UNPACKING the

ELA COMMON CORESTANDARDS

District-wide Professional Development

Chestnut Accelerated Middle School

AUGUST 20-21, 2012 8:30-3:00Presenters: Renay Jihad, ELA/Reading

Instructional LeaderMelinda Franklin, ELA Department Chair

Linda Cortelli, ELA Special Education TeacherCarmen Bruno, Read 180 Teacher - Assistant

Agenda Day 1Time Topic8:30-10:45 Overview of Agenda

(Objectives, Instructional Focus, Norms, and Learning Log)Warm-upGrammar SurveyFocusing the Learning – Theory of Action

10:45 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 11:30 Unpacking the Common Core: The Six Shifts

11:30 - 12:30 Lunch

12:30 – 1:30 Unpacking the Common Core: The Six Shifts

1:30 – 1:45 Break

1:45 – 2:45 Unpacking the Common Core: Impact and Structure

2:45 – 3:00 Debrief and Evaluation

OBJECTIVES - DAY 1• WE WILL…

• Unpack and demystify the Common Core Standards.

• Learn the 6 KEY SHIFTS of the ELA Common Core Standards and discuss the implications for literacy instruction in our school.

• Identify and prioritize tools and resources to help us understand and respond practically to the shifts.

Instructional Focus

Through the implementation of research based reading strategies in all content areas, all Chestnut Accelerated Middle School students will

show growth in reading comprehension as measured by internal and external assessments.

Secondary Focus

Plan cohesive professional development and assessment strategies and timelines to ensure

student growth. 

OUR MEETING NORMS• FOCUS ON WHAT WE CAN DO.• CONTRIBUTE POSITIVE THINKING.• CONTRIBUTE VALUABLE EXPERIENCES. • SPEAK FOR YOURSELF.• OFFER SOLUTIONS.• LISTEN ACTIVELY AND ATTENTIVELY.• TRY ON NEW IDEAS.• HONOR OUR TIME TOGETHER I.E. NO CELL, PHONES,

TEXTING, SIDE CONVERSATIONS, WORKING ON COMPUTER .

• BE ON TIME. • STAY ON TOPIC.

WARM-UP ACTIVITY15 minutes

Team Building - Form a “Common Chain” with your colleagues

Conversation starters – F.O.R.M. = Family, Occupation, Recreation,

Money/Marriage

1) The facilitator stands up and tells the participants something about herself .

2) As soon as someone hears something he/she has in common with her, that

person will stand up and link an arm with the facilitator.

3) The person who has linked his/her arm with the facilitator will then begin to

talk about him/herself, starting with the commonality.

4) The common chain continues until everyone has participated.

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Learning Log – “How can community-building activities promote a healthy class

climate?”

GRAMMAR SURVEY1. Rationale2. Directions3. Take Survey4. Learning Log        “Grammar and mechanics should be explicitly taught in school.”

Jot down a comment which falls into one of the following four categories: Assume, Agree, Argue and Aspire.

• Turn to your elbow buddy and share your answer.

• Resources for ELA teachers: • Old grammar books• http://www.teacherwritingcenter.org/common_core_essay_111611.pd

If…

WE are clear in our expectations, focus on the instructional core, provide appropriate support, monitor performance with shared accountability

Then…

WE will dramatically improve student achievement and close the achievement gap in A Culture of Educational Excellence.

http://www.sps.springfield.ma.us/StrategicPriorities.asp

Theory of Action

All Schools Will:1. Identify and implement a schoolwide instructional focus.

2. Develop professional collaboration teams to improve teaching and learning for all students.

3. Identify, learn and use effective evidence-based teaching practices to meet the needs of each student.

4. Create a targeted professional development plan that builds expertise in selected best practices.

5. Re-align resources (people, time, talent, energy and money) to support the instructional focus.

6. Engage families and the community in supporting the instructional focus.

7. Create an internal accountability system growing out of student learning goals that promote measurable

gains in learning for every student and eliminates achievement gaps.

Supported by the district office, each school will work to improve CORE instruction within

a climate and culture that is

GOAL FOCUSED, ADAPTIVE AND COHESIVE

Continuous Improvement Process

3

Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF)

SpringfieldImprovementFramework

SchoolImprovementPlanning

MA CurriculumFrameworks

DataWarehouse

EducatorEvaluations

SchoolImprovementGrants

WraparoundServices

Organizational Health Instrument

DropoutPreventionTaskforce

AchievementNetwork Partnership (ANet)

Literacy and Numeracy

CreditRecovery andExtended Learning Time

Mass Core Magnet Schools

How it fits together: the essential pieces to raising student achievement

Effective instruction in every class, every day

Shared, high expectations for all students

Students achieve grade level proficiency

Students graduate ready for college and career

Coach, develop and evaluate educators based on a clear vision of strong instructionSIF #1,2,3,4

Implement a consistent, rigorous curriculum built on common standards with common unit assessmentsSIF #1,3,4,7

Deploy data that is timely, accurate and accessible to make decisions for students, schools and the districtSIF #5,7

Strengthen social, emotional and academic safety nets and supports for all studentsSIF #6

The work

We are leveraging partners to support the work

Coach, develop and evaluate educators

Implement consistent, rigorous curriculum

Use timely data to show what is working

Strengthen safety nets for all students

Topic

• Implementing educator evaluations

• Coaching administrators

• Development of a consistent, rigorous curriculum

• Principals’ Dashboard• Interim assessments and data

cycle• Climate and culture feedback

• 9th grade academies• Wraparound services• Credit recovery• Summer remediation and

enrichment

Key Partners

• District Management Council, Cornerstone Literacy

• Achievement Network

• Organizational Health

• District Management Council• City Connects

• District Management Council

• Focus on Results• Achievement Network• Cornerstone Literacy

SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN FIVE YEARS…. • •The Springfield Public Schools are world class

learning environments that produce 21st century leaders.

• •Our students will graduate from high school College and Career ready.

• •The school district attracts highly effective teachers and principals who want to work in a high performing district.

• •Parents and community members are moving into Springfield for the privilege of sending their students to schools that are thriving in A Culture of Equity and Proficiency.

SEGWAY INTO COMMON CORE

Points to Ponder…Common Core Standards?

1. Why informational text is emphasized more so than literary text? Pages 5 and 7

2. What the difference is between the Common Core Standards and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks? Pages 3 and 4

3. What the difference is between content (domain-specific) vocabulary and academic vocabulary? Pages 7 and 10

4. What the difference is between college and career readiness anchor standards and grade-specific standards? Page 4

5. Some key design considerations of Common Core Standard? Page 5

6. What Appendix B is?

Teacher as Expert Activity - DIRECTIONS• This is a collaborative learning activity where you become the expert.• You will read, learn and teach the new material to your colleagues. • Note – This works best when you are teaching new material that can be divided into steps or parts.

• We will divide the group into small groups of three – to four. Need 4 groups.

• We will give each group one question with page number(s). Those page numbers will help you find the answer to your question.

• Write your notes well. Share and refine your notes with your group.• Now we will form new groups. Should be a 1, 2, 3, 4 at each table. • One expert at each table for each question. • When you report out refer to the page number you are speaking about.• Each member teaches the rest of his/her group the answer to the

questions citing passages from the text. • Jot down any questions on a sticky so that your facilitators can answer

them. • Come back together as a whole group to further discuss what was

learned.

How does this activity help engage students in reading with a purpose?

PARCC’s TIMELINE

• 2010-11: Launch and design phase• 2011-12: Development begins• 2012-13: 1st year pilot/field testing, research &

data collection• 2013-14: 2nd year pilot/field testing, research &

data collection• 2014-2015 School Year: Full operational

administration of PARCC assessments• Summer 2015: Set achievement levels,

including college and career readiness

VIDEO: WHY COMMON CORE? WHAT IS COMMON CORE?

1. The Need: What NAEP and other data says about college and career readiness. (National Assessment of Educational Progress)

2. The How: History of development of national standards and assessments

Learning Log- Record notes there.

1. Break group into 5 small mixed-grade groups. 2. Select a facilitator, recorder, reporter and

timekeeper.3. Pick up a computer from the cart and log on.4. View the video, using the DVD.5. Write the answers to your questions on

poster-size paper.6. Go to lunch.7. We will report out when we all return.

VIEW AND REVIEW VIDEO JIG

The 6 Key Shifts of the ELA Common Core

Shift 1: Balancing Informational and Literary Texts, PK-5

Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines (History and Science), 6-12

Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

Shift 4: Text-Based Answers

Shift 5: Writing to Inform or Argue from Sources

Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

ELA/Literacy Shift 1: Balancing Informational and Literary Text

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•Build content knowledge

•Exposure to the world through reading

•Apply strategies

•Balance informational & literary text

•Scaffold for informational texts

•Teach “through” and “with” informational texts

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ELA/Literacy Shift 2: 6-12 Knowledge in the Disciplines

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•Build content knowledge through text

•Handle primary source documents

•Find Evidence

•Shift identity: “I teach reading.”

•Stop referring and summarizing and start reading

•Slow down the history and science classroom

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ELA/Literacy Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•Re-read

•Read material at own level to enjoy meeting

• tolerate frustration

•more complex texts at every grade level

•Give students less to read, let them re-read

•More time on more complex texts

•Provide scaffolding & strategies

• Engage with texts w/ other adults

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ELA/Literacy Shift 4: Text Based Answers

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•find evidence to support their argument

•Form own judgments and become scholars

•Conducting reading as a close reading of the text

• engage with the author and his/her choices

•Facilitate evidence based conversations about text

•Plan and conduct rich conversations

•Keep students in the text

•Identify questions that are text-dependent, worth asking/exploring, deliver richly

•Spend much more time preparing for instruction by reading deeply.

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ELA/Literacy Shift 5: Writing to Inform and Argue from Sources

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•generate informational texts

•Make arguments using evidence

•Organize for persuasion

•Compare multiple sources

•Spending much less time on personal narratives

•Present opportunities to write from multiple sources

•Give opportunities to analyze, synthesize ideas.

•Develop students’ voice so that they can argue a point with evidence

•Give permission to reach and articulate their own conclusions about what they read

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ELA/Literacy Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•Use high octane words across content areas

•Build “language of power” database

•Develop students’ ability to use and access words

•Be strategic about the new vocab words

•Work with words students will use frequently

•Teach fewer words more deeply

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Learning Log for 6 Shifts

Learning Log

Rate the shifts from easiest to hardest to implement and teach. Why?

Hard Easy

Significant Impact of Common Core

This 14-minute video will share…• Identify what Reeves says are the significant

strengths of the document.• After we will… Analyze the structure and organization of the document.

***********************************• Learning Log – Just your thoughts!!!

How the Standards Are Organized GET YOUR GREEN BOOK AND TURN TO PAGE 47

How the Standards Are Organized GET YOUR GREEN BOOK AND TURN TO PAGE 47

How the Standards Are Organized

Grade 6 students: Grade 7 students: Grade 8 students:

Key Ideas and Details1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says

explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of

what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

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.

2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

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.

3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).

3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Craft and Structure4. 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.

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

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.

5. Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

5. Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.

6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama,

or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

7. Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).

7. Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

8. (Not applicable to literature) 8. (Not applicable to literature) 8. (Not applicable to literature)

MA.8.A. Identify the conventions of legends and epics (e.g., the hero, quest, journey, seemingly impossible tasks) in historical and modern literary works.

MA.8.A. Interpret a literary work by analyzing how the author uses literary elements (e.g., mood, tone, point of view, personification, symbolism).

MA.8.A. Identify and analyze the characteristics of irony and parody in literary works.

Reading Standards for Literature 6–12 [RL]The following standards offer a focus for instruction each year and help ensure that students gain adequate exposure to a range of texts and tasks. Rigor is also infused through the requirement that students read increasingly complex texts through the grades. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.

Grade 6 students: Grade 7 students: Grade 8 students:Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (cont’d.)9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or

genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

9. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.

9. Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend

literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Standards for Literature 6–12 [RL]

College and Career Anchor StandardsREADING Page 47 CC

WRITINGPage 53 CC

SPEAKING AND LISTENINGPage 60 CC

LANGUAGEPage 64

Key Ideas & Details

Craft & Structure

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Learning Log - Turn to the page in your Common Core document and fill in the other anchor standards.

EVALUATION of Day 1

• 3 new ideas, concepts, understandings you learned about the CCS.

• 2 questions you have about CCS. • 1 thing you will further investigate regarding the CCS.

• Write your answers on a 3 by 5 index card and give them to your facilitator.

UNPACKING the

ELA COMMON CORESTANDARDS

District-wide Professional Development

Chestnut Accelerated Middle School

AUGUST 20-21, 2012 8:30-3:00Presenters: Renay Jihad, ELA/ILS

Melinda Franklin, ELA Department ChairLinda Cortelli, ELA Teacher

Agenda Day 2

Time Topic8:30 – 9:00 Agenda Overview

Warm-up Activity

9:00 – 10:30 Deep Dive into Shift #4: Text-based Answers

10:30 – 10:45 BREAK

10:45 – 11:30 Overview of Pacing GuideSchedule of Assessments

11:30 – 12:30 LUNCH

12:30 – 1:30

1:30 – 1:45

6 + 1 Writing Traits

BREAK

2:00 – 2:30 Grade-level Planning

2:30 – 3:00 Evaluations MLP

OBJECTIVES - DAY 2

• Teachers will gain and understanding of text complexity and by examining shift #4.

• Teachers will gain an overview of the district’s Pacing Guide.

• Teachers will examine this year’s schedule of Assessments.

• Teachers will gain a practical approach to teaching writing using the 6+1 Writing Traits resource.

• Teachers will see My Learning Plan.

WARM-UP ACTIVITYWhat’s in an Object?

• Break group into small groups. • Select a timekeeper and recorder.• Select an object from the bag.• The first person in group begins a true story, inspired by the object. • After 20 seconds, the next person continues the story, integrating the object they are

holding into the personal narrative. • Continue until everyone has contributed to the personal narrative.• Share your story with the group.

• ******************************************************************

• Learning Log – Write some other pre-writing activities you might use with your students.• Turn and talk to a processing partner. Share ideas for pre-writing activities.• Resource – Common Core link – Writing to explain, persuade, or convey real or

imagined experience. P. 5

The Big Headlines For ELA Common CoreDeep-Dive into Text Complexity

Shift 1: Balancing Informational and Literary Texts, PK-5

Shift 2: 6-12, Knowledge in the Disciplines (Social Studies and Science)

Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

Shift 4: Text-Based Answers

Shift 5: Writing to Inform or Argue from Sources

Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

SHOOT-OUT ACTIVITY - TEACHING SHIFT 4: TEXT-BASED ANSWERS

Need Text, Reflection Sheet, and Instructions

Exercise/Learning Activity Outcome/Objective: Teachers will. . .

1. Anchor Standards in Action Exercise with “Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin

Explain how the reading standards are related and how they are grounded in text-based answers.

2. Anchor Standards in Action Reflection with Sample Lesson Plan

Describe how a series of purposeful teacher questions can support students in using evidence from the text more effectively.

3. Anchor Standards in Action Reflection Identify specific instructional strategies/tools that can support students in giving text-based answers.

Anchor Standards in Action

Learning Log - Stop and Reflect

1. How does the analysis we engage in compare to the analysis you observe when students are reading?

2. What is one manageable next step to support deep text analysis with students?

3. What other ideas do you have about how to teach your teachers about this common core shift around text analysis and text-based answers?

ELA/Literacy Shift 4: Text Based Answers

What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…

•find evidence to support their argument

•Form own judgments and become scholars

•Conducting reading as a close reading of the text

• engage with the author and his/her choices

•Facilitate evidence based conversations about text

•Plan and conduct rich conversations

•Keep students in the text

•Identify questions that are text-dependent, worth asking/exploring, deliver richly

•Spend much more time preparing for instruction by reading deeply.

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Shifts 1, 2, 3: Change in Text Complexity and Range of Texts

Text Complexity GradeBand in the Standards

Old Lexile Ranges Lexile Ranges Aligned toCCR expectations

K–1 N/A N/A

2–3 450–725 450–790

4–5 645–845 770–980

6–8 860–1010 955–1155 (SAS)

9–10 960–1115 1080–1305

11–CCR 1070–1220 1215–1355

KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS(Anchor Standard 1)

#1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly …to make logical inferences; cite TEXTURAL EVIDENCE…

RANGE OF READING AND TEXT COMPLEXITY

(Anchor Standard 4)

#10: Read and comprehend complex

literary and informational texts independently and

proficiently - TEXT COMPLEXITY.

2

3

4

1

6

7

8

Relationship Among the ELA Common Core CCR Anchor Standards

5

9

10

See Page 69 CC for more information.

4 DOMAINSAND CCR ANCHOR STANDARDS 1-10

From… To…

More About TEXT COMPLEXITY

Reading: Text Complexity and the Growth of Comprehension P. 10

Text Complexity definition P. 103Measuring Text Complexity P. 69-70

New Lexile Scores (SAS)Close Reading

Text Sets

ScientistScientist

TeacherTeacherExecutiveExecutive

NurseNurseSupervisorSupervisor

SalesSales

SecretarySecretary

ForemanForeman

ClerkClerk

CraftmanCraftman

ConstructionConstructionClerkClerk

LaborLabor

Lexile ScoreLexile Score

150015001300130011001100900900700700

On-the Job Lexile RequirementsNational Adult Literacy Study

ELA PACING GUIDESee Handouts

Review with grade-level colleaguesIdentify what’s the same.

Identify what has changed?You will use this with next steps

planning.

SASSCHEDULE

OFASSESSMENTS