Engaging Literacy Practices to
Promote Learning for Ethnically
Diverse Students
Presented By
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
ELA Team
Assessment, Teaching & Learning & Title I/Part A
Meet Our Team
• Amy Baunsgard-Heusser, ELA Specialist
• amy.baunsgardheusser@k12.wa.us
• Cindy Knisely, Reading Assessment Specialist
• cindy.knisely@k12.wa.us
• Beth Simpson, Reading Assessment Specialist
• beth.simpson@k12.wa.us
• LaWonda Smith, Program Manager, Title I Part A, Reading/Language Arts
• lawonda.smith@k12.wa.us
Learning Goals
• Participants and Presenters will arrive at a shared understanding about:
• Using culturally/ethnically responsive teaching to build relationships
• Utilizing the three shifts of ELA to engage students in deeper learning
• Building a system of education to support the whole child from birth to career and
college readiness
The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic
Threading Themes
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Ethnically diverse populations
Assessment
Instructional landscape
Differentiated instruction
Definition of Literacy
In the Washington State Comprehensive Literacy Plan
(CLP), literacy is defined as the ability to effectively
read, write, speak, think, create, problem solve and
reflect in order to participate in a democratic
multicultural society. (State of Washington, 2012).
The Definition Expanded
The authors of the CLP recognize that literacy development
• begins at birth,
• Integrates listening, speaking, reading, writing, and critical thinking across all media
types,
• Knowledge to recognize and use language appropriate to a situation, and
• The ability to think, create, question, solve problems, and reflect.
• http://www.k12.wa.us/ELA/CLP/default.aspx
Culturally/[Ethnically] Responsive Teaching
A pedagogical perspective oriented towards placing a student's cultural and
social identity at the center of an educational process meant to affirm and
develop a student's academic achievement, cultural competence, and
critical consciousness.
LEARN: Build your knowledge about Ethnically responsive teaching.
EXPERIENCE: See Ethnically responsive teaching in action.
BECOME: Spark your own development and Ethnically responsive practice.
"Classroom teachers and other educators need to understand
that achievement, or lack thereof, is an experience of an
accomplishment. It is not the totality of a student's personal
identity, or the essence of his or her human worth."
Geneva Gay, University of Washington
Culturally/[Ethnically] Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research and
Practice
Ethnically Responsive Teaching
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTVjJuRaZ8
Washington’s Focus on
the Achievement Gap
Definition of the AG
State Goal
Number / data for our state
Principal responsibility
Teacher responsibility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f
eature=player_detailpage&v=Ahhj
3wxxkdM
Student Support
Identity and
Achievement
Teaching the
Whole Child
Culturally
Relevant
Pedagogy
Developmental
Appropriateness
Equity and
Excellence
Brown-Jeffy, Shelly & Cooper, Jewell E. Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, Winter 2011.
Identify and Achievement
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Identity development
Cultural heritage
Multiple perspectives
Affirmation of diversity
Public validation of home-community cultures
Developmental Appropriateness
• Learning Styles
• Teaching Styles
• Cultural Variation In Psychological Needs
• Motivation
• Morale
• Engagement
• Collaboration
Teaching the Whole Child
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Skill development in cultural content
Bridge home, school and community
Learning outcomes
Supportive learning community
Empower students
Student Teacher Relationships
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Caring
Relationships
Interaction
Classroom atmosphere
Equity and Excellence
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Dispositions
Incorporate multicultural curriculum
Equal access
High expectations for all
Ethnically Relevant Pedagogy
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Mathematics (Common Core)
Science (Next Generation Science Standards)
Social Studies (Washington specific)
The Arts (Washington specific)
Health and Fitness (Washington specific)
World Languages (Washington specific)
• English language arts (Common Core)
The Three ELA Shifts
• Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.
• Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary
and informational.
• Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction.
Shift in English Language
Arts
Academic Language
Regular practice with complex text and its
academic language
• The Standards build a staircase of text complexity so that students are ready
for the demands of college and careers.
• Closely related to text complexity—and inextricably connected to reading
comprehension—is a focus on academic vocabulary: words that appear in a
variety of content areas (such as ignite and commit).
Early
Learning…Beck
and McKowen
Shift One: Past and Present
What it used to look like
What it should look like
• Little emphasis on text complexity.
• Vocabulary questions often focus on
• Strong emphasis on text complexity.
• Vocabulary questions focus on the
prior knowledge rather than context;
little emphasis on tier two words.
• Figurative language questions focused
on literary terms.
meaning of words in context; a strong
emphasis is placed on tier two words and
those words important to the central idea
or theme.
• Figurative language questions focus on the
meaning of the text, not just the terms.
Changes to the
Lexile Bands
Source: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
Qualitative Criteria
Literary Text Complexity Rubric
Source: Office Superintendent of Public
Instruction
Qualitative Criteria
Informational Text Complexity Rubric
Source: Office Superintendent of Public
Instruction
Analyzing the Text
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Three Tiers of Vocabulary
Tier Three: Domain Specific
Tier Two: Generally Academic
Tier One: Everyday Speech
Three Tiers of Words
Tier 3 - Highly specialized, subject-specific; low occurrences in texts; lacking generalization
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E.g., federalism, legislation, militia, discrimination
Tier 2 - Abstract, general academic (across content areas); encountered in written language;
high utility across instructional areas
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E.g., principle, relative, innovation, argument, potential, investigate
Tier 1- Basic, concrete, encountered in conversation/ oral vocabulary; words most student
will know at a particular grade level
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E.g., slave, hiding, freedom, war, escape
Tier Three Words Are OFTEN Defined
In the Text
• Civil rights- the nonpolitical rights of a citizen; especially : the rights of
personal liberty guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the 13th and 14th
amendments to the Constitution and by acts of Congress.
• Immigration- to come into a foreign country to live.
• Prohibition- the period in U.S. history between 1920 and 1933 when the
sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages was forbidden by law.
Tier Two Words Are NOT Usually
Defined By the Text
• Not unique to a particular discipline and as a result are not the clear
responsibility of a particular content area teacher
• Far less well defined by contextual clues in the texts in which they appear
• Far less likely than Tier 3 words to be defined explicitly within a text
• Frequently encountered in complex texts yet are particularly powerful due
to their wide applicability to many sorts of reading
Tier Two Words To Teach
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The word is central to understanding the text.
The word choice and nuance are significant.
Students are likely to see this word frequently.
Students will be able to use this word when writing in response to the text.
It is a more mature or precise label for concepts students already have under control.
The word lends itself to teaching a web of words and concepts around it.
Criteria For Selecting Words To Teach
 What are the barrier words?
◦ Does this word keep the student from understanding the text?
 What is the importance of the word for understanding the text?
◦ What does the word choice bring to the meaning of the text? (E.g., precision, specificity?)
 What is the general utility of the word?
◦ Is it a word that students are likely to see often in other texts? Are there multiple meanings?
◦ Will it be of use to students in their own writing?
 What is the students’ prior knowledge of the word and the concept(s) to which it relates?
◦ How does the word relate to other words, ideas, or experiences that the students know or have been
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learning?
Are there opportunities for grouping words together to enhance understanding of a concept?
Classifying Vocabulary From Texts
• Use what you learned from the slides and the reading to
determine the tier levels of the words in Freedom Walkers that you
circled and underlined.
• Write the Tier 1, Tier, 2 and Tier 3 words on your graphic
organizer.
Three Column Vocabulary List
Tier One
Tier Two
determined
Tier Three
Three-column vocabulary list…
Tier One
Tier Two
Tier Three
color
determined
racial segregation
public
enforced
Jim Crow laws
denied
white supremacy
people
obstacle
discriminated
race
disqualify
segregation
restaurants
rigged
poll tax
sleep
literacy
bus
theaters
registering
Reading, writing and speaking grounded in
evidence from text
• The Standards place a premium using evidence from both informational and literary
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text(s) to present careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information.
The Standards expect students to answer questions that depend on their having read
the text or texts with care.
In the early grades, the Standards require cultivation of narrative writing.
In secondary writing, effective argumentative and informational writing must utilize
evidence based on sequence and details generated from careful reading of the text.
Students should be able to answer a range of text-‐dependent questions that require
inferences built from the text.
Shift in English Language
Arts
Evidence From Text
Shift in English Language
Arts
Evidence From Text
The Common Core Emphasis on Evidence
Rather than asking students questions they can
answer solely from their prior knowledge and
experience, the standards call for students to
answer questions that depend on their having read
the texts with care.
The Common Core Emphasis on Evidence
Students should be able to answer a range of textdependent questions, whose answers require
inferences based on careful attention to the text.
The Common Core Emphasis on Evidence
Students will focus on evidence-based writing along
with the ability to inform and persuade. Students are
expected to build strong narrative writing skills
throughout the grades.
The Common Core Emphasis on Evidence
Student experiences and opinions alone will not
prepare them for the demands of college, career,
and life.
What do the CCSS say about Evidence in
Reading?
• Reading Anchor Standard 1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking
to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• Reading Anchor Standard 8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including
the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of
the evidence.
What do the CCSS say about Evidence in
Writing?
• Writing Anchor Standard 1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or
texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Writing Anchor Standard 9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.id reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
What do the CCSS say about Evidence in
Speaking and Listening?
• Speaking and Listening Anchor Standard 3
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and
rhetoric
• Speaking and Listening Anchor Standard 4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that
listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development,
and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
What is a Text Dependent Question?
• A question that can only be answered by going back to the text.
• A question that requires the student to give supportive
reasoning.
• A question that focuses on short, challenging but important
portion of the text.
• A question that instigates further writing or discussion.
Why Do We Ask Text Dependent Questions?
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To give students an immediate and specific purpose for reading closely
To build toward the BIG Idea
To activate reading strategies
To offer a similar background entry point
To provide students the opportunity to be critical thinkers
Using Evidence: Past and Present
Not Text Dependent
• Simple recall or superficial analysis.
• Little or no emphasis on using textual
evidence to support answers or
opinions.
• Reading and writing prompts that asked
students to “make-things up.”
Text Dependent
• Focus on careful reading and analysis of
text.
• Strong emphasis on using textual evidence
while answering questions.
• Reading and prompts that require students
to make and support claims and inferences.
Text Dependent Questions
Not Text-Dependent
Text-Dependent
In “Freedom Walkers,” Rosa Parks had to make
tough choices. How do you deal with difficult
decisions? Who do you lean on for help?
In “Freedom Walkers,” Rosa Parks make tough
choices. Describe what Rosa Parks might
have been thinking and feeling when the bus
driver spoke to her that Thursday evening.
Many people were on the same bus Rosa
Parks rode that Thursday evening. Describe a
time you felt pressure to do what others
expected you to do.
Many people were on the same bus Rosa
Parks rode that Thursday evening. What were
their reactions to the situation and why might
they have reacted in such a way?
The word “reluctantly” is used in paragraph
four. Look the word up in the dictionary.
Then, talk with your table about something
you were reluctant to do and how you dealt
with the situation.
The author chose to use the word “reluctantly”
in paragraph 4. How does that word help you
better understand what the passengers on the
bus were going through?
From Freedom Walkers, by Russell Freedman
In “Freedom Walkers,” Rosa Parks make tough choices.
Describe what Rosa Parks might have been thinking and feeling
when the bus driver spoke to her that Thursday evening.
Rosa was on her way home from a long day of tailoring and pressing
clothes so she was probably just thinking about getting home. She had
thought about this situation previously and determined that if it ever
came up, she would not give up her seat to a white person. The fact that
she had thought of this situation makes me aware of how important this
was to her. When the driver threatened to call the police, Rosa replied
quietly which makes me think she was scared but in control of the
situation.
Many people were on the same bus Rosa Parks rode that
Thursday evening. What were their reactions to the
situation and why might they have reacted in such a way?
Using a highlighter, mark details from the text that answer this question.
With a pencil, write down your rational for the evidence you selected.
Share your ideas with someone sitting near you.
Did you select the same evidence?
Did you have the same rational?
The author chose to use the word “reluctantly” in
paragraph four. How does that word help you better
understand what the passengers on the bus were going
through?
Form a group of 5.
Have each person from the group choose a role from the reading.
Reenact the bus scene.
Pay particular attention to the facial expressions, voice intonation, and body
language to demonstrate the meaning of “reluctantly.”
Shift in English
Language Arts
Content Rich Non-Fiction
Building knowledge through content-rich
nonfiction
• The Standards recommend that K-5 students need a 50-50 balance of fiction
and non-fiction
• For secondary ELA classes, emphasis has been placed on literary nonfiction
throughout the school day.
• Topics for reading, writing and discussion may come from history/social
studies, science, health and fitness, and technical subjects.
http://achievethecore.org/content/upload/122113_Shifts.pdf
Shift Three: Past and Present
What It Used To Look Like
• Equal representation of
informational and literary texts.
• Limited focus on the quality of
informational texts.
What It Should Look Like
• More informational texts as
students move through the grades
• Greater focus on content-rich
informational texts at all grades
• Students are learning from the texts
they read.
Comparing Text Complexity
• Traditional Text
• The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott took place in Alabama. It began when Rosa Parks
refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. She was arrested and fined. In
response to her treatment, Martin Luther King Jr. created a large scale movement to
effect change. His goal was to get enough African Americans to stop riding the busses
so that it would make an impact to the business. He was arrested and charged with
crimes. Later the Supreme Court deciding that racially segregated seating on busses
violated the U.S. Constitution.
• 94 Words/FK: 7.4/Lexile: 910
Comparing Text Complexity
• Modern Text
• To be effective, a boycott would need the united support of the city’s African
American bus riders. Most of them could not afford to own automobiles.
How would they get to work? Asking blacks to protest for their rights in the
segregated South of the early 1950s was asking them to summon uncommon
personal courage – to put their livelihoods and even their physical safety on
the line. They could be fired from their jobs, harassed on the streets, or
worse. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups did everything
they could to intimidate blacks into submission. And they did not shrink
from violence. Blacks who broke the Jim Crow color bar might be
terrorized, beaten, or even murdered. (Freedman, 2006).
• 120 Words/FK: 8.2/Lexile: 990
The Montgomery Advertiser
A Primary Source Document
December 6, 1955
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archi
ve/09/0903001r.jpg
Best Practices For Teaching
Rich Non-Fiction In High School
• Provide challenging reading material, across the content areas for secondary students.
• Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan state that advanced literacy instruction should be embedded within
content-area classes and should be a focus of middle and secondary school settings (2008).
• Instructional supports are needed to encourage students. Anticipate the challenges so that
you can teach them how to negotiate the works (Shanahan, T., 2013).
• Teachers should model reading aloud and frequently stop to verbalize [name] active reading
strategies such as: visualizing (add visual for learners) questioning, connecting, predicting,
and evaluating.
Best Practices For Teaching
Rich Non-Fiction In High School
• Kids enjoy controversy! “Reading and talking about controversial articles
may be the best and fastest way to accelerate the average student’s interest in
the world and to initiate entry into national and international adult
conversations” (Schmoker, 2011).
• Plan effective mini-lessons before, during and after reading that help students
carefully analyze the text in multiple ways with various perspectives
(Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., and Hyde, A., 2005).
In Closing
Opening Up Opportunities
“No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to understand, to
learn, to inhabit another world.”
- Henry Louis Gates Jr.
• Have you considered…
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Teaching a new topic
Teaching a new author
Advocating for a community cause
Building a discussion group
Career and College Ready
• Elementary and Middle School students can demonstrate progress toward
college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.
• High School Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in
English language arts and literacy by:
• thinking,
• knowing,
• going, and
• acting
Conely, David T. Getting Ready for College, Careers, and the Common Core (2012).
Smarter Balanced Assessment System
• Insert Triangle (System Triangle)
• Summative, Interim, Digital Library
https://scale.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/engagement_framework_taylor-scale.pdf
Extra Resources
• Dr. Mary Curtis, Lesley University describes vocabulary strategies that work across content areas
• Explicit Vocabular Teaching Strategies Video
• PBS News Hour Series
• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/articles/
• Kelly Gallagher’s Article of the Week Archives
• http://www.kellygallagher.org/aow-archive/
Blast Kills Four Children; Riots Follow Two Youth Slain; State Reinforces Birmingham Police,
September 16, 1963: Washington Post/United International Articles
Works Cited
Beck, Isabel L., Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan. Bringing Words To Life: Robust
Vocabulary Instruction. New York: Guliford, 2002. Print.
Brown-Jeffy, Shelly, and Jewell E. Cooper. "Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant
Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature." Teacher Education
Quarterly (2011). Web.
Buxton, Sarah, and Allyson Nusser. "Best Practices for Teaching Non-Fiction Reading in Grades 3-8."
Staff Development Workshops. New Jersey, Edison. Mar. 2014. Lecture.
Works Cited
• Coleman, David, Susan Pimental, and Jason Zimba. "Achieve the Core."
Achievethecore.org. Student Achievement Partners, 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.
• Conley, David T. Getting Ready for College, Careers, and the Common Core. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014. Print.
• A & E Networks. "Montgomery Bus Boycott." History.com. A&E Television
Networks, 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
• Freedman, Russell. Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
New York: Holiday House, 2006. Print.
Works Cited
• Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000. Print.
• Gay, Geneva. "Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching." Journal of
Teacher Education 53.2 (2002): 106-16. Web.
• "Preparing America's Students for Success." Common Core State Standards
Initiative. Council of Chief State School Officers, 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
• Schmoker, Michael J. Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student
Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2011. Print.
Works Cited
• Shanahan, Timothy, and Cynthia Shanahan. "Teaching Disciplinary Literacy
to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy." Harvard Educational
Review 78.1 (2008): 40-59. Web.
• Shanahan, Timothy. "Letting the Text Take the Center Stage: How the
Common Core Will Transform English Language Arts Instruction."
American Educator (2013): 4-11. Web.
• United States. Education. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Washington
State Comprehensive Literacy Plan: Birth to Grade 12. Seattle: BERK: Strategy,
Analysis, and Communications, 2012. Print.
Works Cited
• Zemelman, Steven, Harvey Daniels, and Arthur A. Hyde. Best Practice: Today's
Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools. 3rd ed. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann, 2005. Print.