ELA Coordinators Meeting: Close Reading and Text Complexity Tamra Gacek October, 2012 Literacy and...

ELA Coordinators Meeting: Close Reading and Text

Complexity

Tamra Gacek

October, 2012

Literacy and Early Learning Unit

Office of Teacher Effectiveness

1

Close Reading

Office of Teacher Effectiveness Literacy and Early Learning Unit

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SCDE 2012-2013 Literacy Leaders 3

Common Core State Standards: Reading

Key Ideas and Details (Standards #1-3)

Reading for understanding.

• Craft and Structure (Standards #4-6)

Reading like a writer.

• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Standards #7-9)

Reading across texts and formats with critical literacy.

• Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity (Standard #10)

Read a lot with increasing facility.

Levels of Engaged Reading

0 5 10 no reading completing a task /compliance real

reading

(meaningful, whole,

continuous text)

SCDE Literacy Leaders 2011-2012

“Whoever’s doing the reading, writing, and talking is doing the thinking and learning.”

Cris Tovani, middle school teacher and writer

Fake Reading/Real Reading


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75% 25%•Independent Practice•Shared Reading•Engaged Reading and Writing in Literacy Centers or Work Stations•Reading or Writing for Research • Referring to text to support a point or make an argument•Reading or re-reading student created text•Reading for Literature Circles•1:1 Conferencing (with text)•Small Group Instruction (with text)

•Read Aloud•Mini-Lessons (without text)•Class Discussion (without text)•Sharing (without text)



Common Core State Standards (meaning)

• close reading

• critical literacy

• high level comprehension

• the use of textual evidence to support thought


Common Core State Standards (instruction)

• emphasis on building student independence

• instruction that is connected to text

• focus on comprehension of text and acquisition of knowledge

Teaching for Independence

Content Area

?

Independent Reading of Content Material

?

?


Staying Grounded in the Text: Informational


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Connecting to CCSS

• Find your 3-5 grade Reading Standards for Informational Text

• Read through the 10 grade level standards. Which ones did you get to experience in this particular engagement?

• How might you re-interpret or extend this lesson using this piece to address another standard?


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Student Actions Teacher Support


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Integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and research

“Often, several standards can be addressed by a single rich task.”

CCSS p.5


Text Complexity

Choosing Just Right Text

“Fitting people with books is about as difficult as fitting them with shoes.”

Sylvia Beach, bookseller and publisher


…the standards do not claim that one system of measurement is sufficient in and of itself. Meanwhile they do stress that teachers need to do everything possible to move students toward increasingly complex texts.

pp.34-35


Text complexity – the inherent difficulty of reading and comprehending a text combined with consideration of reader and task variables

Text complexity band – a range of text difficulty corresponding to grade spans within the Standards

CCSS Glossary


Text Complexity- Informational


Text Complexity Measures

Before CCSS:

• Quantitative

With CCSS:

• Quantitative• Qualitative• Reader and Task

Considerations

Quantitative Measures

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Measures such as:• Word length• Word frequency• Word difficulty• Sentence length• Text length• Text cohesion

- capable of being measured or expressed in numerical terms

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Step 2: Qualitative Measures

Measures such as:• Levels of meaning• Levels of purpose• Structure• Organization• Language conventionality• Language clarity• Prior knowledge demands

-relating to or based on the quality or character of something, often as opposed to its size or quantity

Step 3: Reader and Task Considerations

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Considerations such as:• Motivation• Knowledge and experience• Purpose for reading• Complexity of task assigned

regarding text• Complexity of questions asked

regarding text

Step 1: Quantitative Measures

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Step 1: Quantitative Measures

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Lexile Text Measure:

ATOS Book Level:

870L

5.6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mockingbirdfirst.JPG


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How would To Kill a Mockingbird fair when analyzed through the lens of the Literary Text Rubric?



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Reader and task considerations are best made by teachers employing their professional judgment, experience, and knowledge

of their students and the subject.

CCSS, Appendix A

Step 3: Reader and Task Considerations

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The questions included here are largely open-ended questions without single, correct answers, but help educators to think through the implications of using a particular text in the classroom.


Reader and Task Considerations (simplified)

• How difficult is this text for this particular student to read and understand?

• Is the content of this text appropriate for the reader?

• Does the reader demonstrate the necessary strategies and skills to interpret this text and at least a minimum level of comprehension?

• Will the reader receive support through the reading of this text, if needed?


Reader and Task Considerations (simplified)

• What will the student be asked to do after or during the reading of this text?

• What is the student’s purpose for reading this text?

• How motivated is the student to read this text? If it is challenging, is he or she willing to take extra time to read slowly, re-read difficult parts, or seek help when needed?


Reader and Task Considerations (even more simplified)

Purpose enjoyment information assignment

Motivation low medium high

Support low medium high

Step 4: Recommended Placement

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After reflecting upon all three legs of the text complexity model we can make a final recommendation of placement within a text and begin to document our thinking for future reference.


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Based upon all the information—all three legs of the model—the final recommendation for To Kill a Mockingbird is…



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In this instance, Appendix Bconfirms our evaluation of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is placed within the grade 9-10 text complexity band.

Considerations for Matching Students with Books

(emergent/early readers)

• familiarity of book• number of words on a page• picture support• vocabulary (percentage of known words)• format• genre’ (chapter book, literary fiction,

informational text, etc.)• student’s interest in topic• experience of reader

Contact Information

[email protected]


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ELA Coordinators Meeting: Close Reading and Text Complexity Tamra Gacek October, 2012 Literacy and...

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