Mid-Del Schools--August, 2012

CCSSInformational Writing

Grades 3-5

The Basics

Common Core State Standards English Language Arts Math

• Oklahoma C3 StandardsSocial StudiesScience

PARCC Model Content Frameworks

PARCC Content FrameworksGrade 3

PARCC Content FrameworksGrade 4

PARCC Content FrameworksGrade 5

Benchmark Assessment

No multiple choice Reading Benchmarks this year

Benchmark Writing Assessments in November and March

Practice Writing Assessments are on the District Curriculum webpage.

Benchmark Writing Assessments

November will be an informative prompt; March will be opinion.

Both assessments will be holistically scored by teachers at the site.

Training on the scale (rubric) can be done during planning periods or after school, whichever is best for teachers. Training will be most effective if a practice test is used, either one on the website or one developed by teachers.

Please Schedule

August--Inservice on Information Writing

October--Inservice on Holistic Scoring for informational writing.

This can be scheduled for grade level planning periods or after school, one grade level at a time. It is best if there is a common practice assessment that has been given to the grade level.

January--Inservice on Opinion Writing

February--Inservice on Holistic Scoring for Opinion Writing.

Informative Writing

from PARCC Model Content Frameworks for ELA Literacy:

While narrative writing is given prominence in early grades, as the grade level increases, the standards shift the focus to writing arguments or informational pieces that analyze sources. Studies show that learning to present important information in an organized piece of writing helps students generate a deeper understanding of a text. Indeed, whether taking notes or answering questions about a text, or crafting a summary or an extended response regarding what they have read, students improve both their reading comprehension and their writing skills when writing in response to texts.

Graham, S., and M. A. Hebert. 2010. Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Close Reading

Close reading is a careful and purposeful rereading of a text. It focuses on what the author has to say, what the author’s purpose is, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us.

In a close reading, we have to have students reread the text. We give them text dependent questions that require that they go back into the text and search for answers. These aren’t simply recall questions, but rather questions that allow students to think about the text, the author’s purpose, the structure, and the flow of the text.

Dr. Douglas Fisher

Close Reading--I Do

• To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students need to learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. They learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and they begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose. They develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing, producing numerous pieces over short and extended time frames throughout the year.

Note on range and content of student writing (Introduction to CCSS Writing Standards, K-5)

Questions

What kind of writing is being discussed in this note?

How should the writer decide what format to use and how long to make the writing?

Using 15 words or less, write the main idea of this paragraph.

Close Reading--We Do

The Standards acknowledge the fact that whereas some writing skills, such as the ability to plan, revise, edit, and publish, are applicable to many types of writing, other skills are more properly defined in terms of specific writing types: arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives. Standard 9 stresses the importance of the writing-reading connection by requiring students to draw upon and write about evidence from literary and informational texts. Because of the centrality of writing to most forms of inquiry, research standards are prominently included in this strand, though skills important to research are infused throughout the document.

Questions

Two types of writing skills are described in the first sentence. What is the essential difference between these two types of skills?

In your own words, explain the writing-reading connection. Describe how evidence works within this connection

W

Close Reading--You Do

Group 1--Read the first paragraph. Put into your own words what this paragraph’s meaning is. How will this be different from what you have done in the past?

Group 2--To demonstrate your understanding of routine writing, write down as many examples of routine writing that you can think of.

Group 3--Based on what you have read, explain what is meant by logical integration and coherence. Why would the ability to paraphrase and infer be important in analytical writing?

Group 4--Explain the term “purposeful imitation.” How can narrative writing deepen understanding of literary concepts, structures, and genres?

Complex Text

Levels of meaning or purpose, structure, language and clarity, knowledge demands

Word length, sentence length, text cohesion (lexile)

Motivation, knowledge, and experience of reader; purpose and complexity of task assigned and questions posed.

Critical Components of Writing InstructionComplex Text

Modeling (I Do, We Do, You Do)

Chunking/Close Reading

Other Critical Components:

DiscussionDiscussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led)

Speaking and Listening 3.1.b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

Other Critical Components:Notetaking

Note taking is especially helpful with non-traditional texts such as videos, photographs and recordings.

Cornell Notes (two column notes)

Thinking Maps

English Companion (a plethora of ideas)

Finding Complex Texts

Achieve 3000 (Kid Biz)

The Internet

Newspapers and magazines

Short texts with Curriculum ties

Third Grade

Boomtown--Tie to Oklahoma History

• Fourth Grade

Because of Winn-Dixie--Tie to bears (science) and to US regional geography (polar bears, grizzly bears, black bears)

•Fifth Grade

Thunder Rose-Measuring Tornados--Tie to lightning, lightning rods, Benjamin Franklin

Questioning/ Writing Prompts

Grade 3: Describe the differences between oil boomtowns in the early 1900’s and oil boomtowns today. Use evidence from the passage to support your ideas.

Grade 4: There are three species of bear in North America--The Grizzley Bear, the Black Bear, and the Polar Bear. Using evidence from the texts, write about whether each is an endangered species or not, and why.

Grade 5: Explain what a lightening rod is, and how Benjamin Franklin took the lightning rod from a good idea to a successful invention.