ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CORE ACADEMIC STANDARDS Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education October, 2012

An alignment analysis was conducted in February of All Show-Me Standards for Communication Arts were represented in the CCSS. Alignment Between Show-Me Standards and the CCSS

Taking a Closer Look Identifying Shifts in Teaching and Learning - READING

Reading: Text Complexity Rationale “…while reading demands in college, workforce training programs, and life in general have held steady or increased over the last half century, K-12 texts have actually declined in sophistication…” (CCSS Appendix A, p.2 )

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Reading Study Summary Text Lexile Measure (L) High School Literature College Literature High School Textbooks College Textbooks Military Personal Use Entry-Level Occupations SAT 1, ACT, AP* * Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

Reading Shift Text Complexity Grade Bands in the Standards Old Lexile Ranges Lexile Ranges Aligned To CCR Expectations K-1N/A

Reading: Text Complexity (CCSS 6-12, p. 57; Appendix A, p. 5-7) Levels of meaning Structure Language conventions and clarity Knowledge demands Readability measures Other scores of complexity Variations: motivation, knowledge, experience Variables: purpose/complexity of task; questions posed (Figure 2, Appendix A, p.6) Lexiles, Accelerated Reader, Coh-Matrix (Figure 4, Appendix A, p )

Reading: Text Complexity Rationale Elementary and secondary students are not required to read enough informational text independently even though expository text makes up the vast majority of the required reading in college and the workplace. (CCSS Appendix A, p.2)

Text Exemplars Appendix B

Nonfiction  NAEP Assessment Writing Framework 2011

Taking a Closer Look Identifying Shifts in Teaching and Learning - WRITING

Writing Shifts 15  Expect students to compose arguments and opinions, informative/explanatory pieces, and narrative texts  Focus on the use of reason and evidence to substantiate an argument or claim  Emphasize ability to conduct research – short projects and sustained inquiry  Incorporate process with writing types (Standards 1-3)

Grade Level Progression - Writing WRITING Grade 1: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. Grade 4: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. Grade 7: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. Grades 11-12: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation

Writing samples Appendix C

Taking a Closer Look Identifying Shifts in Teaching and Learning – Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening Shifts 22  Focus on collaborative discussions formal and informal academic, small-group, whole-class discussions  Emphasize effective communication practices  Require interpretation and analysis of message Oral Visual Multimodal formats

Taking a Closer Look Identifying Shifts in Teaching and Learning – Language

Language Shifts 24  Include conventions for writing and speaking  Highlight vocabulary acquisition conversation direct instruction reading  Are integrated in context of reading writing speaking listening

1 2 3 General academic words found more in text than speech Everyday speech Domain-specific 3 Tiers of Words

Taking a Closer Look Identifying Shifts in Teaching and Learning – CONTENT LITERACY

plot expression levy Vocabulary

I walked slowly to my friend’s house. I slowly walked to my friend’s house. H 2 0≠0 2 H a + b = b + a Sentence Structure

History/Social Studies - GRAPHICS Include photographs and artwork superfluous to text – may not be referenced in text Often require students to integrate new information – graphs, charts, timelines, et.al. Requires reader to determine if information is  descriptive  sequential  relational/hierarchical  causal

Science Reading - GRAPHICS  Represent alternate forms of the same information  Read recursively – from diagram to text, and back  Beg reader to transform information from one form to another* (ability to do this is evidence of full understanding)  Presents close connections among prose, graphs, charts, formulas

Media/Technology Integration

What Can Districts Do Right Now?  cuments/ccr-ccss-ela-implementation-plan-2011.pdf

Examine the text complexity of currently used materials against the text exemplars provided in Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) document.

Begin discussions concerning how to increase students’ ability to read text of increasing complexity at all levels.

Emphasize nonfiction text.

Teach “close” reading. “Close” reading means reading for the purpose of uncovering layers of meaning and allowing for deep comprehension.

Emphasize writing instruction, particularly argumentative/opinion and information/explanatory writing at all levels.

Examine the writing samples provided in Appendix C to become familiar with the expected proficiency levels at each grade level.

Intentionally teach vocabulary in context, particularly general academic and domain- specific vocabulary.

Emphasize student collaboration and peer feedback for presentations and projects.

Incorporate technology into instruction, student learning, and assessment.

Begin discussion among teachers of all content areas to determine how to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language in their respective fields.

Director of English Language Arts Missouri Department of Education Diane Audsley