NCAGT Conference
February 2014
NCDPI
ELA Section
Lisa McIntosh
CREATING
TEXT
SETS
Resources
 Texts and Lessons for Content-Area Reading
(Harvey “Smokey” Daniels and Nancy Steineke)
 Teaching with Text Sets (Mary Ann Cappiello and
Erika Thulin Dawes)
 Common Core Curriculum Maps English Language
Arts (Common Core)
Line of Inquiry
Text Set
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W.11-12.1b
W.11-12.5
W.11-12.9
RI.11-12.1
RUBRIC
LESSON
Line of Inquiry
Text Set
W.11-12.1b
W.11-12.5
W.11-12.9
RI.11-12.1
Line of Inquiry
RUBRIC
LESSON
Defining
What is Text?: The term “text” refers to anything that a
teacher can use to center instruction, anything that students
can read, view, listen to, or explore, including books,
photographs, films, articles, music, art, and more.
What is a Text Set?: A text set is a collection of related texts
organized around a topic or line of inquiry.
A text set includes information in many modalities, including
print, audio, visual. Examples could be podcasts, news
footage, photographs, drawings, artifacts, sculptures, and
paintings, including primary sources.
Text Sets and the CC
 The CCSS focus on building student ability to read and
understand grade-level complex text and express that
understanding clearly through writing and speaking.
 The Standards emphasize the role of close engagement with
text in students building knowledge about the world.
 A coherent sequence of texts around a clear topic or line of
inquiry will support students in building vocabulary and
background knowledge.
 Text sets are one tool for educators in planning units of
instruction to help students meet the demands of the CCSS.
Shifts
Building knowledge through contentrich nonfiction and informational texts
Reading and writing grounded in
evidence from the text
Regular practice with complex text and
its academic vocabulary
Where does using multiple texts
appear in the Standards?
Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
 R.CCR.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
 R.CCR.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or
topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.
Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge
 W.CCR.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects
based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
 W.CCR.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and
integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and
Collaboration
 SL.CCR.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse
media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Text Sets in K-12 Classrooms
 Elementary: Across Genres / Integrated
approach
 Middle Grades: Across Genres / Team
Approach
 High School: Across Genres
Why Create a Text Set…
 To capture interests and cultivate engagement
 To prompt inquiry
 To read for multiple perspectives
 To build prior knowledge
 To encourage student writing: Text sets as mentor texts
 To differentiate instruction
 To support vocabulary development
Criteria
Constructing a text set requires considering
three criteria:
1. A variety based on text complexity considerations.
2. Various cultural perspectives may be appropriate for some
concepts.
3. Differences that offer various approaches to the “big idea” or
conceptual understanding that unifies the conceptual text
set.
Donham, J. (2013). Text Sets, Deep Learning, and the Common Core. School Library Monthly, 29(6), 5-7.
Steps to Creating Text Sets
Step One: Identify the Anchor Text
and Formulate a Line of Inquiry for the Set
 Determine the standards that you want to teach.
 Identify an anchor text and formulate an overall line
of inquiry for the set. This can happen in either
order. An educator may first identify an anchor text,
from which they formulate a line of inquiry for the
set OR an educator may choose to first identify a
topic for a unit of study and then seek out an
anchor text around which to build the set.
Step One Continued
 The most important part of step one is that the
anchor text be a grade-level complex text that
meets the complexity demands of the Standards
and is worthy of the time and attention of students.
Without a rich anchor text, it is difficult to create a
worthwhile text set.
How Many Texts?
 The number of texts in a set can vary depending on
purpose and resource availability around a given
topic.
 What is important is that the texts in the set are
connected meaningfully to each other to deepen
student understanding of the anchor text.
Step Two: Use Databases to
Research Texts around the Topic
 Once you have identified the anchor text and line of
inquiry for your set, you can use a variety of
databases to search for texts.
Step Three: Evaluate Texts for Inclusion in
the Set
1. Does the text contribute to the students building a body of
knowledge connected meaningfully to the anchor text?
2. Is the text worthy of student time and attention?
3. Does the text contribute to a range and balance of text types
and formats in the overall set?
4. Do the text complexity measures of the text place it in the
grade band of the anchor text? A range of texts spanning the
band will support student-knowledge-building over the course
of the unit.
Step Four: Refine, Finalize, and Produce
Text Set
 Continue to refine your selections until you are
satisfied that you have a range and balance of texts
that support student engagement with the line of
inquiry.
Examples of Text Sets
Guiding Questions for Text Sets
 How are the texts related in a meaningful
way?
 What makes the texts rich & worthy of
rereading?
 What are the range of text types?
 Are there various degrees of complexity in
the set?
Strong vs. Weak
Strong text sets
Weak text sets
Build student knowledge about a
topic; meaningful connection to the
anchor text
Texts are authentic, rich, and
worthy of study
Range of text types (literary and
informational) and formats
Texts are not related or connected
across sets or they are only
superficially connected
Only commissioned texts or textbook
passages
Focused exclusively on one genre or
format (unless the set is a genre
study)
Text complexity levels are erratic and
do not support the staircase of text
complexity in the CCSS
Text complexity levels support
student achievement of the gradelevel complexity demands of the
CCSS*
Examples
Strong Text Set
Anchor Text: Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Related Texts:
•
“You Have Insulted Me: A Letter,” Kurt
Vonnegut (Informational)
•
“Burning a Book” by William Stafford
(Poem)
•
“The Book Burnings,” United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum
(Informational)
•
Excerpts from The Book Thief, Marcus
Zusak (Appendix B Exemplar)
•
“Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick
Douglass (Informational)
•
“Learning to Read,” Malcolm X
(Informational)
•
“Unto My Books So Good to Turn,” Emily
Dickinson (Poem)
•
“The Portable Phonograph,” Walter Van
Tilburg Clark
Weak Text Set
Anchor Text: Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Related Texts:
•
“‘Chaos:’ Gunman Ambushes, Kills Two
Firefighters at New York Blaze,” Catherine
Shoichet and Greg Botelho (CNN)
(Informational)
•
“Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing
Press,” Mary Bellis (About.com)
(Informational)
•
Fahrenheit 451, Francois Truffaut (Film)
•
“About Ray Bradbury: Biography”
(Informational)
•
“The Pedestrian,” Ray Bradbury (Literary)
•
The Children’s Story, James Clavell
(Literary)
Pattern Folders: A Literary
Analysis Tool
Activity
Activity
How would you use this folder
at your grade level(s)?
ELA Listserve
http://elaccss.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/
listjoin
ELA Resources LiveBinder:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/297779
Contact Information
Julie Joslin, Ed.D.
Section Chief
English Language Arts
919-807-3935
Julie.Joslin@dpi.nc.gov
Kristi Day, M.Ed
K-5 ELA
Consultant
910-807-3928
Kristi.Day@dpi.nc.gov
Lisa McIntosh, MSA
K-5 ELA
Consultant
919-807-3895
Lisa.Llewellyn@dpi.nc.gov
Anna Lea Frost, M.Ed
6-8 ELA
Consultant
910-807-3952
Anna.Frost@dpi.nc.gov
Angela Stephenson,
9-12 ELA
Consultant
919-807- 3833
Angela.Stephenson@dpi.nc.gov
Resources can be found on http://www.wikicentral.ncdpi.wikispaces.net