The Role of Writing in Literacy Rachel Hull, NBCT July 12, 2014

Agenda Setting a personal context for the work Analyzing work samples to inform practice Planning for September

Contextualization of the Work Write down the names of 3 students with whom you worked this year—a high, middle, and low. Prepare a brief introduction of each  Name  Favorite trait  Why the literacy ranking of high, middle or low

Table Consensus What is the single biggest reason your students struggle with literacy?

Performance Definitions of Language Proficiency Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5 Students can understand and use… …language to communicate with others around basic concrete needs. …high frequency words and memorized chunks of language. …words, phrases or chunks of language. …pictorial, graphic, or nonverbal representation of language. …language to draw on simple and routine experiences to communicate with others. …high-frequency and some general academic vocabulary and expressions. …phrases or short sentences in oral or written communication. …oral or written language, making errors that often impede the meaning of the communication. …language to communicate with others on familiar matters regularly encountered. …general and some specialized academic vocabulary and expressions. …expanded sentences in oral or written communication. …oral or written language, making errors that may impede the communication but retain much of its meaning. …language in both concrete and abstract situations and apply language to new experiences. …specialized and some technical academic vocabulary and expressions. …a variety of sentence lengths of vary linguistic complexity in oral and written communication. …oral or written language, making minimal errors that do not impeded the overall meaning of the communication. …a wide range of longer oral and written texts and recognize implicit meaning. …technical academic vocabulary and expressions. …a variety of sentences lengths of varying linguistic complexity in extended oral or written discourse.

Performance Definitions of Language Proficiency Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5 Students can understand and use… …language to communicate with others around basic concrete needs. …high frequency words and memorized chunks of language. …words, phrases or chunks of language. …pictorial, graphic, or nonverbal representation of language. …language to draw on simple and routine experiences to communicate with others. …high-frequency and some general academic vocabulary and expressions. …phrases or short sentences in oral or written communication. …oral or written language, making errors that often impede the meaning of the communication. …language to communicate with others on familiar matters regularly encountered. …general and some specialized academic vocabulary and expressions. …expanded sentences in oral or written communication. …oral or written language, making errors that may impede the communication but retain much of its meaning. …language in both concrete and abstract situations and apply language to new experiences. …specialized and some technical academic vocabulary and expressions. …a variety of sentence lengths of vary linguistic complexity in oral and written communication. …oral or written language, making minimal errors that do not impeded the overall meaning of the communication. …a wide range of longer oral and written texts and recognize implicit meaning. …technical academic vocabulary and expressions. …a variety of sentences lengths of varying linguistic complexity in extended oral or written discourse. …oral or written language approaching comparability to that of English- proficient peers.

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How Does Your Garden Grow? Protocol: Read the first piece.  What elements of effective writing are evident? Read the next piece.  How is this different that the piece before? Continue reading and then synthesize observations:  What are some core descriptors that define this type of writing?  What patterns do you notice in the way expectations change over time?

What was the assignment? Read through the plans and outline the instructional process.

Culminating question Close Reading: Gather and record evidence Focus Statement Listening and Speaking Write! ? Addressing the Common Core Shifts

Compare Instructional Process Language Proficiency Rubric

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Organize writing standard cards Read each grade level expectation Determine what is different about each grade level expectation Make note of grade level differences

Learning by Example Annotate the student writing by finding and labeling examples of each descriptor in the standard.

What can my students learn by writing? Select a piece of writing from your packet Read and note the content expressed as well as how the piece was written Discuss Select a different piece and repeat this process with your elbow partner

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D EPTH OF U NDERSTANDING F ULL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE P ARTIAL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE V ERBAL A SSOCIATION (Allen, 1999)

V ERBAL A SSOCIATION Everyday use Definitional & single contexts The text features are… V ERBAL A SSOCIATI ON

P ARTIAL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE Deeper level of understanding Knowledge of multiple meaning possibilities The features of Earth are… V ERBAL A SSOCIATI ON P ARTIAL C ONCEPT

F ULL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE Knowledge of word families, multiple meanings, and ways to extend definitions to application Ability to discriminate target word from similar words and extend definition to related concepts V ERBAL A SSOCIATI ON P ARTIAL C ONCEPT F ULL C ONCEPT Facial features A new feature film, featuring…. The featured article…. The Solar System features in many 4 th grade curricula. There are at least 10 different applications.

D EPTH OF U NDERSTANDING F ULL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE P ARTIAL C ONCEPT K NOWLEDGE V ERBAL A SSOCIATION (Allen, 1999)

Questions for Reflection What structures will I put in place to support the oral language development of my students? How will my planning process shift as I move my students from verbal association to full concept knowledge of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words? What practices should I keep? Which ones can I abandon?

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Synthesize Depth of Understanding Instructional Process Language Proficiency Rubric

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“Students can do no better than the assignments they are given.” - Kati Haycock, The Education Trust

Step 1: Review the Instructional Materials Review the Instructional Materials  Record the grade and title of the lesson/unit.  Locate the assignment to be evaluated and record the assignment title or description on the recording form.  Locate the student work that corresponds to the assignment.  Scan the lesson/unit quickly to see what it contains and how it is organized. Tips and Reminders:  Spend no more than a few minutes on this step.

Step 2: Analyze the Purpose and Demands of the Assignment Without consulting the standards or the lesson/unit, analyze the purpose and demands of the assignment as evidenced by the directions and the rubrics/scoring guides. Guiding Questions: BBased on the directions and/or the scoring guides for the assignment, what is its likely purpose? BBased on the directions and/or the scoring guides for the assignment, what demands does it make of students?

Step 2: Analyze the Assignment Tips and Reminders:  Take the assignment at face value.  Stick to purposes and demands that are evident from the written words on the page; do not imbue the assignment with skills and knowledge that are not readily apparent, even if all agree that is probably what was meant.

Step 3: Compare Alignment of the Assignment to the Targeted Standards Compare the alignment of the content and performance(s) of the assignment to the targeted standards for the lesson/unit. Guiding Questions:  Do the directions, prompt(s), and/or scoring guide for the assignment give students the opportunity to demonstrate all or part of the targeted standards for the assignment and lesson?  How well aligned are the content and performance(s) of the assignment with the targeted standards in the assignment and the lesson?  If the assignment is given a score of 1 or 0 for any one of the targeted standards, is there another assignment in the lesson that addresses that standard?

Step 3: Compare Alignment of the Assignment to the Targeted Standards Tips and Reminders:  An assignment need not address every targeted standard in the lesson/unit as long as the assignment is central to the learning goals.  In making suggestions for improvement, consider whether the assignment was intended to incorporate all of the targeted standards or if the assignment is one of a series of assignments in the lesson/unit used to assess student competency.

Step 3: Alignment Ratings Rate the alignment to each targeted standards using the 0 – 3 scale provided.

Targeted Standards (Day 1 & 2) RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text. SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats. RF.5.4b Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. b. Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression L.5.3b Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. b. Compare and contrast the varieties of English (dialects, registers) used in stories, dramas, or poems

Step 4: Diagnose Student Work 37 Guiding Questions:  What does the collection of student work communicate about the kind and level of skills and knowledge students have learned and still need to learn?  What are the most frequent and fundamental successes students appear to be having with the assignment?  What are the most frequent and fundamental problems students appear to be having with the assignment?

Step 5: Improving the Assignment & Lesson 38 Provide suggestions for improving the assignment and related lesson. Guiding Questions:  How does the assignment fit into the overall lesson or unit plan?  What does the review of student work suggest are the strengths and weaknesses of the assignment and related instructional materials? Use the criteria in the EQuIP quality review rubric to guide this feedback.  What should be kept, deleted, and/or added to the assignment or lesson/unit for tighter alignment with the depth of the targeted standards?  Do the rubrics/scoring guides accurately communicate CCSS expectations for proficiency? If not, how might they be improved?

Step 5: Improving the Assignment & Lesson 39 Tips and Reminders:  Avoid trying to force-fit an assignment to a standard. If it clearly doesn’t fit any standard, overhaul the assignment so that it is a good fit.  In some instances, the assignment may be a good one but it doesn’t address any of the identified standards. This may require more clearly and accurately identifying the standards that the lesson/unit and the assignment do target and adding them.  Pay attention to strengthening and clarifying the directions to students, in addition to the dimensions of the assignment itself.

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Strong Text SetsWeak Text Sets Build student knowledge about a topic; meaningful connection to the anchor text Texts are not related or connected across sets or they are only superficially connected Texts are authentic, rich, and worthy of study Only commissioned texts or textbook passages Range of text types (literary and informational) and formats Focused exclusively on one genre or format (unless the set is a genre study) Text complexity levels support student achievement of the grade- level complexity demands of the CCSS Text complexity levels are erratic and do not support the staircase of text complexity in the CCSS Hallmarks of a Good Text Set

How do questions fit together? 42 Text-Dependent Questions Text Focusing Question Line of Inquiry Unit Text Set Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 1 Question 2 Question 3

Evaluate Depth of Understanding Instructional Process Language Proficiency Rubric EQUIP materials

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