Complex Text

Albuquerque Public SchoolsUniversity of New Mexico

New Mexico & California Accountability Leadership Institute

Lily Wong Fillmore

PPS Leadership May, 2013

Common Core Shifts

Increase of Informational TextsText ComplexityAcademic VocabularyText-based AnswersUse of Evidence in WritingLiteracy Instruction in all Content Areas

-Adapted from ODE’s Common Core Shifts

increased rigor}

Activity: #1

Consider a level 3-4 ELD class you have observed recently. Highlight the actions you observed students demonstrating. (2 min)Discuss with a partner the verbs you observed. What quadrant had the most highlighted verbs? Why might this be? What are the implication for our EBs as we shift to CCSS? (5 min)

Rigor/Relevance Framework

What Do Complex Texts Mean for our Emergent

Bilinguals?

“From Remediation to Enrichment”

Simultaneously build language and literacy skillsUse texts that are compelling and “juicy”Deconstruct textReconstruct textDemystify figurative languageStudent Works & Thinks: Application to real-world unpredictable situations

Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California's Long Term English

Learners, 2010

"Long Term English Learners need Rigor: The curriculum provided to long-term ELs cannot be dumbed down, watered down, or simplified. They need challenging, rigorous, relevant curricula along with the instructional strategies and targeted support based on individual assessment that will enable them to succeed in a a rigorous classroom."

Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California's Long Term English

Learners, 2010

"Teaching subject matter to ELs requires direct, explicit instruction on strategies needed to build vocabulary and comprehend grade-level texts and participate in discussion about the content...Long-Term ELs need explicit instruction in academic uses of English, with focus on comprehension, vocabulary development, and advanced grammatical structures needed to comprehend and produce academic language."

Activity #2Simple vs. complex text

Read the following two versions of Aesop’s “androcles and the Lion”

Text 1Long ago, there was a slave in Rome. His name was Androcles. Androcles did not want to be a slave. One day, Androcles ran away. He went into a dark forest. There he heard a loud roar. That sounds like a lion! Androcles thought.He heard the roar again. Now it sounded like a moan. Then he saw the lion. Androcles was frightened. But the lion did not move. The lion was hurt. He had a large thorn in his paw. Androcles helped the lion. Androcles looked at the lion’s paw. He saw the thorn. He took it out. He beamed at Androcles. Androcles touched the lion’s mane. He said: “You must rest. Your paw will get better”The lion gave Androcles some food. Then he ate the food. Then he thanked the lion. Androcles and the lion fell asleep.

Text 2A slave named Androcles ran away from his master, by whom he had been most cruelly treated, and, in order to avoid capture, he took himself into the forest. As he wandered about in search of food and shelter, he came to a cave, which he entered and found to be unoccupied. Really, however, it was a lion’s den, and almost immediately, to the horror of the wretched fugitive, the lion himself appeared.The man gave himself up for lost. But, to his utter astonishment, the lion, instead of springing upon him came and fawned upon hem, at the same time whining and lifting up his paw. Observing it to be much swollen and inflamed, he examined it and found a large thorn embedded in the ball of the foot. He accordingly removed it and dressed the wound as well as he could. And in course of time it healed up completely.The lion’s gratitude was unbounded. He looked upon the man as his friend, and they shared the cave for some time together.

Activity #2Simple vs. complex text

Which version captured your attention?Why?What makes one better than the other?Why?Which versions are EB’s more likely to see in school?

Let’s compare the two versions

Language (words, structure)Flow, cohesiveness, coherenceEase of following ideasInformativenessOverall impression of Androcles

Let’s compare the two versions

Long ago, there was a slave in Rome. His name was Androcles. Androcles did not want to be a slave. One day, Androcles ran away. He went into a dark forest. There he heard a loud roar. That sounds like a lion! Androcles thought.

A slave named Androcles ran away from his master, by whom he had been most cruelly treated, and, in order to avoid capture, he took himself into the forest. As he wandered about in search of food and shelter, he came to a cave, which he entered and found to be unoccupied. Really, however, it was a lion’s den, and almost immediately, to the horror of the wretched fugitive, the lion himself appeared.

Let’s compare the two versions

He heard the roar again. Now it sounded like a moan. Then he saw the lion. Androcles was frightened. But the lion did not move. The lion was hurt. He had a large thorn in his paw. Androcles helped the lion. Androcles looked at the lion’s paw. He saw the thorn. He took it out. He beamed at Androcles. Androcles touched the lion’s mane. He said: “You must rest. Your paw will get better”

The man gave himself up for lost. But, to his utter astonishment, the lion, instead of springing upon him came and fawned upon hem, at the same time whining and lifting up his paw. Observing it to be much swollen and inflamed, he examined it and found a large thorn embedded in the ball of the foot. He accordingly removed it and dressed the wound as well as he could. And in course of time it healed up completely.

Let’s compare the two versions

The lion gave Androcles some food. Then he ate the food. Then he thanked the lion. Androcles and the lion fell asleep.

The lion’s gratitude was unbounded. He looked upon the man as his friend, and they shared the cave for some time together.

Lily Wong Fillmore: Requirement for learning: ACCESS to INPUT

• They provide reliable access to academic language––this puts students in a position to learn it.

• Simplified texts, on the other hand, which may be easier to read, are written in language which make little use of the grammatical structures or expressive devices that figure in complex texts offer no such access or exposure.

• Interacting with complex texts and noticing how language is used in them is the way anyone learns it.

• English learners need help to manage such texts, of course.

Example of Complex Text

See website

Where we are as a department