Text Complexity and

1. 6-8 ELA Text Complexityand Nancy Frey, PhD Text-dependent Questions

2. If you can read this…

3. If you can read this… Thank a teacher!

4. If you can read this… effectively and write a analytical essay in under 42 minutes, and you meet all the math standards, objectives, and learning targets set forth by the Common Core State Standards, and you walk briskly through life in a healthy body taking 10,000 steps a day, while experiencing social and emotional well being, and you can effectively utilize technology and social media to access and analyze important information, and you play the piano perfectly…

5. If you can read this… effectively and write a analytical essay in under 42 minutes, and you meet all the math standards, objectives, and learning targets set forth by the Common Core State Standards, and you walk briskly through life in a healthy body taking 10,000 steps a day, while experiencing social and emotional well being, and you can effectively utilize technology and social media to access and analyze important information, and you play the piano perfectly… Thank a teacher!

6. Leaders wear many hats.

7. Skilled learners are nurtured.

8. Skilled leaders need to be nurtured, too.

9. Write as many entries on the ABC chart as possible while the other rolls the die. Switch roles each time you roll 6! Take Six

10. Take Six Terms related to the ELA Common Core State Standards (e.g., “text-dependent questions”)

11. Compare papers with your partner and add terms to your own. How many terms did you collectively gather? Take Six

12. 10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

13. “Standard 10 defines a grade-by-grade ‘staircase’ of increasing text complexity that rises from beginning reading to the college and career readiness level.” (CCSS, 2010, p. 80)

14. “Fewer, Clearer, Higher”

15. CCSS calls for 6 shifts • More informational texts • Shared responsibility for Literacy with Science, History/Social Studies, and Technical Subjects • Increased text complexity • Text-dependent questions • Argumentation with text-based evidence • Focus on academic vocabulary

16. “Read like a detective, write like a reporter.”

17. Grades 6-12 Reading Standards

18. Quantitative Measures

19. Quantitative Measures Use quantitative info to identify grade bands.

20. Qualitative Values

21. Qualitative Values Use qualitative values to identify specific grade levels.

22. Task and Reader

24. Our goal with complex text is to slow the reader down.

25. Annotation is a note of any form made while reading text. “Reading with a pencil.”

26. People have been annotating texts since there have been texts to annotate.

27. Annotation is not highlighting.

28. Annotation slows down the reader in order to deepen understanding.

29. Annotation in Grades 6-8 • Underline the major points. • Circle keywords or phrases that are confusing or unknown to you. • Use a question mark (?) for questions that you have during the reading. Be sure to write your question. • Use an exclamation mark (!) for things that surprise you, and briefly note what it was that caught your attention. • Draw an arrow (↵) when you make a connection to something inside the text, or to an idea or experience outside the text. Briefly note your connections.

30. Modeled annotation in Seventh Grade

31. Read IRA’s Guidance on Literacy Implementation for CCSS. What are the implications for your school? Are there misconceptions your staff might hold? How will you deepen their understanding of literacy development?

32. Close Reading

33. “X-ray the book”

34. Not every reading is a close one! “X-ray the book”

35. Creating a Close Reading

36. Short passage Creating a Close Reading

37. Short passage Complex text Creating a Close Reading

38. Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Creating a Close Reading

39. Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Repeated readings Creating a Close Reading

40. The Role of Pre-reading Multiple readings often make this unnecessary

41. The Role of Pre-reading • Too often provides information students can glean from careful reading of the text • Hard to wean students from this • Similarly challenging to move teachers away from providing this “smoothing of the road” Multiple readings often make this unnecessary

42. Short passage Complex text Limited frontloading Repeated readings Text-dependent questions Creating a Close Reading

43. Characteristics of Text-dependent questions

44. Characteristics of Text-dependent questions • Questions that can only be answered with evidence from the text • Can be literal but can also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation • Focus on word, sentence and paragraph as well as larger ideas, themes or events • Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency

45. Progression of Text-dependent Questions Whole Acrosstexts Entire text Segments Paragraph Sentence Word Part

46. General Understandings • Overall view • Sequence of information • Story arc • Main claim and evidence • Gist of passage

47. General Understandings in 8th Grade What are the qualities Sandburg admires most about the people of this city? Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” (1916/1994)

48. Key Details • Search for nuances in meaning • Determine importance of ideas • Find supporting details that support main ideas • Answers who, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many.

49. Key Details in 8th Grade How does Sandburg use personification and apostrophe (direct address of an inanimate object)? Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” (1916/1994)

50. Vocabulary and Text Structure • Bridges literal and inferential meanings • Denotation • Connotation • Shades of meaning • Figurative language • How organization contributes to meaning