Welcome to the Educator Enhancement Academy English Language Arts and Literacy Grades 6-8 We are glad you are here! Day 2

Discussion of Day 2 Parking Lot Questions

>Smarter Balanced Assessments

ELA Claims Claim #1 – Reading “Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.” Claim #2 – Writing “Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.” Claim #3 – Speaking and Listening “Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences.” Claim #4 – Research/Inquiry “Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.”

ELA Claims Overall Claim for Grades 3–8 “Students can demonstrate progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.” Overall Claim for Grade 11 “Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.”

Taking a Look at Sample Items rg/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm rg/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm

WESTEST vs. Smarter Balanced Let’s look at some differences that we should expect in the future. How can techSteps skills help with the Smarter Balanced test.

Common Core in Use The Old Man and the Sea Analogy/Allusions Video

After Researching Sample Task Task: After researching ______________(informational texts) on _____________ (content), write ___________(essay or substitute) that argues your position on _____________(content). Be sure to acknowledge competing views. Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position. (Argumentation/Analysis)

After Researching Sample Task Task: After researching informational and biographical texts on the legacy of Henry Ford and the Wright brothers, write an essay that argues your position on which of these inventors had the most impact on modern American society. Be sure to acknowledge competing views. Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position. Additional templates can be found at

Creating Text-Dependent Questions 13 Step One:Identify the core understandings and key ideas of the text. Step Two:Start small to build confidence. Step Three:Target vocabulary and text structure. Step Four:Tackle tough sections head-on. Step Five:Create coherent sequences of text-dependent questions. Step Six:Identify the standards that are being addressed. Step Seven:Create the culminating assessment.

Three Types of Text-Dependent Questions When you're writing or reviewing a set of questions, consider the following three categories: Questions that assess themes and central ideas Questions that assess knowledge of vocabulary Questions that assess syntax and structure 14

Structure and Text-Dependent Questions Text-dependent questions can be crafted to point students’ attention to features of text that enhance understanding (such as how section headers and captions lead to greater clarity or provide hints regarding what is most important in informational text, or how illustrations add to a narrative). 15

Structure and Text Dependent Questions Examples: “Look at the illustrations on page 31. Why did the illustrator include details like the power outlets in the walls?” “Dillard is careful to place opposing descriptions of the natural and man-made side-by-side. How does this juxtaposition fit with or challenge what we have already read? Why might she have chosen this point in the text for these descriptions?” 16

Reading Strategies and Text- Dependent Questions Text-dependent questions generally call on students to employ reading strategies. Strategies are no longer taught in isolation. The text and readers’ need to comprehend it should determine what strategies are activated - not the other way around. 17

Syntax and Text Dependent Questions Syntax can predict student performance as much as vocabulary does. Questions and tasks addressing syntax are powerful. Example: Who are the members of the wolf pack? How many wolves are in the pack? To answer this, pay close attention to the use of commas and semi-colons in the last paragraph on pg The semi-colons separate or list each member in the pack. 18

They were a couple in their late thirties, and they looked unmistakably married. They sat on the banquette opposite us in a little narrow restaurant, having dinner. The man had a round, self- satisfied face, with glasses on it; the woman was fadingly pretty, in a big hat. There was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an Occasion—in fact, the husband’s birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him. It arrived, in the form of a small but glossy birthday cake, with one pink candle burning in the center. The headwaiter brought it in and placed it before the husband, and meanwhile the violin-and-piano orchestra played “Happy Birthday to You,” and the wife beamed with shy pride over her little surprise, and such few people as there were in the restaurant tried to help out with a pattering of applause. It became clear at once that help was needed, because the husband was not pleased. Instead, he was hotly embarrassed, and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him. You looked at him and you saw this and you thought, “Oh, now, don’t be like that!” But he was like that, and as soon as the little cake had been deposited on the table, and the orchestra had finished the birthday piece, and the general attention had shifted from the man and the woman, I saw him say something to her under his breath—some punishing thing, quick and curt and unkind. I couldn’t bear to look at the woman then, so I stared at my plate and waited for quite a long time. Not long enough, though. She was still crying when I finally glanced over there again. Crying quietly and heartbrokenly and hopelessly, all to herself, under the gay big brim of her best hat. The Surprise Party by Katharine Brush

Lunch

Questions?

Strategies to Use Book Pass Read Aloud/SSR – Readicide Kelly Gallagher WVDE Unit Plans

Split into Grade Levels Look at individual novel or short story brought – Research 3 nonfiction tie-in texts – 3 Text Dependent Questions (slide 14) – Sample Performance Task – Speaking/Listening Activity Best Practice Handout School county time