Text Difficulty and Reading Strategies in
Content Area Classrooms
Bill Lewis
University of Delaware
March 16, 2012
A little about myself.....
Assistant Professor of
Literacy Studies, U of D
Teach pre-service
teacher candidates, and
courses in the M.Ed., M.I
and M.A.T. programs
Focus on adolescent
literacy and content area
literacy...specifically in
secondary content area
environments
A little about my previous self...
ELA Teacher at Solanco
High School, Quarryville,
PA 1987-2007
Taught American, British
and World Literature, AP,
Drama
Some Big Ideas…
Maximize time in connected
reading and writing of
diverse texts and text types
Maximize and diversify peerto-peer interactions during
and after reading and
writing
Use literacy to
build knowledge
Maximize teacher and
student use of technology as
a source of knowledge and
as a literacy
Use instructional strategies
to build literacy skills
appropriate to the content
areas
3
However, there is a problem with one big idea…
Maximize time in connected
reading and writing of
diverse texts and text types
Maximize and diversify peerto-peer interactions during
and after reading and
writing
Use literacy to
build knowledge
Maximize teacher and
student use of technology as
a source of knowledge and
as a literacy
Use instructional strategies
to build literacy skills
appropriate to the content
areas
The Challenge of Text Selection
Difficulty
Benefits
How skilled are
my students?
What skills and
strategies can
students
develop?
How hard is the
text?
What content
can be targeted?
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The Problem: Many high school and middle school
classroom teachers avoid teaching with text.
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The Problem: Many high school and middle school
classroom teachers avoid teaching with text.
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Time to Think:
• Why are some teachers avoiding the use of texts
and extended opportunities for reading in their
instruction?
• What are schools and teachers doing instead of
reading, discussing, and writing about texts?
• What is the problem with taking a “limited-text”
approach to content area instruction?
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A Parable...
• My son, Gray, wants to
be good at tennis...
• However, Gray
does not practice
tennis...
• He thinks a
$275.00 racquet
will make him
better.
What do you think is the outcome of
this “practice” regimen?
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= Gray is bad at tennis
• We understand
this narrative...it
is the narrative
that we were
told as children,
and that we tell
our own children
as parents:
Practice makes
Perfect
Key Question...
• Why does this
narrative not
hold when it
comes to
reading in
secondary
classes?
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Some Other Key Questions
•
•
•
•
How do I get students to read?
What books are good for students to read?
How can we read more in class?
Are there workable frameworks for in-class
reading that support independent reading?
• Are there frameworks and activities that I
should avoid?
Not all ideas are equally effective!
For Instance: Round Robin and
“Popcorn” Reading
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And...
I will read the
whole novel, To
Kill a
Mockingbird, to
you!
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Common Core
Standards for
Reading
Informational Text
Our mission:
• To provide opportunities for students to engage
with interesting texts in all content areas.
• To provide opportunities for analysis,
comparison, and personal connection to a wide
variety of print and non-print media.
• To connect writing to student reading of texts.
• To provide teachers with guidance in choosing
texts and analyzing the comprehension
challenges of instructional texts.
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The reason for the mission:
A steady or
increasing
complexity of
texts and
tasks in
college and
the
workplace
+
Declining
complexity of
texts and lack
of
independent
reading of
complex texts
in K-12
schooling
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Too many
students
reading at too
low a level to
be successful
in college, the
workplace
and the
community
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….
If texts are to be used effectively, teachers
need to think about how to analyze them for
the challenges they present to students as a
first step to overcoming these challenges
College or Department name here
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Let’s practice with a quick text analysis activity as
we think about these textual considerations
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Here’s your objective:
Lesson Objective: Students will be able to identify elements of conflict
and foreshadowing in a short story, and explain how these elements
provide hints about the outcome of the story’s conflicts.
Grade: 9th Grade CP
Here’s your text to achieve that objective
• “Path Through the Cemetery by Leonard Q. Ross (a highly
anthologized short story for its short length and “high interest”
content)
College or Department name here
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Time to think: What
comprehension challenges
could this text present to
students?
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Time to think: What
comprehension challenges
do OUR content area texts
present to our students?
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How do we prepare students to engage
challenging texts?
 We need to provide clear purposes for our reading
assignments....(texts are a only a vehicle to
achieve instructional goals)
 We need to activate or build prior knowledge so
they are ready to engage
 We need to provide during reading frameworks
that give them actual reading practice in
classrooms
 We need to provide ways to help them to
summarize, synthesize and extend their
understanding of content area texts
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What do independent readers do?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Make Predictions
Question the Text
Make Inferences
Determine Importance
Synthesize
Summarize
Make Connections to Prior Knowledge
Create Mental Images
Monitor Reading and Apply Fix-up Strategies
Before Reading Strategies
Preparing Students to Engage
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Here’s the principle.....
• When students have a framework, they are
more likely to be able to remember and use
textual information because it “sticks” to the
framework.
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One is a bun…party trick or
important educational example?
• One is a bun
• Two is a shoe
• Three is a tree
• Four is a door
• Five is a hive
•
•
•
•
•
Six is sticks
Seven is heaven
Eight is a gate
Nine is a line
Ten is a hen
Listen, Read, Discuss (A demonstration of
how simple a strategy can be)
• Choose a narrative or informational text
• Provide a BRIEF chronological summary of the
text
• Leave out one crucial part of the text and direct
students to read to find out that critical part
(setting a purpose for reading)
• Students read
• Students discuss what they found
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Let’s Try with “Tell Tale Heart”
• Tell Tale Heart is a story that details a murder from the viewpoint of
the murderer.
– Examines what leads up to the murder of an old man
– Explains the murder itself
– Explains how the murderer covers up the crime
– Explains how the narrator is eventually found out.
• It is a psychological story, not a ghost story; it is based on the
irrational inner workings of a narrator’s mind.
• This psychological focus forces the reader to question the reliability
of a narrator
– What he or she says
– What he or she does
– Whether his or her perception is truthful or exaggerated
– Whether the narrator can be trusted to tell the truth
– Whether we can trust the narrator to be honest about his or her
relationships
Therefore....
• Use your copy of the text to circle those
things the narrator says that are seem
inconsistent with reality or seem unreliable.
• With a partner summarize why your chosen
sections are unreliable...we will discuss this
after reading.
Story Impressions Earth Science
(Buehl 162)
Compare with the real text:
Volcanic activity pushes igneous rocks out of the
center of the earth. The high temperature there heats
groundwater to the boiling point, and it becomes
steam. This steam has pent-up pressure which
causes it to fissure and then change to hot springs.
The hot springs come out of the ground in a
constricted tube with an eruption. This is called a
geyser, like Old Faithful in Yellowstone.
List Group Label
• Use this strategy for texts where students have
sufficient background knowledge.
• Have students then LIST all they know about a
topic on board, overhead, smartboard.
• Have them look for GROUPS or categories in
which the information can be arranged.
• LABEL those categories with superordinate titles
A teacher failure story...my
own failure
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After Reading Strategies
Encouraging kids to summarize, synthesize and extend
their understandings
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Paragraph Shrinking (Another simple
strategy to start)
• Students should take turns reading text “chunks”
with a partner.
• Students should take turns “shrinking” the text
chunks into 10 words or less.
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Writing in Response to
Reading
•
•
•
•
•
“Save the Last Word”
RAFT’s
SWBS/SWBSBS
Magnet Summaries
The CSQT Framework
Save The Last Word
(Big Common Core Strategy)
• A great post-reading “pass out of class”
strategy
• Focuses students on textual support
• Scaffolds their ability to “warrant” their choices
of textual support.
• Focuses teachers and students on the
purposes for reading.
Save the Last Word... “Path”
• Choose a quote from the work that best
represents the story’s theme.
• Choose a quote from the work that best
represents the character of Ivan.
• Choose a quote from the work that best
represents foreshadowing in the work.
Save the Last Word...
• Choose the quote that makes you think
that Mitt Romney will make a good/bad
president.
• What sentence best represents the
conflict between climate science and
business?
• What quote best represents states’
rights issues?
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The R.A.F.T. Approach
R= Role…Who is writing the piece? What
is their particular focus?
A= Audience…To whom are you writing?
What is their perspective?
F= Format…What form is the
communication in? Poem, essay, letter,
e-mail?
T= Topic…What are you writing about?
R.A.F.T. Examples
R-Single Drop of Water
A- The Land
F- Letter
T- My Journey
R- Charles Darwin
A- Himself
F- Journal Entries
T- Biodiversity of the
Galapagos
R- Atlantic Ocean
A- Pacific Ocean
F- Court Brief
T-Why I should be named the
greatest ocean
R-Solar system
A-Planet earth
F- Break up note
T- You’ve Changed
Can use with informational science texts
R= Safety Committee
A= Builders/ Residents
F= Blue Prints
T= Building Damage
Prevention
R= Seismic Wave
A= Earth
F= Journal
T= Earth Layers
R= Seismologists
A= News Reporters
F= Broadcast Teleprompter
T= Describing Earthquakes
R= White Dwarf
A= The Sun
F= Advice Column
T= Getting Older
R= Astronomer
A= The Universe
F= Wanted Advertisement
T= Location of a
Supernova
R= The Sun
A= Science Students
F= Autobiography
T= Life History and Future
Life Plans
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From Math Teachers
R = Lonely Single Triangle
A = Other Triangles
F = Singles “Looking For”
Ad
T = Triangle Congruence
R = Student
A = Absent Student
F = Letter
T = Triangle Congruence
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R= Seismologists
A= News Reporters
F= Broadcast Teleprompter
T= Describing Earthquakes
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Let’s Write A R.A.F.T. Question the Unit You
Are Now Covering
• Think of the main actor in the piece......................R
• Think of an audience for the main actor................A
• Think of an suitable (or unusual) genre
for the actor to write in...........................................F
• Think of the main topic in the piece and how
that topic could be related to the writing genre.....T
“Text Reformulation” helps students to focus on key ideas, because
they have to be strategic about what important ideas must get
transferred to the new form.
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Speaking of Text Reformulations...
• Summarize photosynthesis in the form of a haiku:
5
7
5
• Express the main idea of Path Through the Cemetary by
constructing a “yellow journalism” Headline
• Explain how to solve a linear equation by creating an
ABC book...
“A is for _________ that ______ _____ ______ ____
What Works: Have students write
summaries of a text (Effect size .52)
Other Approaches to
Summarizing
Somebody-Wanted-But-So or
Somebody-Wanted-But-So-But-So
Mainly useful with fiction but may be used with
expository texts (problem/solution, cause/effect)
Students answer these questions:
 Who is the main character...the somebody?
 What does the main character want?
 But why can’t s/he achieve this goal?
 So what does the character do?
Informational Text SWBS
Somebody
Seismologists
Wanted
To find the
epicenter
But
Did not have
enough data at
one location
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So
They contacted
two other
locations that
recorded the
earthquake,
compared data,
and found the
middle point
(epicenter)
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Informational Text
SOMEBODY
WANTED
BUT
SO
It wasn’t big enough It is an asteroid
Ceres
To be a planet
Clyde Tombaugh
To discover Planet X He and other
astronomers had
debunked the need
for Planet X
He discovered Pluto
Pluto
To be a planet
Its orbit to too
elliptical, and it is
too small
It is a Dwarf Planet
Clyde Tombaugh
Pluto to still be a
planet
Astronomers still
voted Pluto out
Clyde Tombaugh
made Pluto a planet
only in the state of
New Mexico
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SWBS for Path Through the Cemetery
Somebody
Wanted
But
So
Somebody
Wanted
But
So
But
So
But
So
Magnet Summaries
Most Americans had high hopes for Hoover’s presidency when he
took the oath of office in March 1929—seven months before the crash.
Praise plummeted as the Depression deepened. People now dumped
on him as the Great Do-Nothing.
But Hoover had not done nothing. For one, he asked captains of
industry to refrain from cutting jobs and wages (and was largely ignored.
He urged strong banks to create a pool of $500 million from which
struggling ones could borrow, but the big banks chipped in only $10
million.
After that flop, Hoover signed off on a bill that created a new
government agency, the RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation). Its
mission: to lend money to businesses on the brink of collapse, most
especially financial institutions. The RFC was funded with $500 million of
taxpayers’ dollars….As for [individuals], Hoover felt it folly for the federal
government to bail out people on the brink. That’s what charities and
family and friends were for. Hoover was a staunch believer in a small
federal government, clinging to the idea that “rugged individualism” was
the essence of the American Way.
The president’s name became a byword for hardtimes…
Magnet Summary Variation
1
Introduce the idea of “magnet words” to
students, and give them practice in identifying
magnet words in a sample passage....A great
place to talk about text features: titles,
headings and subheadings.
Herbert Hoover
Most Americans had high hopes for Hoover’s presidency when he
took the oath of office in March 1929—seven months before the crash.
Praise plummeted as the Depression deepened. People now dumped
on him as the Great Do-Nothing.
But Hoover had not done nothing. For one, he asked captains of
industry to refrain from cutting jobs and wages (and was largely ignored.
He urged strong banks to create a pool of $500 million from which
struggling ones could borrow, but the big banks chipped in only $10
million.
After that flop, Hoover signed off on a bill that created a new
government agency, the RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation). Its
mission: to lend money to businesses on the brink of collapse, most
especially financial institutions. The RFC was funded with $500 million of
taxpayers’ dollars….As for [individuals], Hoover felt it folly for the federal
government to bail out people on the brink. That’s what charities and
family and friends were for. Hoover was a staunch believer in a small
federal government, clinging to the idea that “rugged individualism” was
the essence of the American Way.
The president’s name became a byword for hardtimes…
Magnet Word Example
Herbert Hoover
Magnet Activity
Ask students to read the rest of the
passage, noting words from the
remaining material that are “attracted”
to that key term (4-5 words per text
section).
Magnet Word Example
Herbert Hoover
• After you have chosen your magnet word,
and the 4-5 words that are “attracted” to it,
guide students in synthesizing those words
into a coherent sentence (or two).
• KEY: Help your students to reflect on
whether there are details in the summary that
are not important, or to reflect on whether
there are any important details that are left
out.
Let’s Try It !!!!!
Turn your magnet term
and attractor words into
a concise 1 sentence
summary.
• Chapter Variation
• Review Variation
After key vocabulary, texts and concepts have
been covered, break students into groups and
have them choose what they believe are the 5
key concepts of the unit. Have them write these
“magnet words” on notecards.
Have students write the key details associated
with those magnet terms around the term itself.
Have students construct magnet sentences
using the key details, and arrange those
sentences into a summary.
Have students share their summaries (which
should open up conversations about what each
group thought was important and allow for
discussions about synthesis, details and key
terms and ideas.)
ABC Graffiti as a Post-Reading and Summary
Writing Activity for Multiple Texts (Gunter et al., 2003; Jones,
2000)
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A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
ABC Graffiti in a 48 minute lesson:
1. Students read selected texts including a variety of
primary, and secondary texts and then complete ABC
sheets individually without looking at texts. (3
minutes)
2. Students should be organized into 4 groups. Each
group completes one ABC sheet as a collaborative
effort (5 minutes)
3. Collect the 4 ABC sheets and rotate them to other
groups. These groups continue brainstorming
process on other groups’ sheets. (5 Minutes)
4. Collect ABC sheets and rotate them to the next
group. However students will be allowed to use the
text to complete the sheets. (10 minutes)
ABC continued
• 5. Collect the ABC sheets and give each one to the next
group. However, in this rotation the task is different. In
this rotation, groups will be asked to synthesize the list
of ABC concepts in a summary paragraph. The
paragraph should integrate all concepts in an organized
manner. (15 Minutes).
• 6. Collect ABC sheets and give each one back to the
group that first worked on it. Groups should synthesize
the summary paragraph and write a thesis statement
that describes the meaning of the concepts identified.
(10-15 minutes)
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Here’s One From My Am. Lit. Students:
A
Amherst
B
Buzz of
the fly
C
G
Grave
H
M
Mass.
D
Death
E
I
Inner life
J
K
L
Love
N
Nature
O
P
Personal
religion
Q
R
Queer
Recluse of
Realism
S
Slant
Rhyme
T
Timeless
U
V
virgin
W
women’s
role
X
Y
Z
Yellow Rose
of Texas
Zis is all we
know!
Held to own
convictions
Contradictions
Oppression of
the individual
understanding
Emily
Embracing life
and nature
juxtaposition of
images
F
Format
xenophobe
Emily Dickinson, known as the “Belle of Amherst” was pretty unusual, and lived the
life of a recluse inside her father’s Massachusetts house. However, she still lived a rich
inner life that celebrated the life and the nature that she saw around her. Although
separating herself from society and from intimate relationships (hint, hint she was
probably a virgin when she died!) she also spoke passionately about love. Additionally,
even though she seemed to be very strict and proper, wearing only white in her later
years, she rejected the strict puritan religion of her father, and the traditional women’s role
of wife and home-maker, two ways that she saw society oppressing the individual,
especially women. Therefore, she clung passionately to a personal religion based on
individual spirituality and the miracles of nature.
These kinds of contradictions can also be seen in the individual poems because she
often combines contradictory images. For instance, in the poem, “I Heard A Fly Buzz
When I Died” Dickinson juxtaposes the image of a tiny fly buzzing at a windowsill at the
exact time of the narrator’s death…which is supposedly a big deal. The style of her
poetry also shows some contradictions. Although the format looks pretty unconventional,
with a lot of dashes, varying line lengths, and the unconventional use of slant rhyme, Mr.
Lewis also told us that 95% of her poetry can be sung to the tune of “The Yellow Rose of
Texas.” This fact not only ruined the poetry for some of us, but also showed that even
Emily Dickinson can get into a rut.
Thesis: Although Emily Dickinson is often thought to be a very strait-laced member of
the mid-19th century literary tradition in America, both her life and works show that she
was full of contradictions and not as plain as she seems on the surface.
C.S.Q.T.
• A Text-Based Writing Strategy Based on the
SRSD Framework of Harris and Graham
• The goal of CSQT is to structure effective student
arguments and teach them to use textual evidence
6 Steps in SRSD Strategy Instruction
Develop
Background
Knowledge
Practice
Discuss it
Support
Model it
Memorize
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Let’s Try A Sample Learning Segment
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1. Develop Background Knowledge
Persuasive argument is the “hidden curriculum” that
undergirds all academic discourse.
Teachers and professors rarely tell students this fact
EXPLICITY.
Natural students intuit this. Less natural students
(though just as intelligent) do not.
Students must learn to use quotes AND explain, spin,
shape them in order to back their claims.
Good argument skills = better grades and the ability
to more fully participate in the great debates of our
democracy.
2. Discuss it: What is CSQT?
A clear claim or standpoint
A set-up that contains
information about the quote
that a student will use
A clear quote from the text that
backs up the student’s claim
A tie-in sentence that links the
quote to the standpoint
C
•Claim
S
•Set-up
Q •Quote
T
•Tie in
3: Model It...Let’s Practice!
Untitled #1
The cold harsh wind it heaves and blows,
It chills my fingers and my toes.
And falling from the sky of slate,
A dancing whirr of downy flakes.
The flakes that dance, and whirr and fly,
They sometimes hit me in the eye.
Seeing them again I clap with glee,
Ha Ha, Ha Ha, Hee Hee, Hee Hee.
Don’t go to that shopping mall!
It is the season after fall!
And when you get at home in bed,
Thoughts of frost they fill your little mind!
-Anne Uhhuhmelmahey 1978
Using the CSQT format, tell me what season is
described in the poem.
4 + 5: Memorize It and Support it...
Untitled #1
The cold harsh wind it heaves and blows,
It chills my fingers and my toes.
And falling from the sky of slate,
A dancing whirr of downy flakes.
The flakes that dance, and whirr and fly,
They sometimes hit me in the eye.
Seeing them again I clap with glee,
Ha Ha, Ha Ha, Hee Hee, Hee Hee.
Don’t go to that shopping mall!
It is the season after fall!
And when you get at home in bed,
Thoughts of frost they fill your little mind!
-Anne Uhhuhmelmahey 1978
Using the CSQT format, what is the narrator’s mood?
Stage 6: Independent Performance
Headline: “Woman Rolls off Loading Dock at
Valley Crest.”
(Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA, July 16, 1995)
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Luzerne County officials are attempting to find out how a 91year-old wheelchair-bound patient at Valley Crest Nursing home
found her way to an outside loading dock and fell off while still in
her chair.
Anna Cerwonka, 91, is in “critical” condition in the intensive
care unit of Scranton Community Medical Center. According to
sources the woman sustained a serious head injury when she
fell Friday evening at approximately 8:15….
According to sources, Cerwonka was in her wheelchair
when, for some unknown reason, the elderly woman bolted
toward a door which led to a loading dock located at the rear of
the building….At least one person attempted to intercept
Cerwonka, but the spry elderly woman wheeled around the
individual, headed toward the door, opened it, sped out onto the
loading dock, and fell while still in her chair.
After you’ve developed background,
discussed, and modeled
• Help the student memorize the mnemonic
• Support their use of the strategy by giving feedback
• Continue to practice the strategy
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