May 15, 2013

Close Reading of Complex Text and Effective Writing for

All Students

Session Objectives Examine rationale and steps for using the

Writing for Understanding ApproachWalk through a guided sequence of

instruction that connects close reading of complex text to an evidence-based writing task

Determine ways to scaffold instruction to address the instructional and cultural needs of English language learners

Writing to Sources: Guided Instruction

The Writing for Understanding approach is grounded in the key shifts in ELA/Literacy: Increasing complex text, building knowledge, evidence based reading a writing

Writing about a text after doing a close read is away to help students build deeper meaning of the text.

Writing about a text also helps students to write clearly, logically, and thoughtfully.

Using this instructional approach not only helps students synthesize meaning of the text-it helps them to transfer this kind of thinking to other texts.

Purpose of Model Lessons Designed to use text-dependent questions

to help students, through close reading, to acquire a deep understanding of the text. Each model lesson includes:

A set of student worksheets, designed to lead the student step by step through the process

A set of teacher reference sheets, which offer a sample of student responses to note taking and writing activities.

Turn and Talk As teachers and students become more comfortable with text based writing, this process should be modified to encourage independence. With careful instruction, much practice and gradual release of responsibility, all of your students will improve, not only in their writing, but the way they think about and interact with what they read.

What would this process look like for English language learners?

Before We Get StartedWriting to Sources: Guided Instruction

hand-outExemplar Sample Lesson, “Because of Winn

Dixie”The Text: DiCamillo, Kate. “Because of

Winn Dixie”Student Worksheets for “Because of Winn

Dixie”Writing for Understanding: Addressing the

Common Core Shifts hand-out

An Elementary School Uniton the Impact of Technology

By the end of grade 5. Over time, people’s needsand wants change, as do their demands for newand improved technologies. Engineers improveexisting technologies or develop new ones toincrease their benefits (e.g., better artificial limbs),to decrease known risks (e.g., seatbelts in cars),and to meet societal demands (e.g., cell phones).When new technologies become available, theycan bring about changes in the way people liveand interact with one another.

Build KnowledgeVideo Games Do a Body GoodMuse July – August 2012Has your doctor given you a prescription for video games?...

Are you a Screen Addict?Scholastic Choices, April-May 2012Imagine this: You wake up one beautiful

spring morning and your cell phone

is busted…

Complex Texts Listen

What makes the text complex?

What Makes Text Complex?

• Background• Experiences

• Vocabulary• Sentence length and

structure• Figurative language• Regional/historical usage

(dialects)

• Text features• Genre• Organization• Layers of meaning

• Purpose• Concept complexity

Meaning Structure

KnowledgeLanguag

e

Turn and Talk

What would working with complex text look like for English Language Learners?

First Read for enjoyment and general comprehension

Second “Close Read”

Language: What does the author mean when she says Charlie has “likes and like nots”?

Meaning: In the last stanza, Charlie had another thought. What was this thought and why couldn’t he explain it?

Structure: Why is the word “anything” in italics?

Knowledge: What is an “empire”? What does it mean when the author says Charlie’s “tech empire” came tumbling down?

The second read is the close read-where the teacher guides students slowly and carefully through the text, prodding their thinking with text-dependent questions.

Third Read for evidence based reading and writing

EvidenceMatters!

Students read with a specific purpose, to gather information that will allow them to answer a Focusing Question for writing.

Turn and TalkWhat could be a focusing question and focus statement for Charlie McButton?

?Focusing Question

Leads to Focus Statement

Big Idea

Evidence from Text

Expresses Understanding

Focusing Question

How do sharks survive?

Focus StatementSharks have physical and behavioral adaptions that help them survive.

Focusing Questions and Focus Statements

What caused the American Revolution?

Actions taken by the English caused the colonists to revolt.

Possible Focusing Question and Focus Statement

How do Charlie’s opinions about having fun change from the beginning to the end of the story?

Focusing Question

Focus Statement

At the beginning of the poem, he thought he could never have fun without his gadgets. By the end, he realized that he can have fun without electronics.

Taking Notes

Records Information

Important at ALL Grade Levels Evidence Elaboratio

n

Can Take Many Forms

Requires Direct Instruction

Sample Ways to Take Notes

Pictures

Objects

Graphic Organizers

Drawing Evidence Elaboration

What type of evidence from the story will students need to collect in order to answer this question?How could you help them collect it?

Turn and Talk

How do Charlie’s opinions about having fun change from the beginning to the end of the story?

Focusing Question

Evidence

How do Charlie’s opinions about having fun change from the beginning to the end of the story?

EvidenceWhat does Charlie think is fun?

Examples from the beginning of the story

Examples from the end of the story

EvidenceHow do Charlie’s opinions about having fun change from the beginning to the end of the story?

At the beginning of the poem, he thought he could never have fun without his gadgets. By the end, he realized that he can havefun without electronics.

Talk the Piece

Using their notes, students “talk the writing” before they write it.

Practice Turning Notes into Sentences

Hide and go seek

Charlie only plays with things with

“handset and bots”.

Things with “handsets and bots”He has fun playing hide and go seek with his sister.

Finished PieceWhen Charlie McButton Loses Power, by Suzanne Collins, is a funny story with an important message. When the power goes out, Charlie McButton… Read the finished

piece.What kind of instruction in the craft of writing will students need to be able to write a piece like this?

QuestionsTurn and Talk

What are the benefits of expressing understanding in writing?

What are some of the things that prevent your students from doing so?

Anthology Alignment Project

May 15, 2013

Anthology Alignment ProjectThis professional development opportunity provides practice with district-adopted textbooks to:Identify text-dependent and non-text-dependent questionsLearn to develop quality text-dependent questions that include examples with direct responses and inferences.Draws students attention to academic language,vocabulary and syntax

Professional Development Description

The Council of the Great City Schools and Student Achievement Partners invite districts to send a team to AAP conferences to align existing materials to Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

Participants learn how to develop quality text-dependent questions and improve the culminating activities

General education, ELL and special education leaders collaborate on preparing CCSS-aligned, instructional classroom materials for grades 6-10

AAP Conference Dates

March 25-26 2013 Long Beach, CA

May 21-23, 2013 Birmingham, AL

How to Join the AAP GroupGo to Edmodo WebsiteCreate user name and password

Join Anthology Alignment Project Group

Enter code pkx4sp

Supported Anthologies•Holt- Elements of Literature (6-8)•Holt-Literature and Language Arts (6-10)•Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-Reading/Medallion (6-10)•McDougal Littell- Language of Literature (9-10)•McDougal Littell-Language Network (6-8)•McGraw-Hill- Glencoe Literature: The Reader’s Choice (6-10)•McGraw-Hill- Open Court (6)•Prentice Hall- Literature (6-10)•Prentice Hall- Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes (9-10)