging, or charging into the bushes?
Common Core = Six Shifts in Literacy
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Balancing Informational and Literary Text
Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
Staircase of Complexity
Text-Based Answers
Writing From Sources
Academic Vocabulary
Our Focus:
 READING: Shifts 1 and 2: Non-fiction Texts and Authentic Texts
 WRITING: Shifts 4 and 5: Focus on command of evidence from
texts: rubrics and writing prompts
 OUTCOME: Unpacked Reading/Writing Standards for your
classroom, alignment with core curriculum, and application of day
one work to revision of DCAs
Strongest Messages:
 Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
 Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from
text, both literary and informational
 Regular practice with complex text and its academic
language
Digging Deeper to Understand Implications of Standards
Unpacking CCSS Standards
10 Reading and 10 (9) Writing
 CCSS in Reading are broken down—10 History (RH)—page 61
and 10 Science/Technical subjects (RST)—page 62
 Grade bands 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
 CCSS in Writing are for History, Science, and Technical
subjects (WHST)—pages 64-66
 Grade bands 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
Breaking down the standards:
 Red=verb=Skill or Understanding
 Blue=Noun=Knowledge
 Green=qualifier=Criteria for performance
CCR 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.
Example - Common Core - Writing
W.1-Write arguments to support claims in an
analysis of substantive topics or texts, using
valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient
evidence.
Underline the nouns, circle the verbs, and place parenthesis around modifiers.
Example - Common Core - Writing
W.1-Write arguments to support claims in an
analysis of (substantive) topics or texts, using
(valid) reasoning and (relevant) and
(sufficient) evidence.
Underline the nouns, circle the verbs, and place parenthesis around modifiers.
Unpacking the Standards:
Electronic Template available on website
Collaborate:
 Work in your collaborative group to choose a unit or units of focus. Select
several standards you might use today and tomorrow in your planning. Place
them on the Matrix template based on standard language and unit goals.
 Unpack desired standard(s) for Acquisition, Meaning Making, and Transfer,
using the Matrix template.
 A-What kinds of new instruction will this standard demand?
 M-What understandings from this standard will take time and intentional planning
to uncover?
 What independent transfer is called for by the standard?
Shifts 1 and 2: How can we choose and teach text?
Non-fiction Texts and Authentic Texts
Shifts in Reading
What examples of non-fiction texts do you
use in your classroom?
•
•
•
•
Biographies and autobiographies
Essays
Speeches
Information displayed in charts, graphs, or maps,
digitally or in print.
The Challenge of Reading
Tony slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He
hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well.
What bothered him most was being held, especially since the
charge against him had been weak. He considered his present
situation. The lock that held him was strong, but he thought he
could break it . . . He felt that he was ready to make his move.
K. McCormick, The Culture of Reading and the Teaching of English, 1994
The Challenge of Reading #2
 A-Rod hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. (Hirsch and
Pondiscio 2010)
The New York Yankees lost when Alex Rodriguez came up to bat with a man on first base
and one out and then hit a groundball to the short- stop, who threw to the second
baseman, who relayed to first in time to catch Rodriguez for the final out.
(Hirsch and Pondiscio 2010)
Why Informational Text is Difficult:
 Students often struggle to monitor and integrate ideas of informational
text. According to Romero, Paris and Brem (2005), ideas that arc over
large amounts of cognitive territory make global understanding of
informational text more difficult.
 Scaffold for students with:
 Understanding of the elements and structure of informational text
 Understanding of academic vocabulary
 Understanding of their purpose for reading
Annotation resource for structure/vocabulary available on web site
Purpose for
Reading
The House
Tovani, I Read It But I Don’t Get It
Broad Categories for Successful Reading:
Predicting requires students to guess what might happen
Questioning requires students to ask about the text they are reading
Summarizing requires students to explain the meaning of their reading in their own words
Inferencing requires students to “read between the lines” for meaning
Connections--Text to Self, Text to Text, Text to World Connections require students to find
similarities in other texts, to themselves, and to something universal
Self-monitoring requires students to be meta-cognitive and be aware of their own
comprehension
Pinnell and Fountas (2003)
 “[Reading] strategies are not linear in that
first you engage with one and then
another. In fact, reducing complex
systems to a list . . . Probably oversimplifies reading.”
CCR R2
 R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze
their development; summarize the key supporting details and
ideas.
 CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects, p. 60
Example: Reciprocal Teaching
Four Roles
Chunk text
Predict
Question
Clarify
Summarize
Give one—get one:
Helping Students to Engage in The Reading Process
 Before Reading:
Strategies?
 During Reading:
 Strategies?
 After Reading:
 Strategies?
 Kujawa and Huske’s (1995) model
CCR R1
 R.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.
 CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects, p. 60
Example Strategy:
Costa’s Levels of Thinking/Questions
Level One—Recall
In the text
Level Two—Inferential
Text +
Level Three—
Outside of text
What happened to the litmus
paper when it was inserted in
the liquid?
Why did it happen?
What would happen if you
used a different liquid?
What is the current
population of Louisiana?
Contrast our current
population growth with
growth in the 1800s.
What will our population be
like in 2050 if we continue as
we have for the past 10 years?
Who is the main character?
Analyze the character’s
intentions.
What would happen if ___ did
___?
Example Strategy: Costa’s Levels of Questions
Electronic handout available on website
And / or Text dependent questions—one example:
http://commoncore.americaachieves.org/module/5
 Share: When have you OR might you use levels of questions?
CCR R8 and R6
 R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a
text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the
relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
 R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and
style of a text.
 CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and
Technical Subjects, p. 60
Annotating for claims / reasoning / bias
Purpose(s) for annotation:
 What are the ethical issues surrounding the cloning of pets?
 What is the author's main point? Is he objective? How do
you know?
CCR R7
 R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse
formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words.
 CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects, p. 60
Annotating
Visuals
Guernica
CCR R4
 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze
how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
 CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects, p. 60
Annotate to summarize
/ annotate to discuss
 Thomas Jefferson
 What makes a leader?
Collaborate:
Planning Reading Instruction
 CHOOSE informational text(s) for your unit and IDENTIFY
pre-reading, during reading, and after reading strategies to
help students access the text. Identify alignment with your
unpacked Common Core standards. Resource: Appendix B
Resource: Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
Resource: DOK Activity Levels
Lunch
Slide placed as needed
Shift 4 & 5: How can we increase writing from sources?
How can we best measure that writing?
Focus on Command of Evidence from Text
Shift 4 & 5: Implications for Instruction
 Increased writing from sources
 Argument and informational 70%
Shifts in Writing
Source: Balog,
David, Ed. The Dana
Source Book of
Brain Science:
Resources for
Teachers and
Students 4th
edition. Dana Press,
c2006.
Source: Balog,
David, Ed. The Dana
Source Book of
Brain Science:
Resources for
Teachers and
Students 4th
edition. Dana Press,
c2006.
Challenge: Writing to Understand:
"As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it,
different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his
reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal
influence on each other; and the former will be objects to which the latter will
attach themselves. The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of
property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests.
The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the
protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the
possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and
from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective
proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties."
--James Madison’s The Federalist Papers
CCR W10
CCR 10. Write routinely over extended
time frames (time for research,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two)
for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
O
CCSS for English/Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects, p. 63
Types of Text Structures (Writing Modes)
There are multiple ways to organize thinking or writing.
We tend to use certain modes more for explanation or
informational writing, and others for argument or persuasive
writing.
Students should know how to identify multiple modes in their
reading, and they should know how to use those modes in their
writing.
Effective Writing Assignments:
O
Content and Scope:
O “[An effective writing assignment] engages students in a series
of cognitive processes, such as reflection, analysis, and
synthesis, so that they are required to transform the information
from the reading material in order to complete the writing
assignment.”
O
--Nagin, Carl and the National Writing Project. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in
our Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2006. p. 47.
Effective Writing Assignments:
O Organization and Development:
O“An effective assignment gives students a
framework for developing ideas and
organizational guidelines that help them
analyze and synthesize the information with
which they are working.”
O
-Nagin, Carl and the National Writing Project. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2006. p. 47.
Effective Writing Assignments:
O Audience and Communication:
O “An effective assignment goes beyond the use of a
‘pretend’ audience and offers the student a
genuine opportunity [to inform, entertain, or
persuade].”
O
--Nagin, Carl and the National Writing Project. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2006. p. 48.
Effective Writing Assignments:
 Engagement and choice:
 “. . . An effective assignment avoids the pitfalls
of offering the student too much choice or
none at all. Restricting the range of decisions
that the student is asked to make is a way for
her to increase engagement in the
assignment.”
--Nagin, Carl and the National Writing Project. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our
Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2006. p. 48.
Teaching to the writing standards:
Argumentative Writing
General Characteristics of
Argumentative Writing
 Central claim or thesis states a narrowed and defined
argument
 Sub-claims or topic sentences clarify premises for
argument/stance
 Evidence to support reasoning --text and research based
 Concedes to and Refutes opposing arguments
 Conclusion restates central premise and summarizes
Example: Video Games
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What is the central claim?
What are the sub-claims?
Is there strong evidence? What form does it take?
Is there a concession to the other point of view?
Is there a strong conclusion?
Teaching to the writing standards:
Informative Writing
General Characteristics of
Informative Writing
 Context-setting hook
 Guiding idea: what, how, why or so what (thesis)
 Organized main points provide a road map through paper
(ts)
 Evidence to support topic clear, well-developed, accurate
 Text and research based
 Conclusion
Example: The Teen Brain
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Is there a hook to get your attention?
Is there a guiding what, how, or so what?
Are there organized main points?
Can you identify text / research based evidence for each
main point?
Planning your Transfer Writing Tasks
 Considering our discussions around writing instruction,
create one or more transfer tasks for your
classroom/curriculum. Resource: Appendix C
 Identify the corresponding skills to be taught / explored
 Matrix template and science / social studies examples
How will you measure success?
Writing rubrics for assessments
Working smarter . . .
Questions for consideration:
• When assessing for transfer of CC Literacy Standards, to what extent are we
concerned about our discipline’s content and skills?
• Where should content and skills reside in our rubric and what weight should they
have?
• To what extent will target literacy skills in reading and writing remain
unchanged from rubric to rubric?
In your collaborative group, create a rubric aligned to one or more of the tasks
created today. Resource: LDC Template tasks.
Day Two Agenda:
Day Two Goal: Revision of DCA transfer tasks for alignment with core curriculum / CCSS
 Morning:
 Audit / examine current transfer tasks for revision / alignment to CCSS
 Writing DCA Transfer Tasks: Collaborative work / revision time in grade level teams
 Exit Slip—Progress and Needs
 Lunch
 Afternoon:
 Debrief exit slips / questions / needs
 Writing DCA Transfer Tasks/Rubrics: Collaborative work / revision time in continues
 Gallery Walk / Sharing
 Setting team goals for future revision
 Evaluation
Evaluating your Experience
Contact Information
Donna Herold
 Donnaher@spokaneschools.org
 www.21stcenturyschoolteacher.com
 509-979-2521