Text-dependent Questions Text Complexity and K-2 ELA Nancy Frey, PhD Text-dependent Questions

If you can read this…

If you can read this… Thank a teacher!

If you can read this… effectively and write a analytical essay in under 42 minutes, and you meet all the math standards, objectives, and learning targets set forth by the Common Core State Standards, and you walk briskly through life in a healthy body taking 10,000 steps a day, while experiencing social and emotional well being, and you can effectively utilize technology and social media to access and analyze important information, and you play the piano perfectly…

If you can read this… Thank a teacher! effectively and write a analytical essay in under 42 minutes, and you meet all the math standards, objectives, and learning targets set forth by the Common Core State Standards, and you walk briskly through life in a healthy body taking 10,000 steps a day, while experiencing social and emotional well being, and you can effectively utilize technology and social media to access and analyze important information, and you play the piano perfectly… Thank a teacher!

Leaders wear many hats.

Skilled learners are nurtured.

Skilled leaders need to be nurtured, too.

Write as many entries on the ABC chart as possible while the other rolls the die. Switch roles each time you roll 6! Take Six

Take Six Terms related to the ELA Common Core State Standards (e.g., “text-dependent questions”)

Compare papers with your partner and add terms to your own Compare papers with your partner and add terms to your own. How many terms did you collectively gather? Take Six

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

“Standard 10 defines a grade-by-grade ‘staircase’ of increasing text complexity that rises from beginning reading to the college and career readiness level.” (CCSS, 2010, p. 80)

“Fewer, Clearer, Higher” Purpose of the newly designed standards “Fewer, Clearer, Higher”

Key Features of the Standards

Key Features of the Standards Text complexity and the growth of comprehension.

Key Features of the Standards Text complexity and the growth of comprehension. Text types, responding to reading, and research.

Key Features of the Standards Text complexity and the growth of comprehension. Text types, responding to reading, and research. Flexible communication and collaboration.

Key Features of the Standards Text complexity and the growth of comprehension. Text types, responding to reading, and research. Flexible communication and collaboration. Academic language, vocabulary, and effective use.

All must be present for literacy learning. Key Features of the Standards Text complexity and the growth of comprehension. Text types, responding to reading, and research. Flexible communication and collaboration. Academic language, vocabulary, and effective use. All must be present for literacy learning.

“Read like a detective, write like a reporter.”

K-5 Reading Standards

Expository

Expository Persuasive

Expository Persuasive Narrative

Students produce as well as read complex texts.

Quantitative Measures Source: The Common Core State Standards: Supporting Districts and Teachers with Text Complexity. Webinar delivered January 26, 2012 by the Council of Chief State School Officers.  

Quantitative Measures Use quantitative info to identify grade bands. Source: The Common Core State Standards: Supporting Districts and Teachers with Text Complexity. Webinar delivered January 26, 2012 by the Council of Chief State School Officers.  

Language Convention and Clarity Qualitative Values 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

Levels of Meaning and Purpose Density and complexity Figurative language Purpose

Density and Complexity Gibbons, G. (1996). Recycle! A handbook for kids.New York; Little, Brown.

Types of Vocabulary Tier 1/General Tier 2/Specialized Tier 3/Technical Commonplace; learned from interactions with texts and people Tier 2/Specialized Change meaning with context (“polysemic”) Tier 3/Technical Specific to the discipline There are several ways to classify vocabulary. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002) describe vocabulary as in tiers, while Vacca and Vacca (2002) label subject area vocabulary as General, Specialized, and Technical. They have much in common with each other, and understanding the ways in which vocabulary can be classified is a useful first step in making selection decisions. Polysemic (POL-ee-see-mik) is a linguistics term that describes words with multiple meanings. This type of word is especially difficult for English language learners, who often have a more constrained vocabulary.

Density and Complexity More and more garbage! Every day people throw more trash away. As the world population increases, more people throw trash away. Garbage trucks come to pick it up, but where does all this trash go? Blue = Tier 1 vocabulary Gibbons, G. (1996). Recycle! A handbook for kids.New York; Little, Brown.

Density and Complexity More and more garbage! Every day people throw more trash away. As the world population increases, more people throw trash away. Garbage trucks come to pick it up, but where does all this trash go? Blue = Tier 1 vocabulary Green = Tier 2 vocabulary Gibbons, G. (1996). Recycle! A handbook for kids.New York; Little, Brown.

Density and Complexity More and more garbage! Every day people throw more trash away. As the world population increases, more people throw trash away. Garbage trucks come to pick it up, but where does all this trash go? Blue = Tier 1 vocabulary Green = Tier 2 vocabulary Red = Tier 3 vocabulary Gibbons, G. (1996). Recycle! A handbook for kids.New York; Little, Brown.

Structure Genre Organization Narration Text features and graphics

Structure Changes in narration, point of view Changes in font signal narration changes Complex themes

Language Conventions Standard English and variations Register

Language Conventions Non-standard English usage “Out in the hottest, dustiest part of town is an orphanage run by a female person nasty enough to scare night into day. She goes by the name of Mrs. Sump, though I doubt there ever was a Mr. Sump on accounta she looks like somethin’ the cat drug in and the dog wouldn’t eat.” (Stanley, 1996, p. 2)

Knowledge Demands Background knowledge Prior knowledge Cultural knowledge Vocabulary

Knowledge Demands Prior experience (Secondary text on technical directions and related information ) Background knowledge (technical drawings and directions for making a paper airplane, invention process, mythology)

Language Convention and Clarity Qualitative Values 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 Use qualitative values to identify specific grade levels.

Task and Reader  

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

Our goal with complex text is to slow the reader down.

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

People have been annotating texts since there have been texts to annotate.

Annotation is not highlighting.

Annotation slows down the reader in order to deepen understanding.

Annotation occurs with digital and print texts.

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

Even young students can annotate.

Read IRA’s Guidance on Literacy Implementation for CCSS. What are the implications for your school? Are there misconceptions your staff might hold? How will you deepen their understanding of literacy development?

Close Reading

“X-ray the book”

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

In the primary grades, close reading is accomplished through interactive read alouds and shared readings.

Creating a Close Reading

Creating a Close Reading Short passage Creating a Close Reading

Creating a Close Reading Short passage Complex text Creating a Close Reading

Creating a Close Reading Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Creating a Close Reading

Creating a Close Reading Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Repeated readings Creating a Close Reading

Multiple readings often make this unnecessary The Role of Pre-reading Multiple readings often make this unnecessary

Multiple readings often make this unnecessary The Role of Pre-reading Too often provides information students can glean from careful reading of the text Hard to wean students from this Similarly challenging to move teachers away from providing this “smoothing of the road” Multiple readings often make this unnecessary

Creating a Close Reading Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Repeated readings Text-dependent questions Creating a Close Reading

Characteristics of Text-dependent questions

Characteristics of Text-dependent questions Questions that can only be answered with evidence from the text Can be literal but can also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation Focus on word, sentence and paragraph as well as larger ideas, themes or events Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency

Progression of Text-dependent Questions Opinions, Arguments, Intertextual Connections Inferences Author’s Purpose Vocab & Text Structure Key Details General Understandings Whole Across texts Entire text Segments Paragraph Sentence Word Part

General Understandings Overall view Sequence of information Story arc Main claim and evidence Gist of passage

General Understandings in Kindergarten Retell the story in order using the words beginning, middle, and end.

Key Details Search for nuances in meaning Determine importance of ideas Find supporting details that support main ideas Answers who, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many.

Key Details in Kindergarten How long did it take to go from a hatched egg to a butterfly? What is one food that gave him a stomachache? What is one food that did not him a stomachache?

It took more than 3 weeks. He ate for one week, and then “he stayed inside [his cocoon] for more than two weeks.”

Foods that did not give him a stomachache Foods that gave him a stomachache Apples Pears Plums Strawberries Oranges Green leaf Chocolate cake Ice cream Pickle Swiss cheese Salami Lollipop Cherry pie Sausage Cupcake watermelon

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

Vocabulary in Kindergarten How does the author help us to understand what cocoon means?

There is an illustration of the cocoon, and a sentence that reads, “He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself.”

Author’s Purpose Genre: Entertain? Explain? Inform? Persuade? Point of view: First-person, third-person limited, omniscient, unreliable narrator Critical Literacy: Whose story is not represented?

Author’s Purpose in Kindergarten Who tells the story—the narrator or the caterpillar?

A narrator tells the story, because he uses the words he and his A narrator tells the story, because he uses the words he and his. If it was the caterpillar, he would say I and my.

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.

Inferences in Kindergarten The title of the book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. How do we know he is hungry?

The caterpillar ate food every day “but he was still hungry The caterpillar ate food every day “but he was still hungry.” On Saturday he ate so much food he got a stomachache! Then he was “a big, fat caterpillar” so he could build a cocoon and turn into a butterfly.

Opinions, Arguments, and Intertextual Connections Author’s opinion and reasoning (K-5) Claims Evidence Counterclaims Ethos, Pathos, Logos Rhetoric Links to other texts throughout the grades

Opinions and Intertextual Connections in Kindergarten Narrative Informational Is this a happy story or a sad one? How do you know? How are these two books similar? How are they different?

Lesson design How does purpose and meaningful collaborative work fit into this lesson?

Don’t over-teach. Students with disabilities and English learners have the right to appropriately struggle!

Accommodations for Close Reading Provide students with copies of text-dependent questions in advance of reading. Pre-teach reading, especially background knowledge and cognates. Provide realia or visual glossaries to support student learning. Highlight contextual clues.

Develop Text-dependent Questions for Your Reading Do the questions require the reader to return to the text? Do the questions require the reader to use evidence to support his or her ideas or claims? Do the questions move from text-explicit to text-implicit knowledge? Are there questions that require the reader to analyze, evaluate, and create?

293 days until Moving Day

Fostering Transition to CCSS How will you shift attention to curriculum, while preserving quality instruction? How will teams make decisions about what to edit, and what to add in curriculum? How will teams learn how to reduce some practices (e.g., pre-reading), and add new practices (e.g., close reading)?

Using Foundational Work to Build Upon How will you use this foundational knowledge to build capacity? What resources do you have? What do you need?

www.fisherandfrey.com