Introduction to the ELA/Literacy Shifts of the

Common Core State Standards

The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in ELA/Literacy

1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

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Structure of the Standards• Four Strands: Reading, Writing,

Speaking and Listening, Language

• There are Reading and Writing Strands for History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects

• Text complexity standards are listed by grade “bands”: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12, CCR – College and Career Ready)

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Strand

Anchor Standard

Grade-Specific

Standard

RL – Reading Literature

RI – Reading Informational TextRST – Reading in Science, Math and Technical SubjectsRF – Reading Foundations (K-5)RH – Reading in History / Social Studies

L- LanguageSL- Speaking and Language

W – WritingWH – Writing in History / Social Studies (6-12)WST – Writing in Science, Math and Technical Subjects (6-12)

Content Shift #1Content-Rich Nonfiction

• 50/50 balance (Information/Literary) K-5

• 55/45 in grades 6-8 and 70/30 in grades 9-12

• Students learning to read should exercise their ability to comprehend complex text through read-aloud texts.

• In grades 2+, students begin reading more complex texts, consolidating the foundational skills with reading comprehension.

• Reading aloud texts that are well-above grade level should be done throughout K-5 and beyond.

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Building Knowledge Through Content-Rich Nonfiction: Why?

• Students are required to read very little informational text in elementary and middle school.

• Non-fiction makes up the vast majority of required reading in college/workplace.

• Informational text is harder for students to comprehend than narrative text.

• Supports students learning how to read different types of informational text.

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• Much of what students read in English classes will be literature, but English teachers should also expose their students to high quality literary non-fiction: speeches, essays and literary criticism for example.

• In content classes, teachers engage students in reading of the texts that are the sources of knowledge and communication in their fields, i.e.: the textbook, trade journal articles, experimental results, and primary source documents.

• It is important that students see that text as a source of knowledge – that you always read about something. As they read a series of texts on a particular topic, they are building their knowledge and understanding of that area. The better they get at reading, the more able they are to learn independently and efficiently through text.

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Shift #2: Reading, Writing, and Speaking Grounded in Evidence From Text, Both Literary and Informational

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Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text: Why?

• Most college and workplace writing requires evidence.

• Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak student performance on NAEP

• Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards: Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and Listening standards 2, 3, and 4, all focus on the gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from text.

• Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks of strong readers and writers

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Content Shift #2

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In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.

In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote?

What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?

What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Text-Dependent Questions

Grade To Persuade

To Explain To Convey Experience

4 30% 35% 35%

8 35% 35% 30%

12 4o% 40% 20%

Distribution of Communicative Purposes by Grade in the 2011 NAEP

Writing Framework

NAEP outlines a distribution across the grades of the core purposes and types of student writing. -Taken from CCSS ELA Introduction; Key Design Consideration

Shift #3:Regular Practice with Complex Text and Its Academic Language

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Regular Practice With Complex Text and its Academic Language: Why?

• Gap between complexity of college and high school texts is huge.

• What students can read, in terms of complexity is the greatest predictor of success in college (ACT study).

• Too many students are reading at too low a level.(<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts).

• Standards include a staircase of increasing text complexity from elementary through high school.

• Standards also focus on building general academic vocabulary so critical to comprehension.

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Scaffolding Complex TextThe standards require that students read appropriately

complex text at each grade level – independently (Standard 10).

However there are many ways to scaffold student learning as they meet the standard:

• Multiple readings

• Read Aloud

• Chunking text (a little at a time)

Provide support while reading, rather than before.

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Supports that do not promote improved reading incomes and do not have research support behind them:

•Previewing the topic of the reading in a text-free way (just “teacher talk”). A careful examination of the text is solid practice. But telling students what they will be reading before they read will remove any motivation for discovering it for themselves and it will teach students that learning from reading is not a central activity in that classroom.

•Providing simple text to weak readers and complex texts to strong readers. Differentiation by text type, as opposed to providing a variety of supports for the same complex text, leads to the “Matthew Effect” – “to those who have, more will be given. To those who have little, even that little will be taken away,” a well-researched finding. This is particularly true because of the differences in vocabulary that students will see from simpler to more complex text. Words create much of the differences in texts.

The goal is growing independence with increasingly complex text. The strategies implemented should all aim at getting students stronger and more skilled – like exercises and scrimmages in a sports practice.

• In order to develop the ability to read complex texts and engage in academic conversations, ELs and SPED population need access to such texts and conversations, along with support in engaging with them.

• The standards clearly articulate what students should know and do in order to be college and career ready. The standards are the same for all student populations.

• What we know is that students must have access to texts, tasks, and conversation that lead to college and career readiness.

www.achievethecore.org

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http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-LiteracyStudents who are College and Career Ready….They demonstrate independenceThey build strong content knowledgeThey respond to the varying demands of

audience, task, purpose, and disciplineThey comprehend as well as critiqueThey value evidenceThey use technology and digital media

strategically and capablyThey come to understand other perspectives and

cultures