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Essential ELA Knowledge

Timothy ShanahanUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

I was invited to share…

Information on what ALL beginning teachers should know and be taught in preservice preparation

An explanation of the disciplinary literacy concept and its implications for preservice preparation

The problem

Those two concepts are contradictory

Focusing on the knowledge and practices that all teachers need to know is sensible for those of you who are responsible for preparing teachers

But disciplinary literacy focuses on those aspects of literacy that are specialized to particular disciplines – it has to do with those things that make the disciplines different or even unique

The result

What do teachers need to know?

EVERYTHING

Essential Professional Knowledge

Curriculum

Instruction

Assessment

Individual Differences and Development

Professional Foundations

Literacy and Language

Foundational Skills

Reading Comprehension

Writing

Oral Language

Disciplinary Literacy

Essential skills

Curriculum

Instruction

Assessment

Individual Differences

& Developme

nt

Foundational Skills

Reading Comprehension

Writing

Oral Language

Disciplinary Literacy

What should fill the slots?

Curriculum should be determined by state educational standards AND research (distinction between standards and curriculum)

Instruction should be consistent with substantial research findings

Assessment procedures should be reliable, valid, instructionally appropriate, efficient

Foundational Skills

CCSS includes print awareness, phonological awareness, decoding skills, oral reading fluency

Research studies (NRP, NELP, NLP) have revealed the value of these skills and how to teach them effectively

Substantial Research Base

National Reading Panel (2000) reviewed more than 50 studies (Grades K-1 and remedial) showing that phonemic awareness could be taught and that teaching it improves reading and spelling progress

National Early Literacy Panel (2008) reviewed more than 50 studies showing the relationship of PA to reading achievement and more than 75 studies (PreK-K) showing that phonological awareness could be taught effectively

Phonological Awareness in CCSS

Word separation

Syllabic segmentation

Phoneme identification

Phoneme isolation

Phoneme blending

Phoneme segmentation

Phoneme addition

Phoneme substitution

Phoneme deletion

Phonics/Decoding (K-2)

Reading requires translating print to language

English is an alphabetic language—the letters represent the sounds of the words

Students need to learn how to decode words (that is, to use the letters and spelling patterns to derive approximate pronunciations of the words)

Substantial Research Base

National Reading Panel reviewed 38 studies showing that explicit phonics instruction improves decoding, comprehension, and spelling in grade K-2

National Early Literacy Panel reviewed 75 studies showing that explicit phonics instruction improves decoding

Increasing benefits over 3 years of instruction (K-2) with long lasting benefits

Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences

Phoneme Word Examples Common spellings

/p/ pit, spider, stop p

/b/ bit, brat, bubble b

/m/ mitt, comb, hymn m, mb, mn

/t/ tickle mitt, sipped t, tt, ed

/d/ die, loved d, ed

/n/ nice, knight, gnat n, kn, gn

/k/ cup, kite, duck, chorus, folk, quiet

k, c, ck, ch, lk, q

/g/ girl, Pittsburgh g, gh

/ng/ sing, bank ng, n

/f/ fluff, sphere, tough, calf f, ff, ph, lf

/v/ van, dove v, ve

/s/ sit, pass, science, psychic s, ss, sc, ps

Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

Phoneme

Word Examples Common spellings

/z/ zoo, jazz, nose, as, xylophone z, zz, se, s, x

/th/ thin, breath, ether th

/th/ this, breathe, either th

/sh/ shoe, mission, sure, charade, precious, notion, mission, special

sh, ss, s, ch, sc, ti, si, ci

/zh/ measure, azure s, z

/ch/ cheap, future, etch ch, tch

/j/ judge, wage j, dge, ge

/l/ lamb, call, single l, ll, le

/r/ reach, wrap, her, fur, stir r, wr, er/ur/ir

/y/ you, use, feud, onion y (u, eu), i

/w/ witch, queen w, (q)u

/wh/ where wh

/h/ house, whole h, wh

Phoneme-Grapheme CorrespondencePhonem

eWord Examples Common spellings

/ē/ see, these me, eat, key, happy, chief, either

ee, e__e, -e, ea, ey, -y, ie, ei

/ĭ/ sit, gym i, y

/ā/ make, rain, play, great, baby, eight, vein, they

a__e, ai, ay, ea, -y, eigh, ei, ey

/ě/ bed, breath e, ea

/ă/ cat a

/ī/ time, pie, cry, right, rifle i__e, ie, -y, igh, -i

/ŏ/ fox, swap, palm o, wa, al

/ŭ/ cup, cover, flood, tough u, o, oo, ou

/aw/ saw, pause, call, water, brought aw, au, all, w, ough

/ō/ vote, boat, toe, snow, open o_e. oa, oe, ow, o-

/ŏŏ/ took, put, could oo, u, ou

/ū/ [ōō] moo, tube, blue, chew, suit, soup oo, u_e, ue, ew, ui, ou

Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

Phoneme

Word Examples Common spellings

/y/ /ū/ use, few, cute u, ew, u_e

/oi/ boil, boy oi, oy

/ow/ out, cow ou, ow

/er/ her, fur, sir er, ur, ir

/ar/ cart ar

/or/ sport or

Consonant Graphemes Consonant Grapheme type

Definition Examples

Single letters

Single consonant letter can represent a consonant phoneme

b, d, f, g, h j, k, l, m, , p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z

Doublets Uses two of the same letter to spell one consonant phoneme

ff, ll, ss, zz

Digraphs Two letter combination that stands for one phoneme none stands for alone

th, sh, ch, wh, ph, ng (sing), gh (cough) [ck]

Trigraphs Three-letter combination “ -tch -dge

Consonants in blends

2-3 graphemes with separate sounds

Scr, thr, cl, ft, lk, st (many more)

Silent letter combinations

One represents the phoneme, the other is silent

kn, wr gn, ps, rh –mb, -lk, -mn, -st

Combination qu

These letters together stand for 2 sounds

quickly

Vowel Graphemes Consonant Grapheme type

Definition Examples

Single letters

Single vowel letter can represent a vowel phoneme

cap, hit, gem, clod, muss, me, no, music

Vowel teams

2-3-4 letters stand for a vowel head, hook, boat, sigh, weigh, toil, bout

Vowel-r combinations

A vowel followed by r, works in combination with /r/ to make a unique vowel

car, sport, her, burn, first

Vowel-consonant-e (Vce)

The vowel-consonant-silent e pattern is a common spelling for a long sound

gate, eve rude, hope, five

Syllable PatternsSyllable type

Definition Examples

Closed Syllable with short vowel spelled with a single vowel letter ending in one or more consonants

dap-ple, hos-tel, bev-erage

Vowel-C-e(Magic e)

Syllable with a long vowel spelled with one vowel + one consonant + silent e

com-pete, -des-pite

Open Syllable that ends with a long vowel sound, spelled with single vowel letter

pro-gram, ta-ble, re-cent

Vowel team Syllables that use 2-4 letters to spell the vowel

beau-ti-ful, train-er, con-geal, spoil-age

Vowel-r (r-controlled)

Syllable with er, ir, or ur in-jur-ious, con-sort, char-ter

Consonant-le

Unaccented final syllable containing a consonant before /l/ followed by a silent e

drib-ble, bea-gle, lit-tle

Oral Reading Fluency

Students need to be able to read text with sufficient accuracy, speed, and prosody

Fluency growth continues through 8th grade reading level

Fluency is related to reading comprehension

Substantial Research Base

National Reading Panel identified 16 group studies and 14 single-subject design studies that showed that fluency instruction during the elementary grades or with remedial readers led to improved reading comprehension

CCSS Requirements

CCSS standards require that teachers develop students oral reading fluency in grades 1-5

The teaching of fluency should likely be expanded beyond that given that fluency continues to develop, continues to explain substantial variance in reading comprehension, and because studies show that substantial numbers of secondary students read disfluently

Reading Comprehension

The purpose of reading is to be able to comprehend text

Improvements in reading comprehension can be derived from improvements in word reading skills and fluency, but they also can be obtained from explicit instruction in comprehension (including word meanings—vocabulary)

Types of information

Organization of information (argument, etc.)

Close reading and scholastic reading

Substantial Research Base

National Reading Panel reviewed 45 studies showing the impact of teaching vocabulary on student reading comprehension

National Reading Panel identified more than 200 studies on the effectiveness of teaching reading comprehension strategies (K-12)

CCSS Vocabulary Skills

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS Core Standards

Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

CCSS Core Standards (cont)

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

CCSS Core Standards (cont)

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.8Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

CCSS Core Standards (cont)

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.10Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Writing

Students need to learn to communicate effectively through writing

Writing development impacts both writing and reading

Research Base

Carnegie reviews show how to teach writing effectively and how to take advantage of the relationship between writing and reading

Many effective approaches to teaching writing

Writing about text is more effective in stimulating learning than are reading alone, reading and discussing, and reading and rereading

CCSS Standards

Text Types and Purposes1:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS Standards (cont)

Production and Distribution of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

CCSS Standards (cont)

Research to Build and Present Knowledge:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.9Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS Standards (cont)

Range of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Oral language

Students need to know how to speak and listen effectively in many different settings (conversation, group discussion, formal presentation)

Language skills are related to literacy

CCSS Standards

Comprehension and Collaboration:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.ACome to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.BFollow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.CPose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.DReview the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.2Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.3Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.

CCSS Standards (cont.)

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.5Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

Disciplinary Literacy

Literacy skills are specialized

Disciplines differ in how they develop, communicate, and evaluate knowledge (as a result they use literacy differently)

Teachers in social studies, science, and other content areas are expected to teach the specialized uses of literacy in their subject matter

Disciplinary Reading (cont.)

Not the hip new name for content area reading

Each discipline possesses its own language, purposes, and ways of using text that students should be inducted into

There are special skills and strategies needed for students to make complete sense of texts from the disciplines

As students begin to confront these kinds of texts (especially in middle school and high school), instruction must facilitate their understanding of what it means to read disciplinary texts

Sources of Disciplinary Literacy

Studies that compare expert readers with novices (Bazerman, 1985; Geisler, 1994; Wineburg, 1991, etc.)

Functional linguistics analyses of the unique practices in creating, disseminating, evaluating knowledge (Fang, 2004; Halliday, 1998; Schleppegrell, 2004, etc.)

History Reading (Wineburg)

Sourcing: considering the author and author perspective

Contextualizing: placing the document/info within its historical period and place

Corroboration: evaluating information across sources

Disciplinary Literacy

Intermediate Literacy

Basic Literacy

Increasing Specialization of Literacy

Specialization Examples

Specialized skills and activities

Idea is to consider the learning demands of a subject matter

Example: textbook use

Science - Essential

History - Antithetical

Literature - Irrelevant

Chemistry Note-taking

Substances Properties Processes InteractionsAtomic Expression

Content area reading: Vocabulary

Focus is on memorization techniques: make connections among concepts, construct graphic organizers, brainstorm, semantic maps, word sorts, rate knowledge of words, analyze semantic features of words, categorize or map words, develop synonym webs,

Disciplinary literacy: Vocabulary

Focus is on specialized nature of vocabulary of the subjects

Science: Greek and Latin roots (precise, dense, stable meanings that are recoverable)

History: metaphorical terms, words/terms with a political point of view

Math Reading

Goal: arrive at “truth”

Importance of “close reading” an intensive consideration of every word in the text

Rereading a major strategy

Heavy emphasis on error detection

Precision of understanding essential

Chemistry Reading

Text provides knowledge that allows prediction of how the world works

Full understanding needed of experiments or processes

Close connections among prose, graphs, charts, formulas (alternative representations of constructs an essential aspect of chemistry text)

Major reading strategies include corroboration and transformation

History Reading

History is interpretative, and authors and sourcing are central in interpretation (consideration of bias and perspective)

Often seems narrative without purpose and argument without explicit claims (need to see history as argument based on partial evidence; narratives are more than facts)

Single texts are problematic (no corroboration)

Character Change Chart

What is main character like at the beginning of the story?

What is the main character like at the end of the story? How has he or she changed?

Crisis

Given this character change, what do you think the author wanted you to learn? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

History Events Chart

TEXT WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?

1

Relation:

2

Relation:

3

Relation

4

Main point:

History Reading (Fang & Schleppergrell)

History text constructs time and causation

Attributes agency (readers need to focus on the reasons for actions and the outcomes of those actions—cause/effect)

Presents judgment and interpretation (argument)

Often narratives with lack of clear connections to thesis

History Reading (Fang & Schleppergrell)

History texts construct meaning about time, place, manner through “grammatical circumstances”

Thus, in history, many clauses begin with grammatical circumstances realized in prepositional phrases and adverbs

Over the next decade events led to war.

They gathered in Philadelphia.

They made enemies by their harsh stands

History Reading (Fang & Schleppergrell)

History also constructs participants/actors and the processes that they engaged in to move towards their goals.

History Reading (Fang & Schleppergrel)

Clause

Circumstance

Actor Process Goal Circum.

1 Over the next decade,

further events

steadily led

to war

2 Some colonial leaders, such as Samuel Adams

favored independ-ence from Britain.

3 They encour-aged

conflict withBritish authorities.

4 At the same time,

George II and his ministers

made enemies of many moderate Colonists

by their harsh stands

Science Reading (Fang & Schleppergrell)

Technical, abstract, dense, tightly knit language (that contrasts with interactive, interpersonal style of other texts or ordinary language)

Nominalization (turning processes into nouns)

Suppresses agency (readers need to focus on causation not intention)

Science Reading (Fang & Schleppergrell)

Sentence density: unpacking complex nouns

Experimental verification of Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect was made 11 years later by the American physicist Robert Millikan. Every aspect of Einstein’s interpretation was confirmed, including the direct proportionality of photon energy to frequency.

Argument in the Disciplines

Thesis (position)

Claims that support the thesis

Evidence that supports the claims (primary & secondary sources)

Acknowledgement of counterclaims

Evidence that rebuts the counterclaims

Argument in the Disciplines

There are really lots of ways to present an argument (or, perhaps, there are a wider range of arguments made in the disciplines—thus a historical narrative or a research report may be arguments though they don’t follow that formal structure)

The biggest difference across disciplines has to do with what constitutes evidence (how evidence is created), how evidence is evaluated (is this good evidence?), and how evidence is communicated (quotes?, graphic information?)

Literacy in History/Social Studies

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text and the causes that link the events; distinguish whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

Compare the point of view of two or more authors by comparing how they treat the same or similar historical topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

Interpret the meaning of words and phrases in a text, including how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10 and No. 51).

Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, evidence, and reasoning.

Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a historical account. Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary

sources. Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them

with other sources of information. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent

understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Literacy in Science/ Technical Subjects

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical texts and topics.

Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text. Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking

measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.

Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts in a text, including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy).

Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts.

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.

Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks; analyze the specific results based on explanations in the text.

Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

Literacy in Literature

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

Professional Foundations

Physiological and social influences on language and literacy development

Appreciation of the implications of literacy (e.g., social, civic, economic)

Respect for students and student language Nature of research evidence (nature, quality,

reliability, effect size, limitations) Instructional organization and management Instructional materials and resources Professional collaboration Professional growth opportunities