Panther CreekACT and the Common Core
Desired Outcomes• Understand the connection between
the College Readiness Benchmarks and the expectations of Common Core• Understand how to determine the
complexity of a text• Understand the skills students need to
move closer to meeting the benchmark standards.
What do these scores mean?
ELA and Literacy Standards• Too few students are able to
understand complex text.
• Increased focus is needed on some key aspects of language.
• Content-area reading needs strengthening
http://www.act.org/commoncore/pdf/FirstLook.pdf
At the crossroads of learning…
Distinguishing Factors • Literal vs. inferential question types
• Questions focusing on textual elements
• Degree of text complexity
Distinguishing Factors • Literal vs. inferential question types• Questions focusing on textual elements•Degree of text complexity
“critical thinking does not distinguish those who are college and career ready
from those who are not; facility with reading complex text does”
Sample Lesson
What can I do?• Find the debatable issues in your content area
• Use essential questions to drive instruction
• Choose text deliberately and strategically
• Allow students to learn the content of the Essential Standards through strategically crafted reading and writing opportunities grounded in the Common Core State Standards.
Determining the Complexity of a Text
www.readability-score.com
Article Flesch- KincaidMain Highway 13
Define Fair 9.4
Play by the Same Rules 12.1
Opening the Door 13.4
I’ve chosen the right reading, now what?• Look for vocabulary that may be difficult or
challenging
• Consider text structures that may impede students ability to comprehend the text.
• Create text-dependent questions- questions that require students to look back to the text for answers.
• Have the student activity focused on specific Common Core Standards for Reading and Writing
How is e-commerce impacting our economy?1. Read and annotate your article.2. In one sentence, define the claim in the article
you read.3. As a group, generate a list of facts, language
that creates a bias, and ‘need to knows’ from the article.
4. Use available devices to locate the answers to the ‘need to knows’ from the articles.
5. Create a list of perspectives from which the issue can be viewed
6. Determine how each fact impacts the issue as it relates to the different perspectives.
7. Take a stand and create a new claim
Reading, Writing, the ACT and PLAN• SAS Curriculum Pathways
• Use the format as a means for gathering formative assessment information
• Analyze reading selections for their complexity
• WCPSS ACT Wiki
What do your students need?Reading English Mathematics Science
22.3 20.7 22.9 21.8
• What distinguishes the levels of the Panther Creek school average from the next level?
• Match those skills to the Common Core Anchor Standards
Science on the ACT
Learning from the questions• Read each question and determine the
complexity of the question in terms of score range.
• What evidence would you use to place it in that score range?
• Think about the science knowledge students need and the scientific reasoning students need.