MEDIA SPECIALISTS WORKSHOPMEDIA SPECIALISTS WORKSHOP

October 2012

Susan Jacobs, ELAProgram Specialist

Common Core State Standards

Building on the strength of current state standards, the CCSS are designed to be:

•Focused, coherent, clear and rigorous•Internationally benchmarked•Anchored in college and career readiness •Evidence and research based

An Integrated Model of Literacy

• Processes of communication are closely connected• Texts are more rigorous and include 50% informational text• Reading and Writing are occurring together• Research and media skills are blended into the standards

as a whole• Students will gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize,

and report on information and ideas to conduct original research in order to answer questions or to solve problems

The BIG Shifts for ELA

• Processes of communication are closely connected• Texts are more rigorous and include 50% informational text• Reading and Writing are occurring together• Research and media skills are blended into the standards

as a whole• Students will gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize,

and report on information and ideas to conduct original research in order to answer questions or to solve problems

• 1963-1977: a 13 year decrease in difficulty of text in grades 1, 6, and especially 11 (Chall, Conrad, & Harris, 1977)

• Extending study to 1991: Dangerously high declines in average sentence length and vocabulary level in reading textbooks within a variety of grades (Hayes, Wolfer, & Wolf, 1996)

• Present day: There is a 350L gap between the difficulty of end-of-high school and college texts. This is more than the Lexile difference between what we expect of a 4th grader as compared to that of an 8th grader (Gary Williamson, 2006)

Rationale

What do we know?• K-12 Reading texts have seen a decline in the levels of difficulty over the

last half-century

• The reading demands of college and workforce training have held steady or increased over the past 50 years

• Only between 7% and 15% of elementary and middle school reading is expository

• Too many students are reading at levels far too low

• Low reading achievement impacts students’ readiness for college, careers, and life in general

• Reading levels among the adult population are disturbingly low

04/20/23

7

Reading Study Summary

* Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics

600

800

1000

1400

1600

1200

Tex

t L

exile

Mea

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(L

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HighSchool

Literature

CollegeLiterature

HighSchool

Textbooks

CollegeTextbooks

Military PersonalUse

Entry-LevelOccupations

SAT 1,ACT,AP*

Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

We Need Help

We Need YOU• Define informational genres, make palatable

suggestions• Locate texts of appropriate type and level• Help teachers understand dimensions of complexity• Vet existing text choices for

◦ availability◦ appropriateness◦ cost◦ thematic connections etc., etc., etc….

• Effective use of Galileo• Newspapers, journals, magazines, primary source

documents• Research connections• Citation writing• Recommend thematically connected short texts of

mixed genres• Effective reading tasks and strategies/close reading

Your Experience So Far…

• On a scale of 1-5, 5 being very engaged, what has been your “level of inclusion” in your school in the Common Core roll out?

• What has been the most positive thing about your experience so far?

• What has been the most negative thing?

A Closer Look at the Standards

through the lens of a media specialist• With an elbow partner, choose one of the

representative grade level sets of standards• Choose the top 3 standards from each strand

that will most require Media Specialists’ support• For each of those 3 things, brainstorm a short list

of specific services or activities you could provide or would recommend to your teachers

About Text Complexity

Qualitative aspects of text complexity best measured by an attentive human reader, such as levels of meaning or purpose; structure; language conventionality and clarity; and knowledge demands

Quantitative aspects of text complexity, such as word length or frequency, sentence length, and text cohesion, that are difficult if not impossible for a human reader to evaluate efficiently, especially in long texts, and are thus today typically measured by computer software

Reader and task considerations focus on the inherent complexity of text, reader motivation, knowledge, and experience and the purpose and complexity of the task at hand. This kind of assessment is best made by teachers employing their professional judgment.

“Students need opportunities to stretch their reading abilities, but they also need to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy, fluent reading, both of which the Standards allow.”

Text Complexity Rubric

•Intended to assist educators in evaluating multiple dimensions of a text.

•The rubric addressees the three aspects of text complexity required for consideration in Common Core Appendix B: qualitative, quantitative, and reader/task match.

•Each of these three dimensions includes specific relevant categories, each of which is listed with a short explanation to assist users in making the best possible

determination.

Qualitative Dimensions

Levels of meaning. Symbolism, abstract thought, satire, allegory, pun, symbolism, complex motif or nuanced/complicated technical or academic concepts. 10 = excellent, grade-appropriate examples representing multiple categories

Structure. Chapters, multiple plot lines, glossaries, headings, footnotes, legal documents, technical manuals, non-traditional uses of time or language (such as magical realism). 10 = multiple, excellent, grade-appropriate structural features.

Language conventionality. Complexity of the vocabulary such as colloquialisms, figurative or idiomatic language, dialects, sophisticated technical or academic language, historical language such as Elizabethan or Old English constructions.10 = language that is appropriate and challenging for the target grade but is not so complex as to be incomprehensible.

Background knowledge. The subject of the text is one with which your students might reasonably be expected to be acquainted (World War II) or one that might be understood once introduced (photosynthesis). 10 = students will comprehend the text or the subject can be sufficiently understood when explained. A lower score indicates a disconnect serious enough to adversely impact the effectiveness of instruction.

Quantitative Dimensions

LEXILENOTE! a mismatch of Lexile range ALONE is not enough to disqualify a text choice.

Does this text challenge readers? Aim for 75% comprehension rate.

Does this text match the interests of the students? Cannot always be the primary indicator, but even technical texts can be chosen to provide connection with students.

Is this text ideal for the task? A scientific journal will be a better match for a research project than for a skit depicting the content.

Mismatches for which qualitative and quantitative measures cannot easily account. Provides evaluators with a category to bestow or withhold points based on disconnect that may not be addressed in other rubric dimensions. 10 = no mismatch and would be entirely appropriate for the target audience and purpose.

Reader and Task

Rate a Sample Text

• Using the text complexity template, choose a text with which you are very familiar

• Complete the form for this text (you will need to determine which grade you are targeting)

Challenges with Complexity

• What do you perceive as the biggest challenges we are likely to face with increasing the complexity of texts in the classroom?

Close Reading• Read and summarize the Nabokov article• What strategies did you use to make

meaning? Decipher vocabulary?• What strategies work best for students in

tackling a difficult text? • What is the role of the media specialist

here?

Writing from Text Evidence• Reading like a writer

• Mentor texts• How involved in writing would you consider

yourself to be at your site and in your duties?

• What are your thoughts on increased integration of reading and writing?

Informational Text • Have you seen the informational text webinars on GSO? • How close to your local readers come – at present – to

meeting a 50% target of nonfiction texts?• Return to your text complexity rubrics. How many of you

chose nonfiction texts?• Using a literary text (from your rubric or another book you

like) identify 5-7 informational texts, primary source documents, or media resources that would increase background knowledge, engagement, and context during a study of this text.

The Important of Contextual World

ONE EXTENDED TEXT# SHORT TEXTS (THEMATICALLLY CONNECTED)SUGGESTED ASSESSMENTS

STANDARDS FOCUSGENRE FOCUSUNIT OUTLINE

Text Choices in Sample Units

https://extranet.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Documents/CCGPS_ELA_MODEL-UNIT-FRAMEWORKS.pdf

Begin with Your Grade-Level Curriculum Map

handout

Planning Template

Brainstorming• Form groups by the grade level of your greatest

interest/expertise• Choose a unit based on the guidelines from the

curriculum map for that grade• Sketch out a unit with themes, suggested extended

texts, shorter texts, and supplementary materials• If you would like, try formulating a prompt that could

assess student’s analytic comprehension of this reading

Share• Please share with the group the rationale for your

text choices and recommendations.• How do these choices enforce and enhance the

aims of the CCGPS?• What would be the best aspect of this unit and

what would be possible drawbacks?• Can you describe a performance task that would

effectively assess comprehension in this unit?

Existing Resources(help us spread the word)

http://prezi.com/xab9lov5ghj8/towards-a-digital-environment/?kw=view-xab9lov5ghj8&rc=ref-4551496

Top 5 Priorities forMedia Specialists Going Forward?