Secondary Common Core Institute

“Research to Build and Present Knowledge”11-12 Grade Span

“Establishing the Need”

Living and Learning in the 21st Century

“Establishing the Need”• Seventy percent of students in grades 4–12

are low-achieving writers (Persky, 2003).

• College instructors estimate that 50% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level writing (Achieve, 2005).

• Thirty-five percent of HS graduates in college and 38% of HS graduates in the workforce feel their writing does not meet expectations. (Achieve, 2005).

• About half of private employers and more than 60% of state government employers say writing skills impact promotion decisions (National Commission on Writing, 2005).

“Establishing the Need”

• “Poorly written applications are likely to doom candidates’ chances for employment” (National Commission on Writing, 2005).

• Writing remediation costs American businesses as much as $3.1 billion annually

• (National Commission on Writing, 2004).

“Establishing the Need”

Quick Writes – Before, During and After Readingby Linda Rief (100 Quick Writes: Fast and Effective Writing Excercises

“Quick Writes mean showing and reading to students a short piece of text from which they write all that the text brings to mind; they borrow a line from which they write, letting the line lead their thinking. This first draft writing lasts only 2-3 minutes.”“The simple rhythm of copying someone else’s words gets us into the rhythm of writing, and then you begin to feel your own words.”

By William Forrester, Finding Forrester

Career and College Readiness

“The kids who start school today will be retiring in the year 2065, and yet we know as little about what the world will look like then as we do five years from now. We can give them all the content we want, but in this age, it won’t make much difference if we don’t teach them how to learn first. And they do that not by spitting back at us what they “know.” They do it by being creative, by trying and failing, by succeeding and reflecting.”

-Will Richardson

The use of this strategy DELIBERATELY

increases level of student engagement, higher order thinking, and classroom

participation.

Think Pair Share

Why Quick Write?

• Provide students with ideas and frames for their own writing so they are not working in a void

• Teach students critical reading as they draft and reconsider their ideas and the clearest ways of communicating them

• Introduce students to a variety of stylistic devices• Allow ALL students, even those who struggle

with words and ideas, to enter into writing and thinking in an accessible, short, quick, non-threatening way

Research to Build and Present Knowledge Standard 7

• Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge Standard 8

• Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge Standard 9

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• Apply grades 11-12 Reading Standards to literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics

• Apply grades 11-12 Reading Standards to literary nonfiction; including evaluation of US documents

Key to Success

• Although the standards are identified in separate strands, they should not be taught, learned, and implemented in isolation but should be used and developed throughout reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

In order to increasestudent engagement,students must read,write, talk, move,

draw,and SEARCH daily!

– International Center for Leadership in Education Bill Daggett

Our State Perspective

• 60% of North Carolina employers rated the basic literacy skills of high school graduates as fair or poor

• Remedial training costs North Carolina employers $40 million dollars per year

• 53% of the students who enroll in the UNC system have to take a remedial class

• Study Group - Out of 120,815 students enrolled in 9th grade, only 75,058 remained enrolled four years later

Two Overarching Writing Requirements to be Career and College Ready

• The ability to write logical arguments based on substantive claims, sound reasoning, and relevant evidence

• The ability to research—both short, focused projects (such as those commonly required in the workplace) and longer term in depth research

-Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Reflect for a moment back to a page in your high school year book…..

What happened to the students surrounding you on the page?

A Call For Change to Common Core

• Between 1971 and 2004, The NAEP scores of seventeen year olds showed no academic growth or improvement.

21st Century Skills• Creativity and Innovation• Critical Thinking and Problem

Solving• Communication• Collaboration

Quick Write: Choose one of the following ways to prompt your writing.

•Continue writing the dialogue at the end of the text as if you are the author of the primary source.

•Borrow any line or word and write as quickly as you can all that the line brings to mind.

•Free write whatever this excerpt means to you.

Sample Quick Write prompt based on the primary source, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Writing From Sources

Research to Build and Present

Knowledge

Strategies to Immerse Students in Research

to Build and Present KnowledgeQuick WriteLoopingMaking Connections to Text, Self, and the WorldRAFTTalk, Talk, TalkFinal WordBlogging

Making Connections Self to World / World to Text / Text to Self

Students will comefull circle with new insight in formulatingideas backed withevidence from thetext and historical perspectives learned.

Research to Make Connections to Text, Self, and the World

• Ethics of Stem Cell Research / Frankenstein• Court Trials / The Scarlet Letter / The Crucible• Health Epidemics / All Quiet on the Western

Front• Labor Laws / The Jungle• Legal Parental Responsibilities / Frankenstein • Politics and Racism of the 1920’s / Black Boy

ResearchStudent Assignment

Current event that relates to text• We will begin reading George Orwell’s classic, 1984,

next week. One of the main characters in the novel is named Big Brother. The term, big brother, is a part of our culture and it will help us understand the novel as we begin reading if we understand what this phrase means and how it is used.

• Search the internet for references to “Big Brother” using google.com or yahoo.com.

• Try to find examples from different genres that seem to address the idea of “Big Brother” in the same or similar way.

Outcomes

The discussion that ensues from the web search is student generated and rich in content. It allows 1984’s many themes to emerge prior to reading the book.

(oppression, invasion of privacy, totalitarianism)

Reflection• Choose 3 texts

• Select a current event(s) that relates to each of the texts. • Example: Before introducing Raisin in the Sun, search

the internet for references to Brown vs. Board of Topeka and recent school Supreme Court rulings.

• Whole group shares out examples.

Adapted from the Writing Process, RAFTTapping into Higher Order Thinking via “Writing to Learn”

Role Format Audience Topic

Choose one or possibly two roles. Most assignments will have one.

Choose one format.

Choose one or more. If you choose more than one, designate a primary audience.

Choose several. Longer pieces will require more varied approaches. (increase level of thinking)

The student takes on a role and writes from this perspective.

The final product is published in this format.

Who is the piece being written for?

The writer will address the purpose using one or more of the following methods.

Adapted from the Writing Process, RAFTTapping into Higher Order Thinking via “Writing to Learn”

Role Format Audience Topic

AdvertiserNewscasterTour GuidePanelistReporterProduct DesignerResearcherArtistBiographerPoliticalCandidateHistorianTeacherParentDetectiveEditorExpertSelf

Magazine articleEditorialBrochureShort storyPlayJournalBiographyNewspaperArticleLetterManualBookletInterviewTextbookReportAutobiography

FriendParentTeacherPrincipalPublic figuresSupervisorGeneral PublicStudent PopulationInvestorJudgeSchool BoardGovernment

ComplaintHeartacheRevengePoliticsEconomyDisabilitiesChange PatternsPowerChaosRacismConflictRelationships

The Great Gatsby “Does History Repeat Itself?”

You are Nick from TheGreat Gatsby. Nick said toGatsby, “I wouldn’t asktoo much of Daisy; youcan’t repeat the past.” Gatsbyreplied “Can’t repeat the past?Why of course you can!”Who’s right? Researchhistorical events from WWIthat led to the carefreelifestyle of the early 1920’s.

The Great Gatsby “Does History Repeat Itself?”

• The Great Depression originated in the U.S., and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of 1929.

• Research the current state of our economy and make comparisons to the Great Depression using the Venn Diagram attached.

Using a Venn Diagram, list the similarities and differences to the causes of the declining economy during the 1920’s to today. Identify the similarities in the center of the diagram and differences in the outside circles.

Comparing and Contrasting 

20111929 Similarities

The Great Gatsby “Does History Repeat Itself?”

You are an editor for the New York Times inNew York City and you have researched the Great Depression and our current state of the economy. Write an editorial for the public describing how history repeats itself.

Reflection• Choose 1 text from the eighteenth, nineteenth, or early

twentieth century and create a R.A.F.T. that connects a topic or theme to present day. Include the role, audience, format, and topic for writing.

• Example: The Color Purple, The Bluest Eye

Advertisements, commercial, and magazines give a superficial definition of beauty to consumers. As the editor of a new magazine that will focus on inner beauty, as opposed to outer beauty, write a letter to send to prospective buyers that defines what beauty really means to you.

Talk, Talk, Talk

The purpose of this activity is to envelop students in key themes and concepts evident throughout a story prior to reading. In small and whole group discussion, students will have an opportunity to activate prior knowledge and gain interest in the topic and text being introduced.

Before and After Reading Questioning and Reflections

Talk, Talk, Talk

Because the themes are broad and can be applied tothe student's lives, students will begin to makeconnections with the reading and formulate meaning from history and its various applications intoday's society and to their own lives. Students will then revisit their findings after reading and make connections with characters and information learned with their initial personal findings.

Example / Theme Based Question

Before Reading Question Prompt

Everyone needs someone to share life's experiences with. Do you agree or disagree and why? Who do you share your experiences with? Why is it important or unimportant for you to share with others? What can happen to someone when this need is not met? Describe a time you needed support from someone. How did he or she help or support you? How did he or she contribute to your success or failure with

the experience?

Example / Theme Based Question After Reading Question Prompt

Everyone needs someone to share life's experiences with. Of Mice and Men

Identify people George interacts with and how if fills his personal needs.

Describe their relationship(s) with each other. How do his relationships affect his life?

Example / Theme Based Question

Before Reading Question PromptHuman growth involves pain and can result from tragedy.

Do you agree or disagree and why?How do tragedies affect large or small groups of people?Refer to recent events.Describe a situation when you have experienced hurt andlearned from it.How does this statement relate to problems between parents and children?

Example / Theme Based Question

After Reading Question PromptHuman growth involves pain and can result from tragedy. Black Boy

o How did Richard Wright change in the midst of abuse, and oppression?o What affects did these changes have on his

relationships and choices he made throughout his life?o What did he learn?o What did you learn as a result of his story?

Researching Themes

• Varying Degrees of Evil / Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

• Seeking Revenge / Hamlet, The Count of Monte Cristo, Frankenstein

• The American Dream / The Great Gatsby,

Of Mice and Men

Talk, Talk, Talk Action Steps

Talk, Talk Talk

Action Step

s

Establish student groupings (2-4)

Give each group a theme/ essential question/ generalization

Students individually write responses

Then, groups share and discuss findings

Whole group sharing /groups respond

Repeat process after reading

Essential Questions• have no simple “right” answer; they are

meant to be argued.• are designed to provoke and sustain

student inquiry, while focusing learning and final outcomes.

• often address the conceptual or philosophical foundations of a concept.

• raise other important questions.• stimulate vital, ongoing rethinking of big

ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons.

Essential Question

Before Reading Question Prompt• What conditions cause bad things to occur

our community, and what responsibilities do we have in the midst of terrible things?

After Reading Question Prompt• What conditions caused the Holocaust to

occur, and what responsibilities do we have in the midst of terrible things?

Individually or with a partner, choose one text an 11th grade teacher will be will be using in your district this year. Then, create two to three ‘prompts or questions’ related to the text using the Talk, Talk, Talk discussion format.

• Theme Based Question • Generalizations • Essential Questions

Reflection

Final ProductWhat do we want students to know and be able to do?

Create “I Can” Statements that evaluate what youwant students to know and be able to do to ensurestudents have mastered Standards 7-9,Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

Classroom Assessment Data

Inventory of essential knowledge and skills for Standards 7-9 Student work

samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Teacher assesses and documents student performance over time and collects related work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summaryand

work samples

Inventory, summary& work samplesfor each student

A representative sample from each classroom is audited by teacher peers to ensure calibration of standards √

Application• Ask your department to choose a text they plan to use

and incorporate one or more of the strategies to support mastery of Standards 7-9.

• Conduct the lesson(s) (Consider videotaping!)

• At the next ELA Department Meeting, ask teachers to bring a copy of the text, examples of student writing, and a personal reflection that states what went well, what could be improved, etc...

Secondary Common Core Institute

“Research to Build and Present Knowledge”11-12 Grade Span