1. Shifting the Paradigm: A Standards-Based approach to Fiction
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Shifting the Paradigm: A Standards-Based approach to Fiction
Grades 6-8 Leadership

2. Grades 6-8 Leadership Today’s Sessions
Session 1: Writing Text-Dependent Questions
Session 2: Shifting the Paradigm: Teaching Nonfiction in the Common Core
Session 3: Shifting the Paradigm: A Standards-based Approach to Fiction
Session 4: ACT, SAT, PARCC and CCSS for Leaders

3. Grades 6-8 Leadership Standards Institute Approach
Conceptual
Practical
Foundations
Shifts & Tools
Texts & Fiction
Canon & Contemporary Application: Shifts 1&2
Modules and Units
Deconstructing Lessons: Shift 3
Inquiry
Research and Writing
Equity
Strategies & Assessment
Support
Access
Rigor
Relevance
July 13 - July 17
Today we are going to deep dive into a module, but before we do we have to get very clear around the glue that cements the text, instruction, and the standards together- which is how we ask questions, and what we ask in them (or something)

4. Grades 6-8 Leadership Purpose of this Session
Participants will be able to:
Identify common language and describe its function within the curriculum
Distinguish between traditional approaches to canonical texts and a CCSS treatment of those texts
Use ELA curriculum materials to approach canonical and contemporary texts differently
1 minute

5. Grades 6-8 Leadership Session Overview
Examine the curriculum module’s approach to teaching classic and contemporary texts by:
Discussing the common language of the Core
Experiencing lessons from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 8
Reading and experiencing excerpts from The Long Walk to Water and an article “Loss of Culturally Vital Cattle Leaves Dinka Tribe in Refugee Camps”
Observe for the Standards and Shifts that occur with this approach
1 min

6. Grades 6-8 Leadership Elevating discourse through a common language
Leads to a more academic classroom discussion through a common vocabulary
Allows for academic conversation both within the classroom and among classrooms
Levels the playing field
1 min

7. Grades 6-8 Leadership Unifying learning through common standards
Allows standards to be used as a common focus for texts, lessons, and units
Leads to classwork and instruction that is oriented to a focus on standards
Levels the playing field by raising expectations for learning
1 min

8. Read the 7th grade Curriculum Map, focusing on the following:
Grades 6-8 Leadership How the Curriculum Modules Approach Classic & Contemporary Texts
Read the 7th grade Curriculum Map, focusing on the following:
Introduction
Description
Texts
Standards that are Formally Assessed
In your table groups, discuss the following:
How does the module approach differ from traditional approaches to teaching classic and contemporary texts?
10 min
Let’s take a look at two of the texts in the first Module for 7th grade.

9. Silently read the Chapter 1 excerpt and the Washington Post article
Grades 6-8 Leadership
A Long Walk to Water by Karen Russell & “Loss of Culturally Vital Cattle Leaves Dinka Tribe Adrift in Refugee Camps” by Stephen Buckley.
Silently read the Chapter 1 excerpt and the Washington Post article
What features make these texts complex?
To what grade would you feel comfortable giving this text?
How can we center our approach to a complex text on the learning standards?
15 min to read and reflect on the questions
Let’s observe a teacher working with students and this story.

10. https://vimeo.com/channels/corepractices/99825098
Grades 6-8 Leadership
23 min:
2 minutes to set up the observation: this is a video of lesson in which the teacher describes her lesson design and decision-making process. As you observe this video, capture evidence about the match between what she describes and what she does. After this view, we will look at the lesson plan and what the students are supposed to demonstrate. You will use your video notes with that activity also.
11 minutes to view the video
10 minutes to discuss evidence.

11. Grades 6-8 Leadership Approaches to Reading
...how do you do this?... with a masterful and close read! - 2 min

12. Grades 6-8 Leadership Approaches to Reading
Masterful Reading
Building fluency and confidence through modeling
Accessing the text with confidence
Understanding the text at a basic level
Close Reading
Collaborative reading
Examining the ideas, structures, and layers of meaning, creating a common and solid understanding
3 min
Need notes here

13. Grades 6-8 Leadership Assessed Standards
The assessed standards:
Provide cohesion between the units within a module
Are continuously assessed for mastery throughout by students and teachers
Are continuously revisited and applied in a variety of ways
3 min
We want to call your attention to a feature of the modules. There are “assessed standards” that connect the units and keep you “focused” on what will be assessed.

14. Grades 6-8 Leadership Standards-Based Assessments
From page 2 of the Module Overview
Mid-Unit 1 Assessment
Identifying Perspective and Using Evidence from A Long Walk to Water
RL.7.1 and RL.7.6.
End of Unit 1 Assessment
Identifying Perspective and Using Evidence from Informational Texts about the Dinka and Nuer Tribes
RI.7.1, W.7.4, and W.7.9.
4 min for directions and for them to pull up the app:
You can see how the End assessment builds on the mid-unit assessment.
You will now have a chance to experience an assessment for RL 7.1 and RL 7.6
First, pull up the these standards on your app. Take a moment to think about what you would want to see demonstrated in an assessment task.
Now turn to page 8 in your packet and complete the assessment for Chapter 5 on pages You may use the excerpt from the book. FYI: this is the same Graphic Organizer Format students have been using since Chapter 2; the last column will not be used until they begin to write in the second half of this Module, so leave that blank.

15. Grades 6-8 Leadership Mid-Unit 1 Assessment
Identifying Perspective and Using Evidence from A Long Walk to Water.
What information does this assessment give you about these Standards?
7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
7.6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text
Grades 6-8 Leadership Mid-Unit 1 Assessment
15 min to complete and discuss at tables

16. Grades 6-8 Leadership Standards-Aligned Class Activities
Argument Essay: Taking a Stand
This assessment centers on standards RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3, W.8.1, W.8.4, W.8.9a, L.8.2a, and L.8.2b.
Students will cite the strongest evidence from the novel as they write an argument essay in which they answer the following prompt: “Atticus says, ‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’ (Chapter 9, page 76). Now that you have read the whole text, what do you think? Based on his character, does it make sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson? Give evidence from the text to support your thinking, and be sure to take into account what people who disagree might say.”
Students will have to weigh the evidence based on Atticus’s role as both a parent and community member. In order to meet the rigors of the eighth-grade demands for argumentative writing, students will be required to argue their claim and acknowledge and distinguish their claim from alternate or argument claims..
8 min
We’re now going to look at the attention paid to this same approach to teaching a classic work of fiction, To Kill a Mockingbird. The final written assignment will assess 8 different Standards. We are about to watch a video.
Divide the group into 3 for Standards-viewing: An RL group, a W group and a L group. Pull up the assigned standards on your phone and make note of what the students are asked to demonstrate. Jot down key points of evidence that you will look-for.
Let’s watch a video of that shows the series of lessons leading up to well-developed, evidence-based claims in an argument. As you watch, please stay alerts and view for the shifts, for the missed opportunities by the teacher, for the kids who are NOT obviously learning at the level we need them to.

17. Grades 6-8 Leadership Standards-Aligned Class Activities
Argument Essay: Taking a Stand
“Based on his character, does it make sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson? Give evidence from the text to support your thinking, and be sure to take into account what people who disagree might say.”
20 min
15 min table discussions
3 minute each group to report out what they saw – make sure their statements are evidence-based.

18. Grades 6-8 Leadership Quality Classroom Discussions
Factors that affect the quality of discussions:
The text
Student and teacher preparation
The prompt(s)
Discussion protocol
The level of conversation
2 min
One last point about what we should look-for when observing classroom discussions. 18

19. Grades 6-8 Leadership Reflect and Write
What is the gap between where you need to be and where you are? What do you need to lead and support this work?
Systems and structures
People
Resources
Who needs to learn what by when?
You
Leadership team
Staff
4-5 minutes