Building Core Strength through
the Shifts
Focusing on Shifts 4, 5, and 6
Recap of April
To apply Shifts 1, 2, and 3 to instruction, we introduced
a PARCC-like assessment called a
Prose Constructed Response (PCR) made up
of:
Shift 1: Paired Text (fiction and non-fiction)
Shift 2: Close Reading of informational text to gain
knowledge through text
Shift 3: One of the texts was complex
The culminating activity was to write or finish a story
using information from paired text – NEW approach to
narrative writing
Why Are We Here?
Success Criteria:
Learning Goals:
Teachers will increase
their knowledge of:
1.
2.
3.
Instructional practices that
engage students in
multiple sources using
text-based evidence.
Why Tier 2 words are
most important for
instruction.
Instructional methods for
writing from multiple
sources backed with
textual evidence.
Teachers will be able to:
1. Practice with selected
text and non-textual
stimulus as evidence.
2.
Make instructional
choices about
vocabulary.
3.
Use a Research
Simulation Task (RST) as
an instructional practice
with an authentic
assessment.
Bye Bye FCAT Writes!
GENERAL
INFORMATION
 2013-2014 is the last
year of Florida Writes.

INCOMING 4th, 8th,
and 10th Graders are
the last to take Florida
Writes.
IMPLICATIONS


2013-2014 should usher
in DIFFERENT types
of writing for ALL grade
levels in ALL disciplines.
The following
Research Simulation
Task can be
incorporated into any
classroom.
What Prompts WERE…
Description of the 2012 FCAT Writing Prompts
Grade 4
Writing to Tell a Story (Narrative): The grade 4 narrative
prompt directed the student to suppose someone had a chance to
ride a camel and to write a story about what happens on this camel
ride.
Grade 8
Writing to Persuade (Persuasive): The grade 8 persuasive
prompt directed the student to convince the principal whether or
not 8th grade students should be graded on how they behave in
school.
Grade 10
Writing to Persuade (Persuasive): The grade 10 persuasive
prompt directed the student to convince business leaders whether
students should have a part-time job sometime during high school.
What Prompts are BECOMING…
Claim: Using Rachel
Carson’s Silent Spring
and at least one other
source, create a claim
(with textual support)
that emphasizes
mankind’s
responsibility to
maintain the health of
the environment for
future generations.
Table Talk: In With the New

Compare the PARCC-like writing task to
the Florida Writes writing task.
How are they different? How will
instruction change? What grade levels will
be impacted?

Shift 5: The Over-Arching Shift
SHIFT 5
Writing from Sources
SHIFT 4
SHIFT 6
Text Based
Answers
Academic
Vocabulary
Shift 4: Text Based Answers
What is it?
Students provide textual
support for all answers
including implicit ones.
Shift 4: What Does It Look Like?
Students Do:


Go back to the text to
find evidence to support
their opinion/argument
in a thoughtful, careful,
precise way.
Create their own
judgments and become
scholars rather than
witnesses of the text.
Teachers Do:


Facilitate evidencebased conversations
with/between students,
dependent on the text.
Consistently ask
students where in the
text they find evidence
and to support the
author’s purpose or
claim.
What is the Impact of Shift 4?
Students Must Learn to Find
Evidence in a Variety of Sources:
 Informational Text
 Multimedia
 Primary
Documents
Resources in Shift 4?
Multimedia Examples
K-1: Video from National Geographic for Kids: Reptiles: Baby Chameleons
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/reptileskids/chameleon-babies-kids/ (1:21)
2-3: Video (Brain POP Rosa Parks) (running time 5:37)
http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies/americanhistory/rosaparks/
4-5: 101 National Geographic for Kids (running time 3:04)
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/forces-of-naturekids/volcanoes-101-kids/
6-8: “Shark and Turtle,” “Unlikely Travel Companions,” & “Sharks and
Fishermen” (TOTAL time: 5 minutes and 12 seconds)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/lessons/symbiotic-strategies/video-segments/1496/
9-12: “Managing Work Related Stress” CBS News (2:55 total run-time)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7010875n
Shift 4:TABLE TALK
How do the activities of the gradeband lessons work together to allow
students to synthesize information
from multiple sources?
Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary
What is it?
Students understand
words in context and
across the curriculum.
Word Sort
Test your
knowledge of:



Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Shift 6: Word Sort Activity
Shift 6: Elementary School
Academic Vocabulary-Sorting Activity
Elementary (Grade 4 -5) Vocabulary Sort
from Non-Fiction Text (Lexile Level 920): Simon, Seymour. Volcanoes. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
ancient
armor
ash
beneath
boil
churn
crater
destructive
erupted
forge
homeless
lava
magma
molten
month
mountain
plates
sections
underwater
visitor
TIER ONE –
Tier Two –
Tier Three –
Everyday Use
Academic Vocabulary
Domain Specific
Shift 6: Middle School
Academic Vocabulary-Sorting Activity
Shift 6: High School Academic VocabularySorting Activity
Shift 6: What Does It Look Like?
Students Do:
Teachers Do:

Spend more time
learning words and
apply their knowledge
of the words through
discussion and writing.

Develop students’ ability
to use and access words
that show up in everyday
text that may be slightly
out of reach.

Associate words with
other words instead of
learning individual,
isolated vocabulary
words.

Think strategically about
the type of vocabulary
they select and
determine which words
are Tier 2 vs.Tier 3.
Shift 5: Writing from Sources
What is it?
Students write using multiple
sources to draw a conclusion
and or an opinion on a single
subject.
Shift 5: Writing from Sources
Shift 5: Writing from Sources
Shift 5: Writing from Sources
PARCC (Draft) Expanded Scoring Rubric
Score Point 4
All “3” PLUS:
(EXCEEDS)

Cites more than two items of textual evidence to support analysis

Makes explicit and/or inferential connections between ideas expressed in text(s)
to other text(s) using textual evidence as support
Score Point 3

Response provides as accurate analysis of what the text says explicitly.
(MEETS)

Response provides an accurate analysis of what the text says inferentially.

Cites two items of textual evidence to support analysis

Shows accurate comprehension of ideas expressed in text(s)

Includes 3 of the “Meets” criteria
Score Point 2
(PROGRESSING)
Score Point 1
(task may be repeated after re-teaching)

(BEGINNING)
Score Point 0
(DOES NOT MEET)
Includes 2 of the “Meets” criteria
(task may be repeated after re-teaching)

Includes fewer than 2 of the “Meets” criteria
(task may be repeated after re-teaching)
RST Activity
TABLE TALK
How do “authentic assessments”
relate to RSTs? Specifically, how can
rubrics help students understand
what is assessed?
Shift 5: What Does It Look Like?
Students Do:
Write opinions and
arguments using
evidence from text.
 Begin to generate their
own informational texts
through note-taking
and summarizations
(thereby creating their
own secondary
sources).

Teachers Do:


Recognize that even
narrative writing
requires sound
evidence.
Give permission to
students to have their
own reaction and draw
on their own
connections from the
text.
Higher Order Thinking is Required
with Shift 5!
Before, with FCAT:
Prompt – “Compare and contrast the
similarities of the volcano described in the
poem with the volcano discussed in the
article.”
Now, with PARCC-like Assessments:
Prompt – “Use information from the poem
and the article to create an argument that
volcanoes are damaging to the earth.”
Putting It All Together
ACTIVITY
Now you are going to bring all of your
knowledge from Shifts 4, 5, and 6 to analyze
the RST.
Reflection of Shifts 4, 5, and 6
Reflection: Tweet how this could look in
your class. Don’t forget to use @ when you
tweet.