Getting There From Here

Leading in the Spirit of the

Common Core

Elizabeth BassfordDirector of Literacy

Pearson

Why do we need them? Why now?

…End of the year, grade-by-grade descriptions of what students should know and be able to do (performances) in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language competency.

What are they?

What is the real goal?

Make comprehension a verb.

What is the big game-changer?

A significant instructional shift that is task-based, requiring rigorous attention to text through close reading of deliberately increasing complexity.

cc101

K–1

2–3

4–5

6–8

9–10

11-CCR

Text ComplexityGrade Band in the

CCSSOld Lexile Ranges

N/A

450–725

645–845

860–1010

960–1115

1070–1220

Lexile RangesAligned to College and

Career Readiness Expectations

N/A

450–790

770–980

955–1155

1080–1305

1215–1355

cc101

What’s the big deal?

Equity.

What We Read Influences What We Learn

When some students have access to complex text and others do not, the reading gap (that often causes teachers to assign less complex text to low-performing students) contributes to a knowledge gap.

(Stanovich, 2000; Neuman, 2006).

• read substantially fewer in-context words,

• are asked fewer critical thinking questions,

• have fewer opportunities for discussion,

• have fewer opportunities to write.

(Allington, 1983; Hiebert, 1983)

Children who struggle--

True, but--

Text difficulty resides in

◦ the linguistic characteristics of the text

◦ the characteristics of the reader

◦ the actions of the teacher.(Quantitative/Qualitative)

What’s the big deal?

Equity.

Reading complex text supports:

• Acquisition of sophisticated vocabulary, concepts, and linguisticstructures, and

• Development of critical thinking abilities,

• Vocabulary, concepts, linguistic structures,and general knowledge acquired throughreading complex text “anchors” furtherreading and learning.

Deliberate Use of Text Types

Complex texts support the acquisitionand use of sophisticated:

VocabularyConceptsLinguistic structures

Rhetorical structures General Knowledge

Read Like a Detective! Write Like a Reporter!

Ask Questions

Gather Evidence

Make Your Case

Prove It!

Achieve Balance…

Community ReadingAll Children

(Large & Small Groups)40-60 minutes

Just Right Texts and TasksAll Children

(Small Groups)3 - 15-minute groups

With the Teacher

On Your Own Reading/Writing

Learning Center

Intensive Intervention3-5 Struggling Readers

30-45 minutes

ClassroomTeacher

ClassroomTeacher

Classroom TeacherOr

Reading/SPED TeacherLearning Centers

Independent Reading

With the Teacher

1. Focus on Knowledge 2. Create Connections 3. Activate Student Passion4. Develop Vocabulary5. Increase the Volume6. Build Stamina7. Identify Benchmarks

7 Actions for Text Complexity

Freddy Hiebert’s National Awareness Campaign

The first major conduit for humanitarianism was the printing press.

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined by Steven Pinker, 2011

#14

Let the beauty you love be what you do.

There are one hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-Rumi

Love what you teach.

Elizabeth Bassford

917-859-7513

Elizabeth.bassford@Pearson.com