Language Arts-Reading Prepared by: Robin C. Letendre, M.Ed Preparing Our students to take the HiSET® Friday, October 20, 2017

About This Test The Reading test provides evidence of a candidate’s ability to understand, comprehend, interpret and analyze a variety of reading material. Selections are presented in multiple genres on subject matter that varies in purpose and style. The test is comprised of: Literary texts, which is 60% of the test Informational texts, which is 40% of the test Taken from: www.hiset.ets.org

What This Means for Our Students Our students will have to interact with text. They will have to develop critical thinking skills. Any question may involve content from more than one category. Our students will be exposed to high quality, increasingly challenging texts, between 400-600 words. The texts will include: narratives, memoirs, essays, biographical sketches, editorials, and poetry. Taken from: www.hiset.ets.org

Demand on Cognitive Complexity The kind and level of thinking required of students to successfully engage with and solve a task. Ways in which students interact with content. To ensure that teachers are teaching to a level that will promote student achievement which is directly tied to the College and Career Readiness Standards or CCRS. The Reading test is aligned with CCRS Anchor 10, “Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.” The Reading test is aligned to 34 different standards. These can be found on at: www.hiset.ets.org

Reading Process Categories What is most important to your lessons? 1. Reading Comprehension 2. Inference and Interpretation 3. Analysis of: main idea, theme, purpose, point of view, fact or opinion, literary techniques and arguments 4. Synthesis and generalization Taken from: www.ets.hiset.org

Skills for the Reading Test: Non-fiction What is the easiest skill for your students to learn? What is the most difficult skill for your students to learn? Main idea and details Determine Author’s Purpose Summarizing Analyze Elements of Persuasion Categorizing Identify Evidence Sequencing Determine Point of View Cause and Effect Style and Tone Compare and Contrast Generalize Distinguish Fact from Opinion Make Inferences Draw Conclusions

Skills for the Reading Test: Fiction What skill is Easiest to teach? Context clues Setting Cause and Effect Tone Compare and Contrast Figurative Language Plot Elements Symbols and Imagery Characters Make Inferences Motivation Draw Conclusions Point of View Apply Ideas Theme

Skills for the Reading Test: Poetry how do you approach poetry? Rhythm and Rhyme Analogies Figurative Language Symbols and Imagery Make Inferences Restatement Theme

Integrate Content Areas with Reading Skills Do not just do reading skills in reading. Use the reading skills across the curriculum. The skills needed for reading, such as compare and contrast, identifying evidence and making inferences are not just for the reading test-these skills are critical in passing science, social studies and math. When thinking of test prep, think interdisciplinary.

For determining the reading level of texts not aligned with college and career readiness standards ATOS analyzer: https://www.renaissance.com/products/practice/accelerated-reader-360/atos-and- text-complexity/ Degrees of reading power: http://www.questarai.com/assessments/district-literacy-assessments/degrees-of-reading-power/ Flesch-Kincaid: https://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp Lexile: https://lexile.com/ Reading Maturity: www.readingmaturity.com

Quantitative analysis chart for determining text complexity CCRS Levels of Learning ATOS Analyzer Degrees of Reading Power Flesch-Kincaid The Lexile Framework   Reading Maturity B (2nd-3rd) 2.75-5.14 42-54 1.98-5.34 420-820 3.53-6.13 C (4th-5th) 4.97-7.03 52-60 4.51-7.73 740-1010 5.42-7.92 D (6th-8th) 7.00-9.98 57-67 6.51-10.34 925-1185 7.04-9.57 E (9th-10th) 9.67-12.01 62-72 8.32-12.12 1050-1335 8.41-10.81 E+ (11th-CCR) 11.20-14.10 67-74 10.34-14.2 1185-1385 9.57-12.00

Resources https://hiset.ets.org/ ReadTheory, online reading resources: https://readtheory.org/ Read, write, think: http://www.readwritethink.org/ Education world: http://www.educationworld.com/ Pro/Con: https://www.procon.org/ Grammar tip of the day: www.thought.com The change agent: www.nelrc.org For the HiSET® test, all subject areas, new readers press, copyright 2016

An Example of One of My Lesson Plans An interdisciplinary approach to the HiSET® exam. Contains lessons for all aspects of the test, including simple math word problems. (I do not teach math at Salem Continuing Education, but add it into my lesson plans for cross curriculum approach.) “The brass teapot” by tim macy