The Tie That Binds
Barb Williams
Elaine Hoffert
The Tie That Binds:
Reading, Writing, and Assessment
Goals
• To identify for all courses the connections
among
– Standards
– Texts
– Strategies
– Assessments (Writing)
Clear Target
Become cognitive of best practices needed
for TN Standards/CCSS
R. 9-10.1, 11-12.1
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.
W. 9-10.4, 11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.
Overarching Question
What are the best practices needed in order to
equip students with the ability to read closely to
determine what the text says explicitly?
What do I want my
students to know and
be able to do by the end
of this lesson?
• Content understanding requires
comprehension of text: written, auditory,
visual
+
• Comprehension is achieved through strategic
reading
=
All teachers are teachers of reading!
Practice: The Shillybog
• Last night after closty, my flimers and I went
downtown to the shillybog. It was late and my
other flimers were already there. Some of them
were trogging and others were lutzing to the
blane. I’m not a very good lutzer, but I love to
listen to the blane. My friends nelled me a few
trogs and pretty soon I was lutzing, too! I don’t
really sartle it clearly. I woke up this morning in
my warban with a terrible kerfufle. My roommate
gave me two sloves to vipax, so I should feel
twiggle soon. I hope so because I don’t want to
be late for Lynn’s molentale!
Practice: The Shillybog
• 1. Where did the writer go last night?
• 2. Who went with the writer and what did they
do?
• 3. How did the writer feel this morning? Why?
• 4. How did the writer solve the problem?
• ON HANDOUT
Connections
Standards
Texts
Strategies
Assessments
Standards
Content Examples
Literacy
•
• CCR 7:
• Social Studies 9-10: Integrate
quantitative or technical analysis
(e.g., charts, research data) with
qualitative analysis in print or
digital text
• Science /Technical Subjects 910;Translate quantitative or
technical information expressed
in words in a text into visual form
(e.g., table or chart) and translate
information expressed visually or
mathematically (e.g., in an
equation) into words.
WG.7 Analyze and explain
how different cultures use
maps and other visual
images to reflect their own
interests and ambitions.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
• Level 1 Recall
• Level 2 Skill/Concept
• Level 3 Strategic Reasoning
• Level 4 Extended Reasoning
•
Webb, Norman L. and others. “Web Alignment Tool” 24 July 2005. Wisconsin
Center of Educational Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge vs
Blooms Taxonomy
• Teachers were encouraged to pay attention to
Bloom’s verbs to identify the level of cognitive
complexity / rigor.
• 4th Grade: Identify examples of effect.
• 6th Grade: Analyze examples of cause and
effect.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge vs
Blooms Taxonomy
Many new standards require teachers to look beyond the verb to
determine the level of cognitive complexity.
•
•
•
1st Grade: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a
story using key details.
2nd Grade: Describe how characters in a story respond to major
events and challenges.
3rd Grade: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits,
motivations, or feelings), and explain how their actions
contribute to the sequence of events.
Standards
What is it we want all students How will we know the
to learn?
students have mastered the
essential learning?
Power/ Essential Standards
Tie to where they are coming
from & where they are going
to.
Include curricular information
(pacing guide, etc.).
Identify/model exemplars for
students to reference.
Common assessments and
rubrics.
Know what data we are
looking for
Identify who is proficient and
who is not & define the
criteria.
Formative assessment data
Standards: What we know is normal
• There are too many standards to cover in one
course on state or national lists
• Content teachers are not typically trained in
teaching reading
• Use data to determine student preparedness
• Plan and use formative assessments
• Respond to data from formative assessments
• Keep track of student progress (students take
ownership of this)
Standards: What we can/can NOT
control
• Work with 2 shoulder partners
• Discuss 3 things you can control and 3 things
you can not control regarding the standards
you teach in your classroom.
• 5 minutes Then share with another trio
• ON HANDOUT
The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in
ELA/Literacy (FROM CCSS)
1. Building knowledge through content-rich
nonfiction
2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in
evidence from text, both literary and
informational
3. Regular practice with complex text and its
academic language
18
Texts
• CCSS shift to complex texts
• Content texts are already complex
• Teachers supplement textbooks with other
text
• Text selection is at discretion of teacher,
school, district
Features of Complex Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Subtle and/or frequent transitions
•
•
Longer paragraphs
Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes
Density of information
Unfamiliar settings, topics or events
Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences
Complex sentences
Uncommon vocabulary
Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things
together for the student
Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures
20
Complex Text: Finding Readability
•
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/test-your-document-sreadability-HP010148506.aspx
21
Complex Text: Finding Readability
22
Complex Text: Finding Readability
23
Complex Text: Finding Readability
24
Complex Text: Finding Readability
25
Texts
• Identify 2 texts that pose
difficulty for students in
your course.
E.g.,
• A textbook chapter on
“Technology and the
Constitution”
• An internet article on
“Teen Economy: How
Teens Can Manage Their
Limited Finances”
• List one reason for the
difficulty each text poses.
E.g,
• Vocabulary is too complex
• Students lack background
knowledge on topic
Strategies
• Reading Strategies are the key to unlocking
text and opening the door to comprehension.
• Teachers use strategies without realizing that
they are literacy or reading fix-ups
• Strategic use of these empowers students to
comprehend regardless of their existing
abilities or the complexity of the texts
Strategies
Strategies
Strategies
Reading Strategies: Three major divisions
• Before Reading
• During Reading
• After Reading
Strategies
•
•
•
•
Start small
Be consistent
Use the language of the strategy
Select a resource and stick with it
Strategies: Before Reading
Strategies: Before Reading
Passage Prediction
• Sort key vocabulary words into categories
• Predict the content based on the words &
categories
Sets purpose, creates anticipation, engages
students in constructing meaning before &
during reading
Strategies: During Reading
Strategies: During Reading
Think Aloud
• Verbally describes steps used to think & question
as we encounter text
• Shows how to make sense of text and develop
concrete questions about confusion related to
concepts in text
Develops an inner voice for how to think through
unfamiliar text, provides models of how to develop
comprehension, shows teacher how students are
thinking through content.
Strategies: During Reading
Marginalia
• Insert written notes, charts, other marks in
margin of printed text
• Provides record of what the reader is thinking
Develops focus during reading & helps
remember key ideas, identifies
misunderstanding so teachers can effectively
reteach
Strategies: After Reading
Strategies: After Reading
Somebody Wanted But So (SWBS)
• Identifies elements of process text
• Provides framework for summaries
• Can be developed during entire reading process
Creates a record of main information & cause/effect
elements that work toward a result, focuses on key
information, identifies misunderstanding so
teachers can effectively reteach
Strategies: After Reading
Somebody Wanted But So (SWBS)
Somebody
Wanted
But
So
People
(concept)
involved
Goal;
motivation;
process
Conflict
Resolution
Strategies: After Reading
Vocabulary Rubric
• Identifies learning by using language of lesson
• Focuses on meaning of words introduced throughout
the lesson
• Analyzes how well students understand vocabulary
Overload on vocabulary creates gaps in understanding;
rubric gives student & teacher chance to see which words
need re-teaching for comprehensions
Strategies: After Reading
Vocabulary Rubric:
List content vocabulary under the column that
shows self-assessment of knowledge.
Clueless
Heard of it,
but don’t
know it
I think I
know
Expert
Assessments
Formative
Summative
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Daily
Non-Graded
Homework
Quizzes
Ungraded
Benchmarks
Chapter
Unit
District Common
State Assessments
National
Assessments
Assessments
• Why
• What
• When
Assessments
• Why
• To know where students are in their learning
path
• What
• Objectives; Goals; Standards
• When
• Daily (Formative)
• When Students are ready
Assessments
Content teacher responsibility is to assess content
in ways that reflect WHAT students really know
about the content.
Must be standards – based
Writing is the best way to know what students
really know.
Content teachers feel anxiety when first presented
with this approach
Formative assessment: Exit card – students tell in a
few sentences what they know about the day’s
clear target
The Close Reading Process:
Tying a Close Reading Lesson to Writing and
Assessment
Reading Practice
Perspective
•
•
•
•
•
Viewpoint
Standpoint
The way we see things
Outlook
Point of view
Perspective
• The green moss-filled pond presented itself as we came
over the hill.
• Read the sentence from the perspective of a swimmer.
Would the swimmer be excited? Do you think s/he would
want to dive in? Why or Why not?
• Read the sentence from the perspective of a fisherman.
Would the fisherman be excited? What do you think s/he
would be thinking?
The House
• How do our backgrounds and ideas influence
what we read?
• What are some disadvantages if we only read
material through our perspective?
The House
• Vocabulary that might be troublesome to the
reader:
• observe
• musty
• brag
• naturalist
• peer
The House
• Choose a partner and decide who will read as the
robber and who will read as the home buyer.
• Highlight the information that would be
important to that person.
• When finished, discuss what you highlighted.
• Was the information highlighted different? Was
there anything both partners highlighted? What
accounts for the similarities and differences?
The House: Assessment
• Read several ______about the same event
and as a group rewrite the text from a
perspective different from the original.
• Local editorial articles
• Internet articles
• Reviews
• Textbook sections
• Images
Questions
Resources
Jan Rozzelle & Carl Scearce. Power Tools for Adolescent Literacy.
http://www.usingenglish.com/amazon/us/1934009350.html
Chris Tovani. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?
http://www.amazon.com/Do-Really-Have-TeachReading/dp/1571103767
Mike Schmoker. Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically
Improve Student Learning. http://www.amazon.com/FocusElevating-Essentials-Radically-Leadership/dp/1416611304