Complex Texts and Close
Reading in the Common
Core
Presented by Erin Alvarado and Sarah
Smith
Goals
 Discuss what makes a text complex
 Discuss close reading of complex texts
 Explore resources that provide complex texts
for your subject matter
 Learn how to make text-dependent questions
for close reading activities
Why are complex texts important?
 Reading demands in college, workforce and life have
increased while complexity of K-12 texts have declined.
 Clearest differentiator on ACT was students’ ability to
answer questions on complex texts.
 One of the key requirements of the CCSS for Reading is
that all students must be able to comprehend texts of
steadily increasing complexity as they progress through
school.
 By the time they complete the core, students must be able
to read and comprehend independently and proficiently
the kinds of complex texts commonly found in college and
careers.
A Three-Part Model for Measuring
Text Complexity
1. Quantitative Measures-Readability and other
scores of text complexity are often best
measured by computer software. Useful for
placing texts initially within a grade-band.






Word length
Word frequency
Word difficulty
Sentence length
Text length
Text cohesion
Text Complexity Grade Bands and
Lexile Bands
 The CCSS advocate a "staircase" of increasing text
complexity so that students can develop their reading
skills and apply them to more difficult texts.
 At the lowest grade in each band, students focus on
reading texts within that text complexity band.
 In the subsequent grade or grades within a band,
students must "stretch" to read a certain proportion of
texts from the next higher text complexity band. This
pattern repeats itself throughout the grades so that
students can both build on earlier literacy gains and
challenge themselves with texts at a higher
complexity level.
Text Complexity Grade Bands and
Lexile Bands
Grade
 K–1
 2–3
 4–5
 6–8
9-10
11–CCR
Current band “Stretch” band
N/A N/A
450L–725L
420L–820L
645L–845L
740L–1010L
860L–1010L
925L–1185L
960L–1115L
1050L–1335L
1070L–1220L 1185L–1385L
The Lexile Framework for Reading
 Lexile will help you analyze text complexity
and match readers with appropriate texts.
 Lexile analyzer is free to use once you
register.
 Site also includes a database with recorded
Lexiles of many popular texts.
 Advanced search feature in Gale will allow
you to search for texts by Lexile level.
A Three-Part Model for Measuring
Text Complexity
 2. Qualitative Dimensions-Levels of meaning, structure,
language, conventionality and clarity, and knowledge
demands are often best measured by an attentive human
reader. Useful for placing a text in a specific grade level.
 Purpose/Meaning
 Text Structure (organization of main ideas, text
features, use of graphics)
 Language Features (conventionality, vocabulary,
sentence structure)
 Knowledge Demands (subject matter knowledge,
intertextuality)
Hints for Assessing Qualitative
Complexity
 Initially place a text in appropriate grade-band by
quantitative measures, and then think of a “general”
reader in that grade-band as you complete the qualitative
review, particularly knowledge demands dimension.
 There is no correlation between complexity “score” and
grade level. A text that is “very complex” in all dimensions
is not a high school text, just as one that is “slightly
complex” in all dimensions is not an early elementary text.
 At this point, try not to think about your particular students.
The qualitative review considers a wider grade-level
audience.
Tools for Assessing Qualitative
Dimensions
 http://www.achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-
common-core/text-complexity/qualitativemeasures/ provides:



Rubrics for evaluating text complexity
(informational or literary texts)
Scales to help determine when a text should
be read and what features make it complex
Example of a completed qualitative scale
A Three-Part Model for Measuring
Text Complexity
 3. Reader and Task Considerations-
Background knowledge of reader, motivation,
interests, and complexity generated by tasks
assigned are often best made by educators
employing their professional judgment.





Motivation
Knowledge and experience
Purpose for reading
Complexity of task assigned regarding text
Complexity of questions asked regarding text
Text Complexity Analysis Tool and
Examples
 Use this tool to gather information about the
three parts of complexity for any text:





Quantitative Measures
Qualitative Dimensions
Reader and Task Considerations
The Model In Action: Sample Annotated
Reading Texts
Text Exemplars and Sample Performance
Tasks-scroll to your grade level
Where can I find complex texts?













Gale password “elvis” offers complex texts for every subject, searchable by Lexile level,
keyword, etc.
American Academy of Poets offers a wide range of poems by a diverse set of classic and
modern authors.
American Literature features short stories.
American Rhetoric provides audio and written transcripts for 100 great speeches.
Authorama provides free books that are in the public domain.
Bartleby links to a wide variety of literary and informational texts.
Bibliomania offers over 2000 free classic texts for download.
Complex Text Wiki is a resource for articles and tools to use in the search for complex texts.
Children’s Classics offers a large selection of children’s stories.
Discovery and Discovery Kids are resources for informational texts and videos, especially
those on scientific topics.
Discover Magazine offers digital articles on a variety of topics in the areas of science,
technology, and the future.
Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts is a great resource for folktales and myths, a focal
text type in the CCSS.
Kids Ahead is a division of National Geographic and includes articles about a variety of
science topics.
Where can I find complex texts?










Librivox has a great selection of free audiobooks.
NASA includes articles, videos, and other scientific informational resources.
National Park Service offers informational texts on scientific and historical topics
related to each national park.
National Geographic includes a variety of scientific and historical informational
texts and multimedia resources.
The National Women’s History Project provides information about important
women in history.
Project Gutenberg connects users to sources for free books.
Science News for Kids offers articles about science topics for elementary or
middle school students.
Shanahan on Literacy explores a variety of topics related to literacy learning and
assessment, including text complexity and close reading.
Smithsonian Institution contains primary sources as well as links to other sites
pertaining to the topic being researched.
Time for Kids and Washington Post for Kids offer articles on current events
appropriate for elementary or middle school students.
What is close reading?
 http://www.mhecommoncoretoolbox.com/close-reading-and





the-ccss-part-1.html
Is a careful and purposeful rereading of a text.
Students read a passage independently and circle important
points, underline confusing words, and make notes in
margins.
Teacher reads passage out loud with the class following
along without commentary.
Teacher reads passage a second time and models the
process of how to decipher difficult passages and
vocabulary.
Students answer text dependent questions.
Additional work may consist of having the students write an
analysis of the passage or to compare and contrast.
Why is close reading important?







Fosters student confidence when reading complex text
Helps improve vocabulary
Prepares students for college and career
Increases higher order thinking skills
Improves fluency
Encourages students to be independent readers
Ties in with Common Core State Standards--“The CCSS place a
high priority on the close, sustained reading of complex
text…Such reading focuses on what lies within the four corners
of the text. It often requires compact, short, self-contained texts
that students can read and re-read deliberately and slowly to
probe and ponder the meanings of individual words, the order in
which sentences unfold, and the development of ideas over the
course of the text. Reading in this manner allows students to
fully understand informational texts as well as analyze works of
literature effectively” (Coleman and Pimentel 4).
Where can I find close reading sample
lessons and assessment questions?
 http://achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-
common-core/sample-lessons/close-readingexemplars/--English/Language Arts
 http://achievethecore.org/ela-literacycommon-core/literacy-history-social-studies/ History/Social Studies
 http://achievethecore.org/ela-literacycommon-core/literacy-science-technical/ Science/Technical Subjects
What are text based questions and
tasks?






are focused on the text
are generally text-specific rather than generic
questions that could be asked of any text
do not get students off of the text (e.g., tell me about a
time you went to the beach…)
require students to re-read the text closely to
 draw inferences
 develop interpretations
 find evidentiary support for ideas
 analyze ideas and language
may promote convergent (comprehension) and
divergent (interpretation/analysis) thinking about a text
move away from I-R-E (initiate, respond, evaluate)
teacher led Q&A
Moving from…moving to in ELA
Moving from…moving to in SS
Moving from…moving to in Science
Studying text-based questions
 Study and compare the moving from and
moving to questions



What differences do you see between the
“moving from” and “moving to” questions?
What is the intellectual work required of
students to answer the “moving from”
questions? The “moving to” questions?
What patterns do you see among “moving
from” questions? In other words, with what do
writers of questions usually struggle?
Characteristics of text-based
questions
Text-based questions
 require students to “read like detectives”
 are open ended
 can be answered by using evidence from the text
 are specific to the text being discussed
 are important, significant or integral to understanding
the text
 work toward the focus and purpose of the unit
 are derived from or connected to one or more of the
CCSS
 are authentic and allow for multiple plausible
responses
What are open-ended questions?
Open-ended questions
 have more than one possible response that can be
supported with evidence from the texts
 provide teachers with a window into students’
thinking and comprehension of a text
 allow students to construct an overall understanding
of a text
 mirror the kinds of questions proficient readers ask
themselves about a text and are not concerned with
insignificant details that are often the subject of closeended questions
Types of text-based questions

Prior-knowledge (open-ended, non-textbased)


Comprehension (open-ended, text-based)


Sort out characters, setting, plot (literary text) or
speaker, audience, purpose, flow of events, big
ideas (informational text)
Significance (open-ended, text-based)


Share important prior knowledge about a topic
Identify and explain moments that are significant to
the text
Interpretive (open-ended, text-based)

Deep discussions of and writing about the ideas in
individual texts or across multiple texts
Types of text-based questions

Analytic (open-ended, text-based)


StepBack (open-ended)


Deep discussions of and writing using the
author’s methods or craft in individual texts or
across multiple texts
Students step back after key tasks and reflect
on their learning by analyzing what and how
they learned.
Retrospective (open-ended)

Students revisit the big ideas of the unit (i.e.,
overarching questions) to add to or revise their
thinking given what they just read, wrote about,
and discussed
Food for thought
 Different types of text-based questions ask for
different kinds of mental work and invite particular
kinds of writing and talk from students.
 Text-based question sequences are scaffolded so
that earlier responses in writing and talk provide the
foundation for later responses.
 Text-based questions require responses that stay
deeply connected to the text so that students make
evidentiary arguments.
 Text-based questions require students to revisit text
for evidence to support their argument in a thoughtful,
careful, and precise way.
How do I create text-based
questions?
 Identify the standards
 list the standards that support the skills you want the students to
master
 Select your text
 remember to scaffold your texts so that they build on each other
 Identify key ideas
 identify the key insights or major points you want students to
understand from the text (historical information, results of
experiments, theme, main idea, purpose, etc.)
 Write your questions
 begin with questions that are specific enough for students to
answer so they gain confidence
 create questions that require the student to return to the text for
evidentiary support
Sample text-based questions—7th
grade science
Sample text-based questions—10th
grade science
Sample text-based questions—9th
grade ELA/SS
Sample text-based questions—5th
grade ELA/science
Sample text-based questions—5th
grade science, cont.
Tool for writing text-based
questions
Tool for writing text-based
questions
Evaluating question quality
 Checklist for evaluating question quality.

Use this checklist as a guide to write your textbased questions.
 Helpful hints:


use the text-based questions resource from
TNCore to see which type of questions align to
the standards.
use the CCSS standards on the TNCore
training site to help. Just rewrite the standards
to make your questions.
Where can I find complex texts with
text-dependent questions?
 http://teacher.depaul.edu/Nonfiction_Reading
s.htm --scaffolded informational texts that
include text-based questions and tasks
 http://www.readworks.org/books/passages -informational and literary texts paired with
text-based questions and tasks
 www.achievethecore.org –sample lessons
and links to readings paired with text-based
questions and tasks. Separated by subject
area.
TNCore
 Materials and worksheets are available at
www.tncore.org


Look for your subject and explore the training materials
area
The participant packet is in the curricular resources
section
 Username: tneducation
 Password: fastestimproving
 Direct links to curricular resources:
 TNCore (ELA)
 TNCore (SS)
 TNCore (Science)