{Reading & Writing

Two things even the Common Core can’t mess up.

{ {Common Phrases

college readiness seminal works;

complex texts profound insight into

the human condition premium on evidence

from the text

Focused More On

comparative reading content-rich non-fiction critical writing;

argumentative and informational (as much as 35% should be argumentative)

close reading text-dependent questions culture studies math: procedural skills,

fluency, and application academic vocabularyCommon Core

Emphasis

Think of the best companies or people in a field.

What makes them great?

Question

{ It’s a simple answer…

What makes Apple great?

What makes Google great?

{

Each company focuses on simplicity.

They each do 1 thing exceedingly well –if not great.

So? What makes 1 college-ready?

{

Simple.The ability to read and write well.

Ok…ok…maybe it takes a little more than just those two things, but if you have those skills you’re well on your way to college success.

“Consistently, one of the largest differences between failing and successful students was that only the latter could express their thoughts on the page.”

from The Atlantic, “The Writing Revolution”

Some self-serving quotes to make the point.

{

“If we could institute only one change to make students more college ready, it should be to increase the amount and quality of writing students are expected to produce.”

from College Knowledge by David Conley, an in-depth study of the skills and content needed to succeed in college.

And another...

What about reading?We’ll use some mathematical-statistical thingies for this one…

The numbers tell the tale.

amount of outside reading by minutes and per day

word gain per year achievement percentile

40+ minutes per day

<13 minutes per day

<2 minutes per day

2.3 million a year

600,000 a year

51,000 a year

90th percentile

50th percentile

10th percentile

Seems like a strong reason to drop everything and just have kids read.

Keep it simple.

Where to begin?

Increase in-class reading and writing.Bear in mind that the goal is to foster college

readiness, include seminal works, and provide insights into the profound human condition.

Adopt a few strategies TEAM-wide.Keep in mind that students need multiple

opportunities to practice the strategies you bring to them; and that using them cross-TEAM will make the process far more likely to succeed.

All ridiculously easy things to do, of course. ;)

Now, are you thinking any (or all) of the following?

• I don’t know enough about reading strategies to teach it with science, mathematics, or social studies.

• If I spend my time teaching reading and writing strategies, I’ll won’t cover even half of the curriculum.

• I’m only allotted forty minutes a day to cover everything. I have to lecture and write notes on the board.• I’m going to need more room help than I have to get to the neediest kids.

…I’m going to run off like a scared jack-rabbit and let someone else’s fine efforts show how strategic reading can be done while still covering content.

Remember: Our charges under the Common Core are many, but chief among them is that students will…

…wrangle with complex texts…

…become critical readers and thinkers.

…use text evidence to support arguments…

Now, rather than upset anyone any further…

{ {Language Arts Lesson

Science Lesson

What do Common Core reading lessons look like?

(NOTE: These reading lessons are easily employed in any of the content areas. The common denominator (math term) they share is that the acquisition of knowledge comes from shared exploration of the text.

What does a Common Core math lesson look like?

click image for video

Another, more comprehensive, math lesson.

click image for video

Which Strategies are the best ones?They’re all good in one way or another, but research has shown that one need only consistently employ a few to be effective with students.

Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Elevate Student Learning

by Mike Schmoker

OK then, which strategies are the few best ones?

Pre-Reading Activities

• Without adequate time devoted to pre-reading activities, we’re bound to set up a portion of students for failure.

• Pre-reading is important because it helps gauge what your students know, or don’t know, it helps them access their prior understandings, and it can provide the hook for wanting to learn what you have to share with them.

• We’re also, coincidentally, setting up ourselves for failure.

The few best are those that properly prepare and engage students in comprehending texts.

Many of the best reading strategies just happen to come prior to what we all typically consider actual reading.

• Pre-reading activities are often the main determinant of overall comprehension.

Prior-Reading Strategies

With a partner, read and discuss the following:

There’s a bear in a plain brown bag wrapper doing flip-flops on 12, taking pictures, and passing out green stamps.

Another.The Batsmen were merciless against the Bowlers. The Bowlers placed their men in slips and covers. But to no avail. The Batsmen hit one four after another along with and occasional six. Not once did their balls hit the stumps or get caught.

And one more.With hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. “Your eyes deceived,” he had said. “An egg not a table correctly typifies this unexplored planet.” Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. Forging along sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last from somewhere, welcomed winged creatures appeared signifying momentous success.

Time to feel clueless.

Key word:

CB radios

Key word:

cricket

Key word:

Columbus

What do Common Core pre-reading activities look like?

Brainstorming Works best under a time factor.

Posed Questions Posing a question –especially one with an arguable answer- activates thinking because it puts the onus to act on the audience.

Defining Key

Concepts

Best if limited to a very few, or even one, unifying idea. E.g. A virus is unique, having characteristics suggesting that it’s both a living thing and non living thing.

Placemat Activity

Using butcher paper, each student brainstorms on her/his part of the “placemat”. After a few moments everyone at a table shares, and the most common ideas are put in the middle.

Anticipation Guide

I’ve no clue. Well, maybe half a clue.

Keeping in mind some of the focuses of CC (student sharing, student centered, critical thinking and writing), we can rely on old approaches IF we adapt them slightly. For examples…

Prepares students to identify the major themes and concepts of a written work through a series of statements that address the concepts. Students may be asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements in order to get them to think about concepts in the reading to follow.

Pre-reading Strategy for activating prior knowledge Anticipation Guides (mathematics)

Anticipation Guide: Percents

Directions: Before reading pages 318-319 in your mathematics book, read each statement and write if you agree or disagree with each statement.

Before Reading After Reading

Agree Disagree Decimals are whole numbers. Agree Disagree Agree Disagree You can always recognize a decimal Agree Disagree number because it always has a decimal point.

Agree Disagree Decimals are not related to fractions. Agree Disagree

Pre-reading Strategy for activating prior knowledge Anticipation Guides (social studies)

Anticipation Guide: Social Studies

Directions: Before reading: In the column labeled “Me,” place a check next to any statement with which you agree.

After reading: Compare your opinions on those statements with information contained in the text. Put a plus sign under the “Text” column if you originally had a check in the “Me” column. If you had no check to begin then, leave the “Text” column blank.

Me Text______ ______ 1. Before the building of the canal, ships traveled South to get from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

______ ______ 2. The fastest way from the Caribbean to the Pacific was by plane.

______ ______ 3. The building of the canal continued the US policy of isolation.

______ ______ 4. The geographic conditions helped make the building of canal easier.

______ ______ 5. A canal through Panama would benefit the US politically and economically.

______ ______ 6. Latin America welcomed US control of the Panama Canal.

______ ______ 7. The control of Latin America by the US required the US to send troops to protect its interests.

STORY IMPRESSIONS for Science

Key events and terms Write in this space what passage you are about to read might say. Use the chain of words on the left to form your paragraphs.

Gregory Mendel

1843: age 21, Monastery of St. Thomas

studied agriculture

interested in heredity

studied pea plants

self-fertilizing & had observable characteristics

7 years

100s of generations & 1,000s of mixes

4 principles discovered

1865: presents to National Science Society

1866: writes results formally

20 years later: collecting dust

1886: head of monastery

no more experiments

Pre-Reading Strategy involving writing Story Impressions

Key words, dates, events, terms, from a soon-to-be read passage, are provide prior to reading.

Students then use the flow of information to write an impression of what the coming reading will be about.

Pre-Reading Strategy involving writing Modified Story Impressions

This can easily be adapted for students to include signal and/or transitional words to assist with the writing.

In 1843, at the age of _____, Gregory Mendel joined the Monastery of St. Thomas. There he studied agriculture, but he was mostly interested in _______________________. He worked with ______________ because they were

.....and so on....

Gregory Mendel

1843: age 21, Monastery of St. Thomas

He studied agriculture

But , he was mostly

interested in heredity

He worked with pea plants

because they were

self-fertilizing & had observable characteristics

after

7 years

Or…A writing frame can be embedded in the writing impressions area.

Imagine the air moving through the room. As the air slowly circulates, notice that on these air currents are carried thousands of microscopic, round, bead-like spores.

They are so small you have to look very closely to spot them. These spores are looking for an opportunity to grow. They are like tiny seeds, searching for a food source that will enable them to grow and live. If they locate a food source with enough moisture, they can grow.

As you watch them drift by, you notice a loaf of bread on the counter. The plastic bread bag has been left opened.

The spores get closer and closer and some of them begin to land on a slice of bread.

Watch carefully as tiny little strings of cells begin to grow from a spore. More and more cells grow out, farther and farther from the spore.

Soon there are so many of them that you see a tangled mass of little strings; these are growing denser and denser as they feed off of the bread. You see some of them with little hooks attach to the bread fibers. They continue to wind outward and further outward.

Now you can see a velvety fuzz appearing on the surface of the bread. What colors are you seeing? What have you witnessed?

Pre-Reading Strategy for activating prior knowledge

Guided Imagery (science)

Deeper Not Wider

Common Core expects that less subject matter be covered, rather than more.Covering less subject matter allows

students to delve deeper with their understanding, which is a key driver behind the Common Core. How is this accomplished?

One way the Common Core sees this as being met is by examining

multiple resources on a topic.

Language Arts unit of study sample: Short Story

Glastonbury Public SchoolsGrade 6 Reading

Draft Unit: Short Story

Overview: In this unit, students will recall what it means to be an active reader and will strategically apply their comprehension strategies. Through reading short stories, students will explore literary elements such as setting, conflict, plot, and theme. Students will understand that short stories are a part of our pattern of communication. They will develop an awareness of the structure of the short story and the elements that comprise this genre. Students will realize that short stories convey information in an effective, concise manner.

Common Core StandardsKey Ideas and DetailsCCSS.6.RL.1- Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.CCSS.6.RL.2- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.CCSS.6.RL.3- Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. Craft and StructureCCSS.6.RL.4- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.CCSS.6.RL.5- Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot. Vocabulary Acquisition and UseCCSS.6.L.4- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Essential Questions: How do literary elements such as setting, conflict, plot, and theme contribute to my understanding of the short story? What comprehension strategies can I use to better understand text? What elements in this story combine that made this an effectiveExample of this genre?

Enduring Understandings: When readers know and understand story structure, they are better able to use their comprehension strategies strategically in order to comprehend text on a deeper level. Although short stories share common elements with novels, the concise nature of the genre can impact readers differently.

Concepts (What students need to know):Literary Elements:CharacterAntagonistProtagonistPlotClimaxConflictExpositionRising ActionFalling ActionResolutionStory Theme Central lesson Message Moral 

Skills (What students need to be able to do):Reading Strategies:Noticing/WonderingVisualizingInferring Quote accurately from textAsk and answer questionsGather text evidenceSummarize theme, main points and supporting evidence Speak clearlyDecode multisyllabic wordsUse context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary

Language Arts unit of study sample: Short Story (continued)

Language Arts unit of study sample: Short Story

Related Reading Strategies/Weekly Focus

Learning Outcomes/Related Mini Lessons Resources

Week 1:Literary Elements*Readers are aware of story elements such as character, setting, plot, theme, and point of view. 

Lesson 1 Characters

*Notice character traits to infer character’s motives, feelings, beliefs, and reasons for actions and change.

   

Lesson 2Setting/Plot

*Understand the setting’s influence on the story and the development of plot.  Lesson 3

Theme   

Lesson 4Point of View

Possible Short Story Collections Every Living ThingBaseball in April FriendsGuys Read  Teacher Resource: Literary Elements Short Story: “Eleven” Handouts For Lesson 1:* Noticing Language and What It Reveals About Characters*Examining Characters’ Decisions* Handouts for Lesson 2:*plot diagram *conflict*conflict type chart

Week 2:

Predicting (Wondering)* *Readers continually anticipate, confirm, and revise predictions as they read.

  Lesson 5

Predicting and Confirming *Use prior knowledge to anticipate what will happen in the text before, during, and after reading. 

  Predicting and Confirming  

 Making Predictions

Deeper Example: Amelia Earhart

Graphic Novel

Biography

Video

One Topic Multiple Resources

The Deeper Payoff when using Multiple Resources

Opportunities to engage with various genres:

Students wrangled with interesting questions:How does a graphic novel help a reader understand a time period better than a novel?

Using facts from a biography, compare them to the events in a graphic novel?

What discrepancies did you notice between the information in the documentary and the information in the biography?

Which genre form was most informative? Most compelling?

How did sampling multiple resources deepen your understanding of the topic?

Who (what audience) was this written for?

biographies…

articles…

documentaries…

fiction…

Practice with note-taking skills

from text from a

documentary

Here’s another way to go Deeper with Comprehension: Interactive Reading Guide Strategy

Hits on many fronts: examining text structure, partner & group work, & recognizing essential concepts in the reading.

For a history chapter on Ellis Island

Section A: Intro to Ellis Island, pages 1-2

1. Class: Listen and follow along in the article as I read. Then based on what you remember respond to the questions below. If you need to, you can locate information in the article.• Ellis is located in what city?• What famous landmark can be seen

from Ellis Island?• List 4 reasons why immigrants came to

the United States.

Section B: Early Immigration to the U.S., pages 2-3

1. Partners: Read paragraph 1 silently and decide on an answer to the following:• Who were the first immigrants to

the U.S.?

2. Partner X: Read aloud paragraph 2 Partner Y: Listen and decide how to answer the following questions:• Were the earliest immigrants to the U.S.

regarded as a good thing?• Why or why not? (provide text support)

3. Partner Y: Read aloud paragraph 3 Partner X: Listen and decide how to answer the following questions:• Did the government keep close track of

early immigrants?• What clues in the reading helped you

figure this out?

4. Partner s: Read silently paragraphs 4-6. List 4 things that attracted people to the U.S. And

another…

Going Deeper in mathematics

Writing in math is a great way to help students grasp mathematical concepts.

3-Cloumn NotesNOTES PERSONAL

CONNECTIONMORE EXAMPLES/

SUMMARY

fractions, percents and decimals

½ = .5 = 50%3/3 = 1.00 = 100%

one-half of a candy bar is the same as 50% of the candy bar. I could also divide it equally between two people.

on a number line, 50% is the same as ½ and .50

STEP #1: The teacher presents the concept while students jot notes. Several clear examples are given and recorded.

STEP #2: The students work on connecting the math concept to real world examples. They may also try to draw conclusions about the concepts.STEP #3: The students add more examples, drawings, graphs, etc. and work on summarizing the important ideas.

Still looking at mathematics: Generating Interactions Between Schemata and Texti.e.

GIST

This is a writing to learning activity that can be done at any stage of a lesson. The idea is to systematically summarize text.

Grade 6-8 example

Text Passage: Ratios express how one number is related to another. It may be written as a/b, a:b, or as a phrase, a to b. For example, the ratio 1:8 is read as 1 to 8, and means that the second number is 8 times as large as the first. A proportion is a statement of equivalency for two or more proportions. Given the proportion of a:b = 3:8 and asked to find b if a = 12, follow these steps.

1. First substitute 12 in the proportion for a, 12:b = 3:8, 12/b = 3/82. Then use cross products, 3 x b = 12 x 83. Solve the equation 3b = 96, b = 324. Therefore, if the ratio of a to b is 3:8 and a = 12, the b = 32

Teacher models the steps to writing the GIST for this math problem until students can do this on their own.

STEP 1. Read the text (or portion of a longer piece) and write down important ideas.

• how numbers relate.

• how numbers can be written in different ways.

• a:b is 3:8 and a = 12

• the proportion is 12:b = 3:8

• 3 x b = 12 x 8 which is 3b = 96

• 96 divided by 3 = 32

• B = 32

Mathematics example GIST continued

Grade 6-8 example

Text Passage: Ratios express how one number is related to another. It may be written as a/b, a:b, or as a phrase, a to b. For example, the ratio 1:8 is read as 1 to 8, and means that the second number is 8 times as large as the first. A proportion is a statement of equivalency for two or more proportions. Given the proportion of a:b = 3:8 and asked to find b if a = 12, follow these steps.

1. First substitute 12 in the proportion for a, 12:b = 3:8, 12/b = 3/82. Then use cross products, 3 x b = 12 x 83. Solve the equation 3b = 96, b = 324. Therefore, if the ratio of a to b is 3:8 and a = 12, the b = 32

STEP 2. Using the important ideas, summarize in your own words the concept. Try limiting yourself to a certain number of words or lines, i.e. 25 words or less or 2 lines or less.• how numbers

relate.• how numbers can be written in different ways.

• a:b is 3:8 and a = 12• the proportion is 12:b = 3:8• 3 x b = 12 x 8 which is 3b = 96• 96 divided by 3 = 32

• B = 32

Summary: ratios express how numbers relate and if the ratio is 3:8 and a = 12, then b = 32.

Less is More is Critical to Developing Deeper Thinking

Credit Where Credit is Due. Scholastic is Getting it Right these Days

{Select image for Common Core Info.}• online issues available

• issues aligned to Standards.

• lexile levels provided

• paired reading materials available

• on & off-line comprehension sheets

• solid planning and writing forms

• links to vetted websites

• content is interesting to read

{Select image to visit Scope.}

More Awesome Sauce!

Other Avenues, Same Process

Yeah, there’s an App for that.

Future Tech, Time-Tested Thinking

More and more we’re becoming an eye consuming society.

Pictures are telling the tale.

And, let’s face it, there are some amazing things to see.

The key is to take what’s observed and draw relevant information from it

So…

Using the Reuter’s app, The Wider Image, what could be done with that image of a Chilean eruption?

Using The Wider Image app, students can take observational notes (science term) from images related to the eruption.

Then, their using observations, they can try to infer the potential impact.

observations:planes unable to flyash in waterways

runways covered in ash

observations:dead livestockdivers in waterdamaged farm

possible impact:costly repairs &

clean uploss of drinking

waterreduced tourism

possible impact:fewer farmers producing food

long-term damage to soil

increased cost of foods

Still using the same app, the students can then examine a graph, which graphs how a country compares to the United States in areas like, population, armed forces, electricity consumption, Internet users, life expectancy, and so on.Using the defined terms for these areas of measure, students can work on trying to understand the impact the volcanic fallout could have on a country given the strengths and weaknesses displayed by the graph.

Regrettably I only have a graph for Myanmar here.

One important way to improve students’ writing is to engage them in critical thinking about a topic at hand.

Critical thinking leads to more thoughtful writing and can be incorporated in a number of ways:

Being a little more specific then, we can get assignments like:

(1) As an exploratory writing task (2) As a formal writing assignment

(3) As an essay exam/question(4) As a problem-solving task for small-group discussion;

(5) As an opening question for whole-class discussion or as a problem for an in-class debate, mock trial, simulation game, or individual or group presentation.

How might DaVinci’s lonely childhood have influenced his art?

Explain how percentages can help interpret nutritional labels.

Of the following languages: French, German, and English, which can be said to be the most romantic? Art, athletics, & music move people greatly. So why do most societies pay their athletes so much more? As a group, come up with a plan to balance this inequity.

Viruses: Living or Dead. You be the judge.

Should scientists clone extinct animals?

Frame assignments, where the teacher provides a topic sentence and an organizational frame that students have to flesh out with appropriate generalizations and supporting data, generating ideas and arguments to fill the open slots in the frame. Often the frame is provided by an opening topic sentence, along with the major transition words in the paragraph. Students report that such assignments help them learn a lot about organizational strategies.

Thesis support assignments, in which students are given a controversial thesis to defend or attack.Problem-posing assignments, in which the teacher gives the students a question which they have to try to answer through thesis-governed writing, or to contemplate through exploratory writing or small group problem solving. Often the assignment specifies an audience.

Data-provided assignments, which in a sense are the flip side of the thesis-provided assignment: the teacher provides the data, and the students must determine what thesis or hypothesis the data might support.

“What if” assignments that ask the students to step out of their normal point of view and to adopt an unfamiliar perspective or assumption. Such assignments stretch students’ thinking in productive ways, and are excellent critical thinking exercises.

Writing summaries of articles, passages, or class lessons, is a another way to develop reading and listening skills, and to improve the precision, clarity, and succinctness of students’ thinking and writing. Summaries force writers to determine structure and sequence of a text. Summaries are without writer’s opinions. Summaries can vary in length: 200-250 words all the way down to a 25-word, single sentence to force revision, clarity, and succinctness.

Critical Thinking (continued)

Critical Thinking & Writing in Music

Exit Tickets: This strategy requires every child to answer a critical thinking question before leaving the class. This strategy encourages the concept of asking a question instead of giving the answer.

Some sample questions include:

Music Listening Exercise

Music educator can encourage age appropriate discussions at both the primary and secondary levels using music listening activities. The teacher selects several recordings in different styles and moods. After playing an excerpt, the music instructor engages students in a discussion using critical thinking questions.

• “Why do you think this song makes you happy?”• “If the musician played a drum instead of a flute, what would

happen?”• “Does this type of music always have strings?”• “What do the lyrics mean to you?”

For older students, the teacher can divide students into several small groups and give each group a series of critical thinking questions. After fifteen minutes, each group shares their responses to the questions. The teacher follows up with challenging questions that encourage students to view their discussion from alternate viewpoints. Questions like “Why do you think that?” and “Group A stated the opposite view. How can you support your viewpoint?” Or, what’s the theme for this song? What would make the best lyrics for this instrumental piece?

Writing component:

• read to infer or interpret

• read to draw conclusions

• support arguments with evidence

• resolve conflicting views

• examine source documents

• solve complex problems with no obvious solution

Flashing Back to David Conley, whom I quoted on writing, he’s also got some reading points to make.

Conley’s researched prescriptions for what makes students college ready are both simple and relatable to Common Core standards.Students must be able to:

• premium on evidence from the text

• critical writing; argumentative and informational

• text-dependent questions

• close reading

• comparative reading

• culture studies

• math: procedural skills, fluency, and application

This compares to Common Core…

The Simplest Formula to Follow

• What activities will students do before the reading?

Always try to answer the following about a lesson…

• What activities will students do during the reading?• What activities will student do after the

reading?Also…

At which points will I include writing, because this is how you know for sure how well a student understands something.And…

Where will I incorporate student discussion?

Last, not least…What’s the final outcome I’m expecting students

to have learned and did my prior reading & writing activities prepare them for how they were assessed and will finally be assessed?

Keeping it Simple. We’ve one resource…for now.

Many of the shared strategies come from this source. I selected this text because…

…practical…

…sensible…

…and fit well with the Common Core.

Each TEAM will have a copy for reference. Same with our school library.

the strategies are…

Other Sources I can lend to you…