Mid-Year BT Symposium
Spring 2013
WCU
Brooke Mabry, Instructional Coach, McDowell County Schools
To provide students with the…
•toolset
•skillset
•mindset
…needed for college and career readiness.
Tree Map
Classification
What are
the needs
of your
students?
What are your
areas of
needed
improvement?
What
professional
development
needs do you
have?
Which area
will be
hardest to
address?
Hattie, John. (2006). Visible
Learning. New York: Routledge.
80% of all information that
comes into our brain is
VISUAL
40% of all nerve fibers
connected to the brain are
linked to the retina
-Eric Jensen,
Brain Based
Learning
36,000 visual messages per hour
may be registered by the eyes
“Knowledge is stored in two forms:
linguistically and nonlinguistically.
Research proves that the more we
use both systems of representation,
the better we are able to think and
recall knowledge.”
-Ruby Payne PhD.,
A Framework for
Understanding
Poverty
-Robert
Marzano,
Classroom
Instruction
the Works
“The true discrimination that
comes out of poverty is the lack
of cognitive strategies.”
“We believe that probably
the best strategies for teaching
text structures are visualspatial strategies.”
-Jacqueline G
Brooks,
To See Beyond the
Lesson
-Peregoy & Boyle,
Reading, Writing,
and Learning in
ESL
“The search for meaning is the
purpose of learning; so,
teaching for meaning is the
purpose of teaching.”
 Close
reading
 Increasing complexity
 Gather evidence, knowledge, and
insight
 Text-dependent questions and tasks
that require deep critical thinking
 Increased attention to author’s craft
 Evidence-based responses
Text Selection: Complexity
Qualitative evaluation includes
levels of meaning, structure,
language conventionality and clarity,
and knowledge demands.
Quantitative evaluation is concerned
with readability measures and other
scores of complexity.
The teacher must consider reader
variables such as motivation,
knowledge, and experiences, and
task variables such as purpose and
complexity of task and questions
posed, to match readers with
appropriate texts.
The quality of suggested texts is high--they are worth reading closely and exhibit
exceptional craft and thought or provide useful information. Texts should be
worthy of close attention and careful re-reading for understanding. (PARCC)

80-90% of (CCSS) reading standards require textdependent analysis yet over 30% of questions in
major textbooks do not.
 Asking
students to make connections to
themselves, other texts, and the world is
a common style of questioning that
guides students away from the text.
This type of questioning does not lead to a deep
understanding of the text.
 We
often ask students simple questions
that require very literal thinking to
ensure they have read the text.
Students expend too much time and energy answering
these questions rather than slowing down to consider the
meaningful text-specific questions that will bring them to
a deeper understanding.
Text-dependent
questions do not
require
information or
evidence from
outside the text;
they establish
what follows and
what does not
follow from the
text itself. Eighty
to 90 percent of
the Reading
Standards in
each grade
require textdependent
analysis.





High-quality sequences of textdependent questions elicit sustained
attention to the specifics of the text
and their impact.
Questions and tasks require the use of
textual evidence, including
supporting valid inferences from the
text.
Instructional design cultivates student
interest and engagement in reading
rich text carefully.
Questions and tasks attend to
analyzing the arguments and
information at the heart of literary
nonfiction in grades 6-12.
Questions and tasks require careful
comprehension of the text before
asking for further evaluation or
interpretation.
are questions that can only be answered correctly by
close reading of the text and demand careful
attention to the text.
 require an understanding that extends beyond
recalling facts.
 often require students to infer.
 do not depend on information from outside sources.
 allow students to gather evidence and build
knowledge.
 provide access to increasing levels of complex text.
 call for careful and thoughtful teacher preparation.
 require time for students to process.
 are worth asking.

“The best questions will
motivate students to dig in
and explore further—just as
texts should be worth reading,
so should questions be worth
answering.”
 Complete
an “inspectional” read (# all
sentences and paragraphs)
 What do similarities do you notice about
paragraphs 2 – 7?
 How do these paragraphs relate to
paragraph 9?
 What effect does the author achieve
through structuring the paragraphs 2 – 7
as single sentences?
 Planning
from standards to instructional
delivery
 Learning Targets aligned to NCSCOS
and written in student-friendly language
 Pose questions supportive of Enduring
Understanding
 Identify Big Ideas
 Planning thoughtful, text-dependent
questions
 Slow
down and dig deeper into content
 Uncover concepts and ideas in content
vs. covering content objectives
 Read closely/re-read multiple times
(during instruction)
 Master learning targets
 Have regular practice with complex
texts and its academic vocabulary
(during instruction)
Knowledge is built through content-rich nonfiction
and informational text
 Reading and writing is grounded in evidence from
text
 Academic vocabulary via text complexity is
utilized
 Balanced literacy—students read, write, speak,
and listen equitably
 Elementary Text Type Balance—50 Inform/50 Lit
 Secondary Text Type Balance—70 Inform/30 Lit

 Learning
and Innovation Skills (4 C’s)
• Critical thinking (skills/processes)
• Collaboration (student-to-student)
• Communication (student-to-student)
• Creativity (opportunities)
 Life
and Career Skills
 Information, Media, and Technology Skills
 Begin
planning with the standards rather
than the resource or text
 Select appropriately complex texts for
instruction
 Identify Tier 2 vocabulary words prior to
instruction
 Plan text-dependent questions prior to
instruction
 Assume the role of facilitator of students’
learning and plan instruction accordingly
We’re not in it for the income;
We’re in it for the outcome.
Contact Information:
Brooke Mabry
brooke.mabry@mcdowell.k12.nc.us
(828) 460 – 7125