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Adapt or Adopt in ELA: Support for Districts & Schools on Curriculum

Decision Making

Context for Curriculum Work

• Vendor Partners: P-2 ELA: Core Knowledge 3-8 ELA: Expeditionary Learning 9-12 ELA: PCG & Odell Education

• Regents Research Fund/ SED • Teacher Reviewers = 50 teachers @ 10 hrs/wk• Intensive Review Cycles with SAP• SAP calibration and gradual release to RRF/ SED

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Curriculum Modules: P-2 ELA

NYSED is partnering with Core Knowledge

Phased implementation:

Year 1:• Listening and Learning

modules• Ongoing professional

development with educators

Year 2:• Student skills development

modules• Ongoing professional

development with educators

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Curriculum Modules 3-12 ELA

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We are partnering NYSED is partnering with Expeditionary Learning and Public Consulting Group to develop comprehensive materials in Grades 3-12 that progress across the school year and across the grades.

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Curricular Support: 6-12 ELA

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NYSED has partnered with Odell Education to publish a series of exemplary units for use in secondary English language arts classrooms.

These units model at each grade level: text selection, increasing complexity, supports for evidence-based conversations, and rigorous writing.

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Publisher’s Criteria

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Instructional Shifts Demanded by the Core

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Shifts in ELA/Literacy

Shift 1

Balancing Informational & Literary Text

Students read a true balance of informational and literary texts.

Shift 2 Knowledge in the Disciplines

Students build knowledge about the world (domains/ content areas) through TEXT rather than the teacher or activities

Shift 3 Staircase of Complexity

Students read the central, grade appropriate text around which instruction is centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space and support in the curriculum for close reading.

Shift 4 Text-based Answers Students engage in rich and rigorous evidence based conversations about text.

Shift 5 Writing from Sources

Writing emphasizes use of evidence from sources to inform or make an argument.

Shift 6 Academic Vocabulary

Students constantly build the transferable vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts. This can be done effectively by spiraling like content in increasingly complex texts.

TriState/EQUIP Rubrics –ELA/ Literacy

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Using the TriState/EQUIP Rubric to evaluate Lessons and Units

• Read the Sample Grade 8 Lesson • Evaluate the lesson on dimensions I-IV of the

TriState/EQUIP Rubric

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SCORE OF SAMPLE LESSON

I. Alignment to the Depth of the CCSS

The lesson/unit aligns with the letter and spirit of the CCSS: Targets a set of grade-level CCSS ELA/Literacy standards.

Includes a clear and explicit purpose for instruction.

Selects text(s) that measure within the grade-level text complexity band and are of sufficient quality and scope for the stated purpose (i.e., presents vocabulary, syntax, text structures, levels of meaning/purpose, and other qualitative characteristics similar to CCSS grade-level exemplars in Appendices A & B).

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RATING:1 Meets some of the criteria in the dimension

• While the purpose for instruction is clear, it isn’t clear how the purpose connects to the listed standards.

• The level of focus manifested in this lesson does not reflect the rigor of theStandards• The text measures within the grade-level text complexity band and are of

sufficient quality and scope for the stated purpose

SCORE OF SAMPLE LESSON

II. Key Shifts in the CCSS

The lesson/unit addresses key shifts in the CCSS: Reading Text Closely: Makes reading text(s) closely, examining textual evidence, and discerning deep meaning a central focus of instruction.

Text-Based Evidence: Facilitates rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions and writing about common texts through a sequence of specific, thought-provoking, and text-dependent questions (including, when applicable, questions about illustrations, charts, diagrams, audio/video, and media).

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SCORE OF SAMPLE LESSON

II. Key Shifts in the CCSS

The lesson/unit addresses key shifts in the CCSS: Writing from Sources: Routinely expects that students draw evidence from texts to produce clear and coherent writing that informs, explains, or makes an argument in various written forms (notes, summaries, short responses, or formal essays).

Academic Vocabulary: Focuses on building students’ academic vocabulary in context throughout instruction

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This lesson does focus reading the poem closely, but does not examine textual evidence and discerning deep meaningThe lesson includes rich evidence-based discussions grounded in the text that are sequenced strategically.There is some writing around summarizing stanzas, but there is little to no synthesis/analysis built from that activityThere is some attempt to build academic vocabulary, but instead of focusing on words such as “lunar” and/or “foretells”, the lesson focuses only on “glutinous.”

RATING:1 Meets some of the criteria in the dimension

SCORE OF SAMPLE LESSON

III. Instructional Supports The lesson/unit is responsive to varied student learning needs: Cultivates student interest and engagement in reading, writing, and speaking about texts.

Addresses instructional expectations and is easy to understand and use.

Provides all students with multiple opportunities to engage with text of appropriate complexity for the grade level; includes appropriate scaffolding so that students directly experience the complexity of the text.

Focuses on challenging sections of text(s) and engages students in a productive struggle through discussion questions and other supports that build toward independence.

Integrates appropriate supports in reading, writing, listening and speaking for students who are ELL, have disabilities, or read well below the grade level text band.

Provides extensions and/or more advanced text for students who read well above the grade level text band. •

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Does cultivate student interest and engagement in reading and writingProvides students with opportunities to engage with text of appropriate complexityLacking scaffolds of any kind, as well as extensions

RATING: 1Meets some of the criteria in the dimension

SCORE OF SAMPLE LESSON

IV. Assessment The lesson/unit regularly assesses whether students are mastering standards-based content and skills:

Elicits direct, observable evidence of the degree to which a student can independently demonstrate the major targeted grade level CCSS standards with appropriately complex text(s).

Assesses student proficiency using methods that are unbiased and accessible to all students.

Includes aligned rubrics or assessment guidelines that provide sufficient guidance for interpreting student performance.

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Includes some evidence of student learning via the exit ticket, but the assessment does not match the rigor of the targeted standards and lacks a rubric for interpreting student performance.

RATING: 1Meets some of the criteria in the dimension

Using the TriState/EQUIP Rubric to evaluate Lessons and Units

• Read the Expeditionary learning Unit 1, Lesson 2

• Evaluate the lesson on dimensions I-IV of the TriState/EQUIP Rubric

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SCORE OF EL LESSON

I. Alignment to the Depth of the CCSS

The lesson/unit aligns with the letter and spirit of the CCSS: Targets a set of grade-level CCSS ELA/Literacy standards.

Includes a clear and explicit purpose for instruction.

Selects text(s) that measure within the grade-level text complexity band and are of sufficient quality and scope for the stated purpose (i.e., presents vocabulary, syntax, text structures, levels of meaning/purpose, and other qualitative characteristics similar to CCSS grade-level exemplars in Appendices A & B).

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• Targets grade-level ELA standards for reading, Speaking/listening and Language.

• Includes very clear purpose for instruction and focuses on students “owning” their learning via Learning Targets

• Text is appropriately complex.

RATING: 3 Meets most to all of the criteria in the dimension

SCORE OF EL LESSON

II. Key Shifts in the CCSS

The lesson/unit addresses key shifts in the CCSS: Reading Text Closely: Makes reading text(s) closely, examining textual evidence, and discerning deep meaning a central focus of instruction.

Text-Based Evidence: Facilitates rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions and writing about common texts through a sequence of specific, thought-provoking, and text-dependent questions (including, when applicable, questions about illustrations, charts, diagrams, audio/video, and media).

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This lesson focuses on reading the poem closely and examining textual evidence and discerning deep meaningThe lesson includes rich evidence-based discussions grounded in the text that are sequenced strategically.

SCORE OF EL LESSON

II. Key Shifts in the CCSS

The lesson/unit addresses key shifts in the CCSS: Writing from Sources: Routinely expects that students draw evidence from texts to produce clear and coherent writing that informs, explains, or makes an argument in various written forms (notes, summaries, short responses, or formal essays).

Academic Vocabulary: Focuses on building students’ academic vocabulary in context throughout instruction.

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This lesson capitalizes on opportunities to build academic vocabulary in context (“Lunar”, “foretells”)The lesson could benefit from including writing from sources activities in the lesson.

RATING: 3 Meets most to all of the criteria in the dimension

SCORE OF EL LESSONIII. Instructional Supports

The lesson/unit is responsive to varied student learning needs: Cultivates student interest and engagement in reading, writing, and speaking about texts.

Addresses instructional expectations and is easy to understand and use.

Provides all students with multiple opportunities to engage with text of appropriate complexity for the grade level; includes appropriate scaffolding so that students directly experience the complexity of the text.

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SCORE OF EL LESSONIII. Instructional Supports

The lesson/unit is responsive to varied student learning needs: Focuses on challenging sections of text(s) and engages students in a productive struggle through discussion questions and other supports that build toward independence.

Integrates appropriate supports in reading, writing, listening and speaking for students who are ELL, have disabilities, or read well below the grade level text band.

Provides extensions and/or more advanced text for students who read well above the grade level text band.

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Addresses instructional expectations in a manner that both students and teachers can understand. Cultivates student interest and engagement in reading and speaking about texts. Students have multiple opportunities to engage a text of appropriate complexity; includes appropriate scaffolding so that students directly experience the complexity of the text.Includes integrated supports for ELLs/SWDs, Does not provide extensions/more advanced texts

RATING: 3 Meets most to all of the criteria in the dimension

SCORE OF EL LESSONIV. Assessment The lesson/unit regularly assesses whether students are mastering standards-based content and skills:

Elicits direct, observable evidence of the degree to which a student can independently demonstrate the major targeted grade level CCSS standards with appropriately complex text(s).

Assesses student proficiency using methods that are unbiased and accessible to all students.

Includes aligned rubrics or assessment guidelines that provide sufficient guidance for interpreting student performance.

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Includes ongoing assessment during the lesson during answers to Text-dependent questions and notes about the character HaThese methods are methods that are unbiased and accessible to all students.Assessments are generally informal and could use a more formal writing from sources assessment to ensure student learning.Rubrics are absent

RATING: 1 Meets some of the criteria in the dimension

QUESTIONS?

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ADAPTING/BUILDING YOUR OWN LESSON

• Hypothetical situation: replacing Inside Out & Back Again with A different text

• What considerations go into Text selection?

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ADAPTING: Text Selection

• What considerations go into Text selection? At the Unit and Module level, you must consider: Coherence: Does the text fit with remaining

texts and the instructional arc of your unit module?

Staircase of complexity: Does the text fit into a sequence of increasingly complex texts• Complexity: quantitative and qualitative

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ADAPTING: Text Selection

• What considerations go into Text selection? At the Unit and Module level, you must consider: Balance of texts: how the selection impacts the

balance Diversity of authorship/subjects: does the

selection represent other perspectives and cultures?

Pacing and volume: can the text be read in the time allotted? Should it be excerpted? Can it be excerpted without sacrificing any of the other considerations?

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ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

• replacing Inside Out & Back Again with Of Mice and Men for grade 8 unit and lesson

• Need text-dependent questions associated with new text

• What are text-dependent questions?

Short answer: questions that can only be answered by referring back to the text.

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ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

Typical text dependent questions ask students to perform one or more of the following tasks: Analyze paragraphs on a sentence by sentence basis and

sentences on a word by word basis to determine the role played by individual paragraphs, sentences, phrases, or words

Investigate how meaning can be altered by changing key words and why an author may have chosen one word over another

Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, and observe how these build to a whole

Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or explanation are achieved and the impact of those shifts

Question why authors choose to begin and end when they do Note and assess patterns of writing and what they achieve Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated*

*From: www.achievethecore.org/index.php/download_file/128/133/

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ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

• replacing Inside Out & Back Again with Of Mice and Men for grade 8 unit and lesson

• At your tables, read the Excerpt from Of Mice and Men and compose three text-dependent questions aligned to:

8.RL.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.

8.RL.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.

8.RL. 4Determine 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.

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ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

• “On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees—willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool .”

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Opportunities for questions/activities aligned to RL.2,34• What purpose does the first paragraph serve?• Academic vocab that can be determined from

context: "junctures", “debris", "recumbent“ etc.• Impact of this section on tone of the narrative 

ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

• Shareout of table TDQs

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ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

“On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.” 

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Opportunities for questions/activities aligned to RL.2 How does the description of animals tracks (the night tracks of 'coons… split-wedge tracks of deer) develop a theme in this text?

 

ADAPTING: Text-dependent Questions

Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Lennie watched them go. "Look, George. Look what I done."  

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Opportunities for questions/activities aligned to RL.3how do these lines reveal aspects of Lennie’s character?

 

What we’ve learned…• Highly Qualified Writers and Reviewers take up to 6 months to

calibrate Devotion to/ experience in a content area does not a CCSS writer/

reviewer make A good teacher does not a curriculum writer/ reviewer make Much of what must shift is sacred

• Rhetorical alignment and actual alignment are two different things

• CCSS stickers are easy to produce; true quality, rigor, and alignment are not

• It often takes 6-8 revision cycles to get to necessary levels of quality/ rigor/ alignment

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THANK YOU

• David Abel dabel@mail.nysed.gov• Jason Wells jwells@mail.nysed.gov

http://www.engageny.org/english-language-arts

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