IRT Meeting: October 14, 2011

Morning Session Notes – Six Shifts in the English Language Arts Common Core Standards

Job and Meeting Expectations:

  • The meeting schedule will stay the same this year (a.m.-common core; p.m.-learning rotations/PLT’s) because in the surveys from last year, this type of schedule is what we indicated we wanted, but please continue to give your feedback of how it’s going

1.If you can’t be at your PLT in the afternoon (pick up kids at their school, etc.) please let someone from the C&I team know

Understanding the Six Shifts in the English Language Common Core Standards:

  • Video clip –

1.This link and all links are embedded in the PPT that will be posted on the Wiki

  • How can we help insure the future success for our students?

1.21st Century Skills (global awareness)

2.Shift in teaching the “what” to HOW they get to the “what”

  • Handout: K-12 College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards

1.What is your current understanding of the English Language Arts Common Core Standards?

  • Strategy for taking a closer look at the shifts: Handouts: “The 6 Shifts: Understanding and Making Meaning” and “Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy”

1.What does it say? (literal level)

  • Comes directly from the text

2.What does it mean? (interpretation level)

3.What does it matter? (reflection)

  • 6 Shifts in the Standards:

1.PK-5, balancing informational text and literary text (video clip about this shift)

  • What is meant by balancing literary and informational text? (table talk)
  • This sounds like it’s similar to teaching “units” like how it was taught back in the 80’s and 90’s.
  • “Being a tour guide to the world will help our students to become better readers”
  • Don’t just show videos or go on field trips; have to engage students in actual text to teach them
  • We need to have students “dig deeper” into topics in order to get that high level of thinking
  • We need to be conscious that reading about a topic in science won’t take the place of lab work (hands on) to learn more about the topic
  • What does it mean?
  • Students need a balance of informational and literary texts. We must provide those opportunities and texts.
  • What does it matter?
  • If we are preparing students for college and career, then we must make sure that they can read informational text. We have to shift our focus in elementary.
  • Implications for beginning the shift….
  • Create a tool to evaluate available texts at the school level
  • Brainstorm ways to acquire next texts at the school level
  • WCPSS Library Sales at the Fairgrounds: February 17-20
  • May want to talk to your media specialist about getting tickets for this

2.6-12, building knowledge in the disciplines

  • Day 3 of RttT will be looking at content area, K-12

3.Staircase of complexity (refer to handouts again), (video clip)

  • What does this say? (literal level)
  • Have students engage in much more complex text in order to prepare students for college and career readiness
  • ie: if you have to read a manual on how to operate heavy machinery, this text is very complex and without that experience, our students will not understand this as adults
  • Read less…more closely. Take opportunities to slow down and read.
  • You have to have discipline of really engaging with the text yourself. This level of teaching is going to require very careful attention to text on the part of teachers.
  • What does it mean?
  • What does it matter?
  • Implications for beginning the shift…
  • CMAPP and/or curriculum documents
  • Think how to engage all learners and readers so that they have full access to grade level content knowledge
  • This could be a good PLT conversation to have right now

4.Text based answers (video clip)

  • What does this say?
  • Students need to refer to the text for evidence to support their argument/conversation
  • They need to get in the habit of asking “Where in the text did you see that?”, “What did the author have to say about that?”
  • Handout: “Text-based Q & A”, excerpt from “A Quilt of a Country”
  • Read the excerpt and look at the questions
  • The questions require you to go back into the text and have a certain level of vocabulary understanding
  • These aren’t necessarily questions that we’re going to write the answers to, but questions that will evoke rich conversations.
  • Handout: “Synthesis”
  • A guide to help students go deeply into the text
  • What are the questions worth asking?
  • The ones that are going to make our students think more critically
  • Bloom’s Taxonomy
  • Move away from “right there” questions
  • How does text-based questioning compare to the literal “in the text” questioning?
  • We’ve done this already with “fat/skinny” questions so this doesn’t seem to be as much of a shift as some of the other ones
  • Metacognitive skills are very important to be able to have these rich conversations about what a student has just read.
  • Must make students more accountable to finding evidence in the text
  • What does this mean?
  • What does this matter?
  • Implications for beginning the shift…..
  • Work on questioning and alignment with text
  • Work on rigor of questioning

5.Writing from sources (video clip)

  • What does this say?
  • Students need to experience the kind of writing that will be required of them in college and work
  • Ability to write from multiple sources on one topic is very important – to be able to synthesize the information
  • ie: being a citizen when it’s time to vote is a good example of using this skill because you have to synthesize what the candidates are saying in order to help you make your decision on who you will vote for
  • Being able to tell about something in a book is such an important skill to have
  • Find ways to find that style of writing that comes from evidence
  • What is the importance of the reading/writing connection?
  • Why is this shift important for college/career readiness?
  • What does this mean?
  • What does this matter?
  • Implications for beginning the shift……
  • Writer’s Workshop is the perfect set up
  • Look closer at units of study

6.Academic Vocabulary

  • What does it say?
  • Choosing the words to teach and being strategic in selecting the words we want to teach
  • Tier 1: most basic words
  • ie: clock, baby, happy
  • Tier 2: high-frequency words from mature language users
  • ie: coincidence, industrious
  • we should be using these words the most
  • Tier 3: low-frequency word
  • ie: isotope, peninsula
  • When choosing words, think about…
  • Instructional potential
  • Conceptual understanding
  • Importance and utility
  • Handout: “Academic Vocabulary”
  • Look at “A Quilt of a Country” underline words that are Tier 2 words
  • Notion, equal, disparate, conquering, improbable, ideal
  • Choose the 3 or 4 words that we think are most important for our students to know
  • Strategic thinking and careful planning are very important
  • Implications for beginning the shift…..
  • What structures will support this shift?
  • The Daily Café
  • Writer’s Workshop
  • Curriculum and document revisions