Rigorous Reading: Access Points for Comprehending Complex Texts Nancy Frey San Diego State University

Our Work Today Our learning intention: Build our capacity to use complex texts and foster students’ deep comprehension. Our success criteria: Use a close reading and collaborative learning instructional routine to purposefully teach deep comprehension.

Where to Begin? R.10 Text complexity W.1 SL.1 Collaborative conversations R.10 Text complexity R.1 Close reading L.4 Solving unknown words and phrases W.1 Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5) Argumentation (6-12)

How has your practice changed since 2010? Evidence in K How has your practice changed since 2010?

A little background about reading development

To build strength More Complex Less Complex To build stamina

Constrained and Unconstrained Reading Skills Paris, S. G. (2005). Reinterpreting the development of reading skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(2), 184-202.

Constrained Skills Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency

Unconstrained Skills Comprehension Vocabulary

Leveled texts are great for teaching constrained skills. Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency

Students restricted to leveled text only fail to learn unconstrained skills. Comprehension Vocabulary

To build strength More Complex Less Complex To build stamina

Literacy should foster inquiry.

A Model for Success for All Students TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focused Instruction Guided Instruction “We do it” “You do it together” Collaborative “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY A Model for Success for All Students Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual release of responsibility (2nd ed.) Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Establishing purpose primes students for learning. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY Focused Instruction Establishing purpose primes students for learning.

Strengthens transitions. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY Focused Instruction Strengthens transitions.

Provides closure at the end of the lesson. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY Focused Instruction Provides closure at the end of the lesson.

Establishing Purpose

A clear learning target establishes criteria for success

Purpose = Expectations

Establishing Purpose answers the question, “Where are we going?”

Purpose is essential for English learners.

Build their sense of competence. Want to motivate students? Build their sense of competence.

Our Work Today Our learning intention: Build our capacity to use complex texts and foster students’ deep comprehension. Our success criteria: Use a close reading and collaborative learning instructional routine to purposefully teach deep comprehension.

Our Work Today Our learning intention: Build our capacity to use complex texts and foster students’ deep comprehension. Our success criteria: Use a close reading and collaborative learning instructional routine to purposefully teach deep comprehension.

purpose

Stage and Engage: Guiding Questions What are my success criteria and learning intentions? What am I learning? Why am I learning it?

Team Analysis of Desired Results Analyze the 1st grade unit essential question,” What does it mean to be a good citizen and why is it important?” as well as the Enduring Understandings. How can clearly communicated learning intentions and success criteria contribute to students’ critical thinking, regardless of current reading performance? What would undermine this effort?

Close Reading

Where to Begin? R.10 Text complexity SL.1 W.1 Collaborative conversations R.10 Text complexity R.1 Close reading L.4 Solving unknown words and phrases W.1 Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5)

Close reading is a PART of balanced literacy instruction BREAK pp. xxi-xv

Close reading gives students time to develop unconstrained skills through guided instruction with complex texts.

Differences Between K-2 and 3-12? In K-2, teacher reads aloud initially, annotates wholly or guides student annotation. Students may or may not eventually read independently, depending on text difficulty (e.g., Wizard of Oz in Kindergarten.) In 3-12, students read independently beginning with first reading, and annotate with increased independence. Readers who cannot initially read independently may be read to, or may encounter the text previously during scaffolded small group reading instruction.

“Every book has a skeleton hidden between its covers “Every book has a skeleton hidden between its covers. Your job as an analytic reader is to find it.” Adler and Van Doren, 1940/1972

Not every reading is a close one! “X-ray the book”

Creating a Close Reading Use a short passage “Read with a pencil” pp. 46-53 Creating a Close Reading

Annotation is a note of any form made while reading text. “Reading with a pencil.”

Annotation in PreK-2 Language experience approach Interactive writing and shared pen activities

2 4 5 3 1 Modeled Annotation in Kindergarten Kemp, L. M. (1996). One peaceful pond: A counting book. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Modeled Annotation in First Grade

Modeled Annotation in Second Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Even young students can annotate.

Annotation with Wikki sticks

Creating a Close Reading Use a short passage “Read with a pencil” Rereading and discussion Give your students the chance to struggle a bit pp. 46-53 Creating a Close Reading

The Role of Pre-reading Multiple readings can reduce the need for this

Repeated reading and discussion Use a short passage “Read with a pencil” Repeated reading and discussion Give your students the chance to struggle a bit Foster critical thinking with text-dependent questions pp. 50-56 Creating a Close Reading

What is familiar to you? What is new to you? What is a good tickler?

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. Look at grade level standard—it is more than just close reading!

2nd 1st K Reading Closely Progression K-2 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. By the end of 2nd By the end of 1st By the end of K

Anchor Standard 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Text Complexity Progression K-2 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. By the end of 2nd By the end of 1st By the end of K

Read closely… complex texts. 10 1 ELA/Literacy Standards 2-9

Where to Begin? R.10 Text complexity W.1 SL.1 Collaborative conversations R.10 Text complexity R.1 Close reading L.4 Solving unknown words and phrases W.1 Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5) Argumentation (6-12)

Assessing Texts p. 7-10

Text Reader Task Quantitative Qualitative Cognitive capabilities Motivation Knowledge Experience Task Teacher-led Peer-led Independent

Language Convention and Clarity Background Prior Cultural Vocabulary Standard English Variations Register Genre Organization Narration Text Features Graphics Density and Complexity Figurative Language Purpose Levels of Meaning Structure Knowledge Demands Language Convention and Clarity p. 9

Text-dependent Questions Answered through close reading Evidence comes from text, not information from outside sources Understanding beyond basic facts Not recall!

Progression of Text-dependent Questions What does the text inspire you to do? Interpretive Opinions/Arguments, Intertextual Connections Inferences Author’s Craft and Purpose Vocab & Text Structure Key Details General Understandings What does the text mean? Inferential How does the text work? Structural What does the text say? Literal

The Day the Crayons Quit

What did Duncan find when he took his crayons out of the box one day?

Which crayons feel tired and overworked?

What are Yellow and Orange arguing about?

Use Key Details to Locate Evidence

Use Key Details to Locate Evidence How does Gray Crayon feel? Why does Beige Crayon feel underused? How does Blue Crayon feel? To whom was Beige Crayon's letter written? Why does Red Crayon write the letter to Duncan? According to Black Crayon, what is his main job?

Which crayons appear sad? Embarrassed? How can you tell?

How does Duncan respond to the letters?

Howabowt you & Orange both be the color of the sun? Dear Green, I made the Yellow & Orange’s problem [go away] because I am a good problem solver.

Progression of Text-dependent Questions What does the text inspire you to do? Interpretive Opinions/Arguments, Intertextual Connections Inferences Author’s Craft and Purpose Vocab & Text Structure Key Details General Understandings What does the text mean? Inferential How does the text work? Structural What does the text say? Literal

Vocabulary and Text Structure Bridges literal and inferential meanings Denotation Connotation Shades of meaning Figurative language How organization contributes to meaning

Author’s Craft & Purpose Genre: Entertain? Explain? Inform? Persuade? Point of view: First-person, third-person Narrator: omniscient, unreliable narrator Literary devices Intention

Inferences Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, and observe how these build to a whole.

“A Friend” by Gillian Jones

What Makes It Accessible Qualitative Analysis What Makes It Accessible What Makes It Complex Story-like with familiar words (high narrativity) Syntactic simplicity (short sentences) Lots of connecting words and phrases for deep cohesion (e.g., and, on whom, Instead, for .) These connecting terms link ideas. This deep cohesion facilitates comprehension. Little overlap in words and ideas between sentences. Vocabulary is abstract (hard to visualize). Little overlap (referential cohesion) means the reader has to do lots of inferring. Therefore, students need sufficient prior knowledge.

Initial Readings to get the flow, Read the text to them then a second time to annotate.

What is the main idea of the poem? What does the text say? General Understanding Friends need to be taken care of What is the main idea of the poem?

What are the qualities of a good friend? How do you know? What does the text say? Key Details Dependable, they listen, they don’t run away when something bad happens, they make you smile What are the qualities of a good friend? How do you know?

What do you need to do to take care of a friend? What does the text say? Key Details Don’t forget them What do you need to do to take care of a friend?

How does the poet help you to understand what the word condemn means? How does the text work? Vocabulary How does the poet help you to understand what the word condemn means?

How does the text work? Vocabulary What does the phrase “lend an ear” mean? Why is this an important quality in a friend?

How does the rhythm and rhyme affect the feeling of the poem? How does the text work? Structure How does the rhythm and rhyme affect the feeling of the poem? They are paired, like friends are paired

How does the text work? Author’s Craft How does the poet feel about friendship? What words and phrases does she use that support your answer?

How does this poem relate to the Golden Rule? What does the text mean? Inferences How does this poem relate to the Golden Rule?

What makes you a good friend? What does the text mean? Inferences What makes you a good friend?

Talk is essential to writing

“Writing floats on a sea of talk.” James Britton

What does the text inspire you to do? Writing From Sources  What makes you a good friend? After reading and discussing Gillian Jones’s poem, “A Friend,” write a short paragraph to answer the question. Use what you know from the poem to write your response. Participants do not need to write; this is an example of a writing task. Constructed using Elementary Task Template Collection: www.literacydesigncollaborative.org

Begin with the end in mind: Plan backward and teach forward. EXTEND YOUR LEARNING this Afternoon Develop TDQ’s with your grade level team for Unit 1 close readings. Begin with the end in mind: Plan backward and teach forward. What makes the text complex? What do you want students to do with the text? (interpretive) What does the text mean? (inferential) How does the text work? (structural) What does the text say? (literal)

Plan Backwards, Teach Forward 1. What does you want students to do with the text? (Interpretive) 2. What does the text mean? (Inferential) 3. How does the text work? (Structural) 4. What does the text say? (Literal)

It’s not enough to have complex text in the room It’s not enough to have complex text in the room. Students need to read and discuss complex text.

Comprehension and Collaboration 1. Prepare for and participate in collaborations with diverse partners, building on each others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

K-2 Features Following the rules of discussion Moving from participation to turn taking Sustaining discussion through questioning Adult support

3-5 Features Preparation for discussion Yielding and gaining the floor Posing and responding to questions From explaining own ideas to explaining the ideas of others

20 Days to Productive Group Work

Introduce instructional routines each day during the first month of school (10-20 minutes). Productive group work requires purposeful teaching of the procedures and skills needed. Each day, introduce a new skill or routine by first modeling it, then having them do it. Once taught, reinforce the use of these routines by using them in content instruction. Repeated use of these high-utility instructional routines will build their capacity to work productively during longer and more complex projects.

Tip #1: Begin with the end in mind Teach what is most valuable from the beginning: we help each other, and we are accountable for what we say to one another.

Teach students a helping curriculum

Accountable Talk sounds like…

Don’t say something students can say. Accountable Talk requires conversational moves by the teacher. Don’t say something students can say.

Conversational Moves of the Teacher Marking: “That’s an important point.” Challenging students: “What do you think?” Michaels, S., O’Connor, M. C., Hall, M. W., & Resnick, L. B. (2010). Accountable Talk® Sourcebook: For Classroom Conversation That Works (v.3.1). University of Pittsburgh Institute for Learning. Retrieved from http://ifl.lrdc.pitt.edu Michaels, et al., 2010

Conversational Moves of the Teacher Keeping the channels open: “Did everyone hear that?” Keeping everyone together: “Who can repeat…?” Michaels, S., O’Connor, M. C., Hall, M. W., & Resnick, L. B. (2010). Accountable Talk® Sourcebook: For Classroom Conversation That Works (v.3.1). University of Pittsburgh Institute for Learning. Retrieved from http://ifl.lrdc.pitt.edu Michaels, et al., 2010

Pressing for accuracy: “Where can we find that?” Linking contributions: “Who wants to add on…?” Verifying and clarifying: “So, are you saying…?” Building on prior knowledge: “How does this connect?” Pressing for reasoning: “Why do you think that?” Expanding reasoning: “Take your time; say more.” Michaels, et al., 2010

Introduce Language Frames to Scaffold Accountable Talk Ross, D., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2009). The art of argumentation. Science and Children, 47(3), 28-31.

Tip #2: Start Small

Make sure they know how to help! On-task Partners On-task partners monitor each other. Follow the direction of the teacher. Check to see if your partner is doing the same thing. If not, quietly help. Make sure they know how to help!

Teaching Your Rules Key to developing community in the classroom and foundational for collaborative conversations .

Discussion Partners TTYPA (Turn to your partner and…) Think-Pair-Square Walking Review Busy Bees Opinion Stations

Social Skills for Discussion Partners Pete the Cat Listening Chart for Kindergarten

Reading Partners Knee-to-knee reading Stronger partner reads first Other student follows silently Now he or she rereads passage Choral reading Silent reading first Mark or discuss phrase boundaries Read aloud together

Response Cards True/false shower board Math symbols chalkboards Students furnish answers using prepared cards or original answers written on whiteboards Prepared Cards and Write-on boards True/false shower board Math symbols chalkboards Vocabulary Plickers!

Conversation Roundtable 1 My notes What Mayra said 2 3 What Alex said 4 What Leo said 5 Independent Summary

Noise Meter Moderate Quiet Elevated Silent Outdoor

Tip #3: Start where you’re comfortable Begin with routines and activities that you are most comfortable with. Make it easier on yourself and your students by choosing ones you have more confidence in.

Tip #4: Teach it Productive group work doesn’t just happen--incorporate short spotlight lessons each day during the first month of school to introduce and practice the routines you’ll be using most often. You may have other routines--these calendars are meant to be an example.

Introduce instructional routines each day during the first month of school (10-20 minutes). Productive group work requires purposeful teaching of the procedures and skills needed. Each day, introduce a new skill or routine by first modeling it, then having them do it. Once taught, reinforce the use of these routines by using them in content instruction. Repeated use of these high-utility instructional routines will build their capacity to work productively during longer and more complex projects.

Taking it Back

Our Work Today Our learning intention: Build our capacity to use complex texts and foster students’ deep comprehension. Our success criteria: Use a close reading and collaborative learning instructional routine to purposefully teach deep comprehension.

Tomorrow’s Decisions What is the easiest thing you can change? 2. What is the first, small change you will begin tomorrow?

This Week’s Professional Conversations What are goals for your class regarding complex texts, close reading, and collaborative conversations? How will your grade band look and learn from one another?

A Plan to Begin R.10 Text complexity W.1 SL.1 Collaborative conversations R.10 Text complexity R.1 Close reading L.4 Solving unknown words and phrases W.1 Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5) Argumentation (6-12)

Collaborative conversations A Plan to Begin SL.1 Collaborative conversations

A Plan to Begin R.10 Text complexity

Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5) A Plan to Begin W.1 Opinion w/ Evidence (K-5)

A Plan to Begin Formative Assessment

Thank you! www.fisherandfrey.com