Enacting the Instructional ShiftsMCLP Technical Assistance Calls

March/April 2014

Purpose of Today’s Call

• Build an understanding of the Common Core instructional shifts and how to put them into action.

• Ask specific questions about things you’re tackling and get support.

What would you like to know more about?

FAQs

What are the Common Core Instructional Shifts?• Implications of the CCSS• Ways the classroom should look different• Ways teaching should change

How many shifts are there?• It varies by state: 3-8.

Why are they important?• They bring the standards to life.• They are the basis on which curriculum is evaluated

(EQUIP rubric).• They make clear what’s different about the CCSS.

Shift in the Balance of Texts

• Balance of fiction and nonfictionShift 1

• Building knowledge in the disciplines through textShift 2

• Building knowledge through content rich nonfiction and informational texts

Sometimes combined as

Content Rich Nonfiction

• 50/50 balance K-5

• 70% nonfiction in grades 9-12, shared across disciplines

• Students learning to read should exercise their ability to comprehend complex text through read-aloud texts.

• In grades 2+, students begin reading more complex texts, consolidating the foundational skills with reading comprehension.

• Reading aloud texts that are well-above grade level should be done throughout K-5 and beyond.

5

Enacting Shifts 1 & 2

• Purposefully sequence multiple texts on a topic to build knowledge

• Use text instead of giving background information

• Introduce vocabulary through simpler texts

• Embed multiple content areas

6

Shifts 1 and 2 in Action

Central Texts

1. Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again

2. Tod Olson, “The Vietnam Wars,” Scholastic, February 24, 1995, 16–20.

3. Joseph Shapiro and Sandra Bartlett, “Forgotten Ship: A Daring Rescue as Vietnam Fell

http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/8m1.1.pdf

Mother goes to a high shelf, bringing back Father’s portrait.

Come with us or we’ll all stay. Think, my son; your action will determineour future.

Mother knows this sonCannot stand to hurtAnyone, anything

Look at Father.Come with usSo Father will be proud You obeyed your motherWhile he’s not here.

Shift in the use of Evidence

•Text-based answersShift 4

•Writing from sourcesShift 5•Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text

Sometimes combined as

Close Analytic Reading

• Requires prompting students with questions to unpack unique complexity of any text so students learn to read complex text independently and proficiently.

• Not teacher "think aloud“.

• Virtually every standard is activated during the course of every close analytic reading exemplar through the use of text dependent questions.

• Text dependent questions require text-based answers – evidence.

9

Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text: Why?

• Most college and workplace writing requires evidence.

• Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak student performance on NAEP

• Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards: Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and Listening standards 2, 3, and 4, all focus on the gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from text.

• Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks of strong readers and writers

10

Enacting Shifts 4 & 5

• Build deep textual understanding among teachers

• Create strong sequences of text-dependent questions as scaffolds and models

• Become “textual archaeologists” –dig into texts!• Where in the text did you find…What in the text

tells you that…What in the text supports…

Text-Dependent Questions

12

•In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

•In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.

•In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote?

What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?

•What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

•“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Raising the Rigor

• Staircase of ComplexityShift 3

• Academic VocabularyShift 6

• Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary

Sometimes combined as

What are the Features of Complex Text?

• Subtle and/or frequent transitions

• Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes

• Density of information

• Unfamiliar settings, topics or events

• Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences

• Complex sentences

• Uncommon vocabulary

• Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things together for the student

• Longer paragraphs

• Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures14

Scaffolding Complex Text

The standards require that students read appropriately complex text at each grade level – independently (Standard 10).

However there are many ways to scaffold student learning as they meet the standard:

• Multiple readings

• Read Aloud

• Chunking text (a little at a time)

Provide support while reading, rather than before.

15

Enacting Shifts 3 & 6

• Spend class time with complex texts. Every day. • Analyze texts to identify appropriate vocabulary

for instruction • Embed text-based vocabulary instruction • Don’t take away the need to read

Leveraging Thinkquiry• Analytic Graphic Organizers• Coding/Comprehension Monitoring• Question the Author• Sum It Up• Two-Column Note Taking

Thanks for Participating!

• What resonated with you today?

• Are there learning takeaways for you that you could share?

• Is there something you wanted to know more about?