Building a Bridge to Complex
Text with the CCSS
[LWE]
© 2013 Scholastic IMPACT
Why Text Complexity Matters
“The clearest differentiator of students
meeting benchmark performance, and
those not meeting, was students’ ability
to answer questions associated with
complex texts.”
ACT, Between the Lines
Revised Text Complexity Bands
Text Complexity
Grade Bands
Previous
Lexile Range
Revised Lexile
Range 8/15/2012
K-1
N/A
N/A
2-3
450L – 725L
420L – 820L
4-5
645L – 845L
740L – 1010L
6-8
860L – 1010L
925L – 1185L
9-10
960L – 1115L
1050L – 1335L
11-CCR
1070L – 1220L
1185L – 1385L
*COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH, LANGUAGE ARTS,
APPENDIX A (ADDITIONAL INFORMATION), NGA AND CCSSO, 2012
Defining Text Complexity:
Three Dimensions
1. Quantitative Evaluation of Text:
– Readability measures and other scores
of text complexity
2. Qualitative Evaluation of Text:
– Levels of meaning, structure, language
conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands
3. Matching Reader to Text and Task:
– Reader variables (motivation,
knowledge, and experience) and task
variables (purpose and the complexity
generated by the task assigned and the
questions posed)
Why All 3 Are Needed ELA:
The Grapes of Wrath
• Quantitative Measures:
630L, grades 2-3 text complexity band
• Qualitative Measures:
Text structure is simple and
conventional, but levels of meaning are
implicit; Dialect can be challenging;
Theme is sophisticated
• Final Placement:
Sophistication in theme and content
more suitable for grades 9-10
Starting with Text Complexity
“It takes time to develop the thinking skills
necessary to read complex text. It also takes
really good instruction…. Teaching requires
more than assigning students hard books
and hoping they get better at reading.
Teaching starts with a deep
understanding about what makes text
complex.
Fisher, Frey & Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)
Where Do We Find Texts in the
Appropriate Text Complexity Band?
Use available resources to
determine the text complexity of
other materials on our own.
Text Complexity
Grade Bands
Suggested
Lexile Range
Suggested ATOS
Book Level Range**
K–1
100L–500L*
1.0–2.5
2–3
450L–790L
2.0–4.0
4–5
770L–980L
3.0–5.7
6–8
955L–1155L
4.0–8.0
9–10
1080L–1305L
4.6–10.0
11–CCR
1215L–1355L
4.8–12.0
Determine Text Complexity
A Four-Step Process:
1. Determine the quantitative
measures of the text.
2. Analyze the qualitative
measures of the text.
3. Reflect upon the reader
and task considerations.
4. Recommend placement
in the appropriate text
complexity band.
Text Complexity
Grade Bands
K–1
2–3
4–5
6–8
9–10
11–CCR
Step 1: Determine Quantitative
Measures
Measures such as:
• Word length
• Word frequency
• Word difficulty
• Sentence length
• Text length
• Text cohesion
How are Lexiles Calculated?
• Semantic Complexity:
• The frequency with which words appear in
MetaMetric’s Corpus of written text (over 600
million words).
• Less familiar words impede reading fluency
& affect comprehension.
• Syntactic Complexity:
• The number of words per sentence.
• Longer sentences are more complex & require
more short-term memory to process.
Step 2: Understand Qualitative
Measures
Measures such as:
• Structure
• Language demands
and conventions
• Knowledge demands
• Levels of meaning/purpose
Grades K-5
Henry & Mudge (420L)
Every day when Henry woke up,
he saw Mudge’s big head. And
every day when Mudge woke up,
he saw Henry’s small face. They
ate breakfast at the same time;
they ate supper at the same time.
And when Henry was at school,
Mudge just lay around and
waited. Mudge never went for a
walk without Henry again.
Sarah, Plain & Tall (560L)
“Every – single – day,” I told
him for the second time this
week. For the twentieth time
this month. The hundredth
time this year? And the past
few years?
Structure
•
•
•
•
Simple → Complex
•
Traits of a common genre or subgenre → Traits specific
to a particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)
•
•
Simple graphics → sophisticated graphics
Explicit → Implicit
Conventional → Unconventional
Events related in chronological order → Events related
out of chronological order (chiefly literary texts)
Graphics unnecessary or merely supplemental to understanding
the text → Graphics essential to understanding the text and
may provide information not elsewhere provided
Language Conventionality
and Clarity
•
•
•
•
Literal → Figurative or ironic
Clear → Ambiguous or purposefully misleading
Contemporary, familiar → Archaic or otherwise unfamiliar
Conversational →General academic and domain-specific
Knowledge Demands
•
•
•
Simple theme → Complex or sophisticated themes
•
•
Single perspective → Multiple perspectives
•
•
Single themes → Multiple themes
Common, everyday experiences or clearly fantastical
situations → Experiences distinctly different from one’s own
Perspective(s) like one’s own → Perspective(s) unlike
or in opposition to one’s own
Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions
required → Cultural and literary knowledge useful
Low intertextuality (few if any references/allusions to other
texts) → High intertextuality (many references/allusions
to other texts)
Levels of Meaning/Purpose
• Single level of meaning → Multiple levels of
meaning
• Explicitly stated purpose → Implicit purpose,
may be hidden or obscure
Step 3: Reflect on Reader and
Task
Considerations
such as:
• Motivation
• Knowledge and experience
• Purpose for reading
• Complexity of task
assigned regarding text
•
Complexity of questions
asked regarding text
K-5: Guided Reading Levels?
“Educators who know Fountas and Pinnell’s guide to
leveled texts recognize that their system for measuring
texts involves measuring almost exactly what the
Common Core takes into account—meaning,
content, structure, vocabulary…. Because the criteria
used by the CCSS to assess text complexity are similar
to the criteria used by Fountas and Pinnell, it seems
clear that a school that is already assessing students
according to Fountas and Pinnell levels should
continue doing so.”
--Lucy Calkins, Pathways to the Common Core
Stair-Step to Complex Text: Survival
Independent Reading Example
Nonfiction: 750L
Fiction: 750L
Fiction: 670L
On Close Reading
“Simply selecting hard books and
telling students to read them will not
work. Students need to be taught how
to read and think about complex texts.”
Fisher, Frey and Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)
Characteristics of Close Reading
• It works with a short passage that is worth
reading closely.
• The focus is intense and on the passage.
• It should involve a great deal of exploratory
discussion.
• It involves rereading with a purpose.
Adapted from Beers & Probst (2013)
Strategies for Close Reading
•
•
•
•
•
•
Select short, worthy passages
Rereading
Reading with a pencil
Noticing confusing parts
Discussing the text (partners, whole class)
Asking text-dependent questions
Adapted from Fisher, Frey and Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)
3rd Reading: Annotate Text
Annotate:
?
Write ? next to words/phrases/
operations, etc that are confusing.
____
Underline Important information.
#s 1. 2. Number the Main Points author is
making in the margin.
Scaffolding Students
Provide scaffolding by:
• introducing background knowledge (after close reading)
• immersing students in more complex language exposure
and usage that makes a difference in their ability to
access knowledge
• engaging students with carefully selected or constructed
graphic organizers that make the structure of the text
visible
• modeling how to interpret the meaning of texts that use
more complex approaches, like satire or rhetorical
argument
Lifting Corners of Our Universe
It’s all about changing what’s handed to you, about
poking around a little, lifting the corners, seeing
what’s underneath, poking that. Sometimes things
work out, sometimes they don’t, but at least you’re
exploring. And life is always more interesting that
way.
A Corner of the Universe, Ann Martin
HOW CAN YOU HELP YOU CHILD
• - Homework
• - Don’t “do” for your children, let them
figure “it” out
• - Have conversations with your children
• Challenge them
• Set the example
Questions
?
Building a Bridge to Complex
Text with the CCSS
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© 2013 Scholastic IMPACT