Literacy Design Collaborative
Session Two, One Day Training
WELCOME TO THE COLORADO’S
LITERACY DESIGN
COLLABORATIVE
Session Two, One Day Training
Outcomes for Session 2
• Deepen understanding of the LDC process and how it
will enable you to teach the reading and writing skills
required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
while honoring the integrity of your content
• Analyze and understand how to use the LDC
argumentative & informational rubrics for scoring student
work
• Calibrate and practice scoring student work
Outcomes for Session 2
• Identify formative assessment opportunities imbedded in
LDC modules
• Focus on the Grade Level Expectations of the CCSS and
Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) in developing a
second module
• Apply research-based instructional strategies to module
development
• Create a second Teaching Task and construct a second
module
Quick Draw:
Successes and Challenges
• Create a visual representation of your experience with
your first module
• Stand and share
LDC and PARCC
• Colorado is a member of the PARCC Consortium
• PARCC will assess student achievement of the CCSS
• LDC will help students learn the literacy skills required by
the CCSS
The PARCC Assessments
• Read the released sample item from the PARCC
Assessment
• Review each section – what did you notice?
• In pairs, discuss the three guiding questions
• Be prepared to report out from pairs to whole group
Deconstructing the LDC Rubric
Form groups of 3-5:
• Read page 36 in Guidebook
• Identify who is going to “close read” each of the scoring elements
For your scoring element(s):
• Read the section again
• Identify vocabulary that will need direct instruction to support
student comprehension
• Identify the key differences between each rating level (1-4)
• What instructional strategies might help students understand the
rubric?
Deconstruction Worksheet
• Use the worksheet, “Literacy Design Collaborative Rubric
Deconstruction Worksheet”
• Follow the instructions, paraphrasing the elements as
you would explain them to your students
• Share your analysis from the previous slide with your
group members
Scoring Student Work
• Insights from Teacher Trainers
• Score student work in groups of three or four
Reflecting on Practice
• What do I need to consider changing or revising when
writing my second module?
• What am I going to change in my instructional practice
based on what I have learned? (Relate to Educator
Effectiveness)
• Do a quick-write of your answers to these questions and
any reflections or questions you have
Review of Example Module
• Look at the Teaching Task Section: Overview, Student
Background, Task, and Text Selection
• Look at the Skills Section: Notice the Grade Level
Expectations
• Look at the mini-tasks
Review of the Module
• Using the Module Review Sheet, review 3 Modes of
Academic Writing and write one or two comments in
each category
• Share with a partner when finished
• Identify three things you would do differently in your
module
LDC Task Development pg. 31
1. Choose Your Template Task
Your template task can:
n Be argumentation, information,
or narrative.
n Use an essential question or an
“after researching” task.
i to develop
n Call for students
a definti on, a description, a
procedural-sequential piece,
a synthesis, an analysis, a
comparison, or a discussion of
cause and effect.
2. Choose Your Topic
Your choice should:
n Address a major issue in your
discipline (big enough to be
a good investment of 2 to 4
weeks of class time).
n Fit the state and local
standards for which you are
responsible.
n Make sense as a subject to
teach during the weeks you are
planning to schedule this task.
5. Create Your Teaching Task
Your prompt should:
n Use the exact wording of the
template.
n Use your topic, reading texts, and
to fil in the
l
writing text choices
blanks and brackets.
n Be both challenging and f easible
for students, with a balance of
reading demands and writing
demands that works well for the
intended grade and content.
n Require sustained writing
and effective use of ideas and
evidence from the reading texts.
n Be built out for students by
adding introductory background
statement and ending with
extension if applicable.
24 | Meeting Common Literacy Standar ds in Your Classroom: The Literacy Design Collaborativ e Guide for Teachers
3. Choose Texts Students Will Read
Your choices should:
n Address your topic.
n Be short enough to allow close
reading and careful analysis.
n Use and develop academic
understanding and vocabulary.
n Where possible, include models of
the kind of text students will be
writing.
Or, you can specify a topic and assign
students to research the issue to select
texts that address the issue.
4. Choose Texts Students Will Write
Your choice should:
n Be a good fit for your topic,
template task, and students.
n Where possible, resemble writing
students may need to do in adult life
(for example, make an argument in
a letter to the editor, or explain a
process in a memo to a colleague.)
Beginning Your Second Module:
Teaching Task
• Select a curriculum focus for next semester where you
will use your module
• Write your Teaching Task for this module
• Have one of the trainers review your task
Tips for Choosing Texts and Other
Resources
Ask yourself….will the texts and/or multimedia I’ve chosen
provide the students with the information they need to
completely respond to the prompt?
Check….
the ‘do-ability’of the task by using your
selected readings to complete the task yourself
16
Choose the Texts (and if desired, multi-media)
Text selection is critical!
Look for the perfect balance
• reading level of students
• complexity of text (demands on skills and stamina of reader)
• background knowledge required for comprehension
• sufficiency of content for writing task
Keep Gradual Release in mind
• whole group
• small group
• independent
Be sure text provides students with information needed to respond
completely to the teaching task
New Lexile Ranges
The Dimensions of Text Complexity
Measuring Text Complexity
Quantitative measures look at factors
impacting “readability” as measured by
particular computer programs
Qualitative measures examine levels
of meaning, knowledge demands,
language features, text structure, and
use of graphics as measured by an
attentive reader
Reader and Task considers additional
“outside” factors that might impact the
difficulty of reading the text
Tools for Selecting Complex Texts
Quantitative
Measures using new,
more demanding CCR
Lexile Requirement
Qualitative Measures
that analyze critical
features of the text that
computers cannot
analyze
Considerations for
Reader and Task that
guide the use of the text
in the classroom
Final Placement Recommendation that sums up the
findings of all three factors
Why Text Complexity Matters
ACT Reading Between the Lines, 2006
Why Practice With Complex Text?
•
•
Gap between complexity of college and high school texts is huge
•
Too many students are reading at too low a level
(<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts)
•
Standards include a staircase of increasing text complexity from
elementary through high school
•
Standards also focus on building general academic vocabulary so
critical to comprehension
The complexity that students can read is the greatest predictor of
success in college (ACT study)
Change in text complexity in textbooks over
the last century
Source: Metametrics
Text Complexity
It is critical that all students develop the skill, concentration,
and stamina to read complex texts for success in college
and the workplace.
CCSS emphasizes regular practice with complex text and
academic language.
Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity
Lexile Framework by MetaMetrics
• Module Creator
• Lexile.com
• EBSCO
Quantitative Measures and Real Text
Quantitative Measures:
Strengths and Limitations
• Quantitative metrics are excellent at situating
informational texts
• Offer a starting point for placing narrative fiction
• Unable to rate drama and poetry
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
Considers:
– Meaning/Purpose
– Knowledge Demands
– Language Features
– Text Structures
– Use of Graphics
Judgments about these factors add additional
information to the process of determining text complexity
that quantitative measures cannot assess.
Qualitative Measures
Qualitative Measures and Real Texts
Lexile Score: 870
Grade Band Placement: 4-5
Qualitative Measures and Real Texts
Knowledge Demands: The book
asks readers to wrestle with
serious moral issues—how both
an individual and southern society
before the era of civil rights
conceive of justice.
Meaning/Purpose: The book
explores the protagonist’s
discovery of how her town and
her family understand race and
prejudice.
Qualitative Measures and Real Texts
Text Structure: While the narrative is
largely linear in fashion, flashback is
employed to look back on events
when the protagonist was young, and
the narrative perspective is not wholly
reliable as a result of her youth.
Language Features: The book
contains both slang and southern
dialect, but the vocabulary the text
employs is accessible to average
readers.
Recommendation and Real Texts
Weighing each measure equally, use
professional judgment to factor together
the results of the Quantitative,
Qualitative, and Reader and Task
Analyses to produce a Final Placement
Recommendation.
Reader and Task Analysis
Considers :
– Complexity of Content
– Cognitive Capacities
– Reading Skills
– Motivation & Engagement
– Prior Knowledge
– Tasks and Assessment
Text Complexity and Your Module
Use the Text Complexity Analysis Worksheet to analyze
one of the texts selected for Module 2.
Are the texts you’ve selected appropriately complex for
your students?
What strategies do you currently use that
support students using more complex or
difficult text?
Exit Ticket
1. I used to think_____________.
2. Now, I think_________________________.
3. One idea I learned about LDC this morning is_______.
4. One question I have is__________________.
5. I want to learn more about______________.
Reminder of LDC Module
Scaffolding Complex Text
Shifts in standards require a shift in practice!
• Multiple readings
• Read aloud
• Chunking text
• Close reading (re-reading, vocabulary, questions
about structure, purpose, etc.)
• Provide support while reading (a planned Think
Aloud)
Customizing Mini Tasks
Utilize the support of your teacher trainer and customize a
mini task to scaffold the complexity of the text you’ve
selected.
• Multiple readings
• Read Aloud
• Chunking text
• Close Reading (re-reading, vocabulary, questions
about structure, purpose, etc.)
• Provide support while reading (a planned Think
Aloud)
Skills and Instruction Guided by Grade
Level Expectations from CCSS
• The Skills section needs to be refined to reflect the
grade-level expectations of the selected skills
• An exemplary mini-task needs to reflect the grade-level
expectations for the skill being taught
Finding the Connection
• Look at grade-level standards 7.1, 7.2, and 7.4 on p. 5 of
3 Academic Modes of Writing
• How are these standards addressed in the Reading
Skills Cluster on p. 7?
• Which mini-tasks teach these skills? (pp. 10-12)
• Discuss in pairs
The Teaching Task
• Revise if needed
• Complete all sections of the Teaching Task tab in
Module Creator
• Use the learning from the review of the Exemplar
Module
Lessons Learned from Teacher Trainers
Teacher Trainer will share lessons learned about
developing modules.
Completing Your Module
Teacher Trainers will help vet a section before you move
on.
Remember to focus on Grade Level Expectations!
Skills Selection
• Use Module Creator to select your skills
• Add at least one grade-level expectation to each skill in
the reading cluster and one to each in the writing cluster
• Have your skills section vetted
Constructing Mini-Tasks
• Text-Dependent Questions
• Close Reading
Text Dependent Questions
Text Dependent Questions
• Read the handout with the excerpt from Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland
• In pairs, write three text-dependent questions related to
the excerpt
• Be prepared to share one of your questions with the
larger group
What are Text-Dependent Questions?
•
Draw the reader back to the
text to discover what it says
•
Have concrete and explicit
answers rooted in the text
•
Frame inquiries in ways that
do not rely on a mix of
personal opinion,
background information,
and imaginative speculation
Differences in Depth
Non-Text-Dependent
Questions
Are books without pictures or
conversations useful?
How would you react if you
saw a talking rabbit?
Text-Dependent Questions
What kind of books does Alice
find useful?
How did Alice react when she
saw a talking rabbit?
Would Alice have followed the
Why did Alice follow the rabbit
rabbit down the hole had she not
down the rabbit-hole?
seen it look at a watch?
What do you know about
Lewis Carroll?
What does the reader know
about the rabbit?
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
• An effective text dependent question delves into a text to
guide students in extracting the key meanings or ideas
and events found there
• To achieve this end, text dependent questions begin by
exploring specific words, details, explanations and
arguments
• Students investigate the text by utilizing the Anchor
and/or Grade-level Reading Standards to generate the
question
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
Level of
CCSS Anchor Standard
Text Specificity
Close Reading Skill
Words/
Phrases
Analyze how specific
word choices shape
tone (Standard 4)
Text Dependent
Question
Why wasn’t Alice
“burning with
curiosity” when she
initially saw the
rabbit? What
subsequent events
led to her feeling
this way?
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
Level of
Text Specificity
Sentences
CCSS Anchor Standard
Close Reading Skill
Text Dependent
Question
In the opening
paragraph Alice states
“what is the use of a
Assess how point of view
book … without
shapes content
pictures or
(Standard 6)
conversation?” What
does that sentence
reveal about her?
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
Level of
Text Specificity
Paragraphs
CCSS Anchor Standard
Close Reading Skill
Text Dependent
Question
Summarize key
supporting details
(Standard 2)
What details about the
rabbit catch Alice’s eye
in the third paragraph?
Around what word does
Investigate the structure the meaning of the third
of specific sentences, paragraph pivot? How
paragraphs, and
does that change the
sections of text
initial meaning of the
paragraph and channel
(Standard 5)
it in a new direction?
Review and Revise
• Read the Handout, Text-Dependent Questions and the
CCSS
• Revise your questions as needed to be effective textdependent questions
Tools for Creating Text-Dependent
Questions
A systematic
approach to
creating textdependent
questions for
complex texts
while aligning
them with the
demands of
the CCSS.
Work on Mini-Tasks
• Begin designing mini-tasks for your selected skills
• Make sure at least one mini-task for reading and one for
writing reflect grade-level expectations
• Use peers and the expertise of the teacher trainers to
review your mini-tasks
Keep Working!
Continue to develop your module using the Module Review
Sheet as a guide along the way.
In Closing
• Available Support (PDS Units)
• Debrief
• Evaluation
Participant Expectations
• Finish and implement second module
• Collect student work to use in Session III
• Focus on grade-level expectations for CCSS Literacy
Standards
• Teach reading and writing skills directly through the minitasks