ELA Common Core

Text Complexity & Close Reading

• “The clear, alarming picture that emerges from the evidence, is that while the reading demands of college, workforce training programs, and citizenship have held steady or risen over the past fifty years or so, K–12 texts have, if anything, become less demanding” (CCSS, Appendix A, pg. 2).

Why Text Complexity Matters

Where does text complexity appear in the Common Core?

• College and Career Anchor Standard for Reading

• R.10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

How is text complexity measured?

Expectations for Text Complexity in the CCSS

• One of the key requirements of the CCSS for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school.

• By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found in college and careers. (CCSS, Appendix A, pg. 2)

Weight Distributions for Assessments!

Domain Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Reading for Literature 32-37% 30-34% 36-40%Reading for Information 41-45% 45-49% 29-33%Reading Foundational Skills

NA NA NA

Writing NA NA NASpeaking & Listening NA NA NALanguage 20-24% 19-21% 29-31%

So What Does All Of This Mean For Us and Our Students???

Literature Informational Text

Stories Dramas Poetry

Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and

Technical Texts

Includes children’s adventure

stories, folktales, legends,

fables, fantasy, realistic fiction,

and myth

Includes

staged dialogu

e & brief

familiar scenes

Includes nursery rhymes and the

subgenres of the

narrative poem,

limerick, and free

verse poem

Includes biographies and autobiographies; books

about history, social studies, science, and the

arts; technical texts, including directions,

forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps; and

digital sources on a range of topics

Scaffolding With Informational Text

Scaffolding Does Mean… Scaffolding Does Not Mean….

•Students encounter complex text with minimal clarification.•Build prior knowledge & Use Strategies•Guides reader with follow up support•Encourages Re-reading!

•Reducing complexity of text or replacing the text•Telling students what they are going to learn

Non-Fiction/Informational Text

Walk

Main TopicSequence of InformationBig Idea(s)

Key Academic Vocabulary

ConclusionsAuthor’s Purpose

Connections

Main Topic or Idea

Sequence of Information

Big Ideas

Key Academic Vocabulary

•Tier One Words: Words that are included in our everyday speech

•Tier Two Words: Words that are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech.

•Tier Three Words: Words that are specific to a domain or field of study and are key to understanding a new concept within a text.

Conclusions

Author’s Purpose Persuade

InfluenceConvinceEncourage

Entertain

InterestAmuse

Inform

TeachTellLet KnowReport OnAdviseExplain

Connections

The Bar Has Been Raised!!!

Grade Levels

Old Levels New Levels

2-3 450-725 450-7904-5 645-845 770-9806-8 860-1010 955-1155

9-10 960-1115 1080-130511-CCR 1070-1220 1215-1355

Voracious Readers

Real Readers

Fake Readers

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5.

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“Deep reading," or slow reading, is a sophisticated process in which people can critically think, reflect and understand the words they are looking at. With most, that means slowing down — even stopping and rereading a page or paragraph if it doesn't sink in — to really capture what the author is trying to say. Experts warn that without reading and really understanding what's being said, it is impossible to be an educated citizen of the world, a knowledgeable voter or even an imaginative thinker.

-Laura Casey

Where does close reading appear in the Common Core?

• College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading

• R.1: Read 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.

Teachers can enhance students’ pleasure and success in reading by showing them how to slow down and savor what they read.”

-T. Newkirk

What is Close Reading?

• Students read with a pencil…leave thinking tracks!

• Look for patterns, repetitions, and similarities

• Asking questions!!!

Activity:How to eat an elephant?

One bite at a time!

Text Evidence