CCRS for Writing in K - 5 Alabama Reading Initiative MEGA Conference 2013

Insomniacs: What keeps you awake at night when transitioning to the new College and Career Ready Standards?

Outcomes: Participants will... writing Gain a deeper understanding of how the key shift, “reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational,” supports the implementation of the standards (K-5). Clarify their understanding of what the standards look like in practice (K-5).

Three Key Shifts in ELA 1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts 2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational 3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

What is “writing from sources”? tied to in response to about  Analytical writing tied to literary and informational texts; writing in response to texts; writing about texts. evidence  Students analyze the text, make valid claims about the text, and support those claims with evidence from the text. from sources  Writing arguments and informational reports from sources. multiple sources  Generating reports from research; writing from multiple sources.

The Reading Writing Connection “…writing is treated as an equal partner to reading, and more than this, writing is assumed to be the vehicle through which a great deal of the reading work and assessments will occur.” Pathways to the Common Core, pg. 102

Did you know? “Of all the instructional approaches to connecting reading and writing studied so far, writing about text has been the most successful as an avenue to improving reading achievement, and such integrated approaches have been valuable in stimulating higher quality writing outcomes too.” Dr. Timothy Shanahan, University of Illinois at Chicago

Chew on this… Being able to write well is also an essential skill for college and career readiness, which is why the common core gives it so much attention. According to David Conley (2007), “if we could institute only one change to make students more college ready, it should be to increase the amount and quality of writing students are expected to produce.”

Turn and Talk: What about this mooves you?

Investigating CCR Anchor Standards for Writing Part A:  Read the CCR Writing Anchor stands for grades K-5 on page 18 (handout #1).  Discuss the major concepts in each CCR category.  Complete the chart provided with you thinking. Part B:  Read the paragraph (Range and Content of Student Writing) in italics on the right of page 18.  Highlight key words and phrases.  Discuss your thinking about range and content of text with your table partners, and make notes below the chart.

What is the instructional shift in writing? What is the instructional shift in writing?  Increased emphasis on  Analysis of individual texts  Argument and evidence  Informative/explanatory writing  Frequent short, focused research projects  Comparison and synthesis of multiple sources  Decreased emphasis on  Narrative, especially personal narrative  Writing in response to decontextualized prompts

Balance of Student Writing Parallels NAEP L

Examine Grade Level Writing Standards 1 – 3  What are the 3 types of writing found in the category, Text Types and Purposes?  How does the level of difficulty in these CCRS Standards compare with current practice? (What is familiar? Different? Anything new? Dropped?)  How does the level of difficulty in these CCRS Standards compare with grade level expectations based on the previous ELA Standards?

Grade 2 Analytic Writing

Grade 4 Analytic Writing: Part 2 Independent Practice

Appendix C “… the sample texts included in the appendix are meant to illustrate not the work that strong writers occasionally produce, but the work that all students should be expected to produce – and to produce regularly, with independence.” Pathways to the Common Core, pg. 107

Writing Samples-Appendix C Partner Work:  Read the student work samples.  Read the annotations.  Discuss with your partners.  What are you noticing?  What questions do you have?

Resources  Helpful websites: o o o o o Helpful articles: o Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading by Fisher, Frey and Lapp o Education Update: “It’s Complicated” by Laura Varlas, April 2012, Vol. 54 #4 o Educational Leadership: “The Challenge of Challenging Text” by Shanahan, Fisher and Frey, March 2012, Vol. 69, #6

In your opinion, what changes will need to be made in your classroom/school/system to accommodate the shift in writing?