Panther CreekACT and the Common Core

Desired Outcomes• Understand the connection between

the College Readiness Benchmarks and the expectations of Common Core• Understand how to determine the

complexity of a text• Understand the skills students need to

move closer to meeting the benchmark standards.

What do these scores mean?

ELA and Literacy Standards• Too few students are able to

understand complex text.

• Increased focus is needed on some key aspects of language.

• Content-area reading needs strengthening

http://www.act.org/commoncore/pdf/FirstLook.pdf

At the crossroads of learning…

Distinguishing Factors • Literal vs. inferential question types

• Questions focusing on textual elements

• Degree of text complexity

Distinguishing Factors • Literal vs. inferential question types• Questions focusing on textual elements•Degree of text complexity

“critical thinking does not distinguish those who are college and career ready

from those who are not; facility with reading complex text does”

Sample Lesson

What can I do?• Find the debatable issues in your content area

• Use essential questions to drive instruction

• Choose text deliberately and strategically

• Allow students to learn the content of the Essential Standards through strategically crafted reading and writing opportunities grounded in the Common Core State Standards.

Determining the Complexity of a Text

www.readability-score.com

Article Flesch- KincaidMain Highway 13

Define Fair 9.4

Play by the Same Rules 12.1

Opening the Door 13.4

I’ve chosen the right reading, now what?• Look for vocabulary that may be difficult or

challenging

• Consider text structures that may impede students ability to comprehend the text.

• Create text-dependent questions- questions that require students to look back to the text for answers.

• Have the student activity focused on specific Common Core Standards for Reading and Writing

How is e-commerce impacting our economy?1. Read and annotate your article.2. In one sentence, define the claim in the article

you read.3. As a group, generate a list of facts, language

that creates a bias, and ‘need to knows’ from the article.

4. Use available devices to locate the answers to the ‘need to knows’ from the articles.

5. Create a list of perspectives from which the issue can be viewed

6. Determine how each fact impacts the issue as it relates to the different perspectives.

7. Take a stand and create a new claim

Reading, Writing, the ACT and PLAN• SAS Curriculum Pathways

• Use the format as a means for gathering formative assessment information

• Analyze reading selections for their complexity

• WCPSS ACT Wiki

What do your students need?Reading English Mathematics Science

22.3 20.7 22.9 21.8

• What distinguishes the levels of the Panther Creek school average from the next level?

• Match those skills to the Common Core Anchor Standards

Science on the ACT

Learning from the questions• Read each question and determine the

complexity of the question in terms of score range.

• What evidence would you use to place it in that score range?

• Think about the science knowledge students need and the scientific reasoning students need.