Text Complexity and Academic Vocabulary Tully 7-12 Catie Reeve Phyllis Litzenberger March 21, 2014 Common Core Literacy Shifts 1. Balancing Informational & Literary Texts (Grades PK-5) 2. Knowledge in the Disciplines (Grades 6-12) 3. Staircase of Complexity 4. Text-based Answers 5. Writing from Sources 6. Academic Vocabulary Common Core Literacy Shifts 1. Building Knowledge Through Content Rich Nonfiction 2. Regular Practice with Complex Text and Its Academic Language 3. Reading and Writing Grounded in Evidence From Text, Both Literary and Informational Current Understanding In your grade level teams, discuss your current understanding of the Staircase of Complexity and Academic Vocabulary shifts. On your tables… • Common Core Learning Standards • Appendix A • Supplemental Information for Appendix A • Why Complex Texts Matter- David Liben • Selection of Authentic Texts for Common Core Instruction: Guidance and a List of Resources for Text Selection Know/Need to Know What questions do you have? What are you wondering about the role of text complexity and academic vocabulary within a common core aligned curriculum ? Common Understanding Create common grade-level definitions of the Staircase of Complexity and Academic Vocabulary shifts and record them on chart paper. Why complex texts? Why complex texts? Appendix A • Research indicates that: • … while the reading demands of college, workforce training programs, and citizenship have held steady or risen over the past fifty years or so, K-12 texts have, if anything, become less demanding. • Too many students reading at too low of a level. (Less than 50% of high school graduates can read sufficiently complex texts.) • What students can read, in terms of complexity, is greatest predictor of success in college (2006 ACT study) Increasing the staircase of Complexity Standard 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. Standard 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it… What Kinds of Complex Text? Literature Story grammar: characters, setting, plot – problem, important events, solutionand theme Fictional Narratives Poetry Text Genres Grades 6-12 ELA and Literacy in History / Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects _________________ Balancing Informational and Literary Texts Informational Text “…the Standards demand that a significant amount of reading of informational texts take place in and outside the ELA classroom … Because the ELA classroom must focus on literature … as well as literary nonfiction, a great deal of informational reading in grades 6– 12 must take place in other classes.” Predominantly expository structures with: print features and captions, table of contents, index, diagrams, glossary, and tables ~New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for ELA and Literacy (p. 5) Drama Narrative Structures Expository Structures The standards emphasize arguments and other literary nonfiction, built on informational (expository) text structures, rather than narrative literary nonfiction that are structured as stories (such as memoirs or biographies) Created by Denise Alterio, Judy Carr, and Lynn Miller, Sullivan County BOCES, June 2012 Short Stories Novels Myths/Fables/Tales Sonnets Free Verse Limericks Haiku Comedy Tragedy Melodrama Farce Biography Autobiography Memoir Description Sequence or Time / Order Compare and Contrast Cause and Effect Problem / Solution Essays Speeches Opinion Pieces Journalism Historical, Scientific and Other Documents for a Broad Audience Measuring text complexity: The three-part model Quantitative • Computer Software Qualitative • Human Reader Reader and Task • Our students and what we ask of them Quantitative measures • Readability formulas that measure… • Word frequency • Word length • Sentence length • Text length • Text cohesion ANYTHING THAT CAN BE COUNTED! Text complexity bands Text Complexity Grade Bands in the Standards Old Lexile Ranges Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR expectations K-1 N/A N/A 2-3 450-725 420-820 4-5 645-845 740-1010 6-8 860-1010 925-1185 9-10 960-1115 1050-1335 11-CCR 1070-1220 1185-1385 www.lexile.com Quantitative Measures Remember, however, that the quantitative measure is only the first part of the text complexity triangle. Quantitative measures should never be used in isolation! The quantitative measure may be validated, influenced, or even over-ruled by our examination of qualitative measures and the reader and task considerations. Qualitative Measures “…those aspects of text complexity best measured or only measurable by an attentive human reader…” CCSS, Appendix A, p. 4 • Density and Complexity • Levels of meaning • Explicitly or implicitly stated purpose • • • • Figurative language Familiarity Vocabulary Sentence structure • • • • • • Meaning and Purpose Structure Language Knowledge Demands Simplicity Conventionality Genre Organization Narration Text features and graphics •Life Experience •Cultural Knowledge •Content Knowledge •Intertextuality Literary rubric Informational rubric Qualitative features of text complexity explained Group work • Get into groups of 3 or 4. Make sure your group contains at least one member from each discipline (ELA, Science and Social Studies). • Discuss the qualitative features of text (Purpose, Structure, Language, Knowledge Demands). What questions do you have? Attempt to answer them within your group. • What specific qualities make a text more complex within each feature? Evaluating text • With a partner practice using the rubrics by analyzing at least one text from the selection in the folder at your table. • Discuss your results with your table group. ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Importance of Vocabulary Other Factors 26% Vocabulary 74% Up to 74% of a student’s reading comprehension depends his understanding of the vocabulary. Academic Vocabulary Tier One • Words of everyday speech Tier Two • Not specific to any one academic area • Generally not well-defined by context or explicitly defined within a text • Wide applicability to many types of reading Tier Three • Domain specific • Low-frequency • Often explicitly defined • Usually heavily scaffolded • Knowledge of the language of a discipline is necessary for student success in a subject. • Words work differently in different disciplines (e.g., “function,”) • Each discipline has their own set of words to represent their valued concepts and literacy processes. EngageNY.org Academic Language Antonacci & O’ Callaghan (2011) 27 Academic Vocabulary in ELA Tier 3 Words 28 Tier 2 Words archetype summons epic poetry affirmative mythology titanic Odyssey disintegration Academic Vocabulary in History Tier 3 Words 29 Tier 2 Words abolition inclined radical aggressive secede sublime martial law convictions Academic Vocabulary in Science Tier 3 Words 30 Tier 2 Words cell membrane buzzes cell wall crammed nucleus shuttling cytoplasm cranking How to Build Academic Language • Make It Intentional • Make It Transparent • Make vocabulary instruction explicit through effective questioning, modeling, and instruction that builds understanding of the word AND the text. EngageNY.org • Select high-leverage, meaningful vocabulary for explicit, studentcentered, instruction. • Make It Useable • Provide regular opportunities for students to practice with highleverage vocabulary in writing tasks and in discussion about text. • Make It Personal • Provide a volume, and variety of independent reading that includes both fiction and non-fiction texts. (adapted from Fisher, 2008) 31 Two Aspects of Vocabulary Amount of Instructional Time • Words that need more time: abstract, have multiple meanings, and/or are a part of a word family • Words that need less time: concrete or describe events/processes/ideas/concepts/experiences that are familiar to students EngageNY.org 32 Context • Words students can figure out from content • Words for which the definition needs to be provided Misconception Alert! • Spending time on words doesn’t mean copying dictionary definitions • Commit to text-based word work 34 • Select words critical to understanding the text. • Select words critical to the disciplinary thinking we do with text. EngageNY.org • License to ignore some words doesn’t mean ignore ALL words. 35 • Vocabulary Analysis of an text. • Read the excerpt. • Annotate for vocabulary words potentially challenging to your students. • Share your list with a partner. • In pairs, prioritize your words by placing your annotated words on the blank Academic Vocabulary Quadrant Chart. EngageNY.org Try This: Text Analysis • • • Open-ended Text-dependent Analyzes word relationships • Explicit modeling of textual analysis. MISCONCEPTION ALERTS: Questioning and modeling aren’t “transmitting.” Students must do the work of learning. (Marzano & Pickering 2005; Nagy, 1989; Nagy & Scott, 2000; Paribakht & Wesche, 1997) 36 • Effective questioning of the language in the text: EngageNY.org Transparent Approaches Useable Approaches • Use high-leverage vocabulary in discussion tasks • Discuss language use MISCONCEPTION ALERTS: Writing and talking about vocabulary does not mean writing and reciting definitions. Use vocabulary to think, write, and talk about the text. 37 • Quick write prompts, collaborative writing tasks, assessments EngageNY.org • Using high-leverage vocabulary in writing tasks In Action… • Teaching Academic and Scientific Vocabulary- Common Core Literacy Vocabulary Strategies •Frayer Model •Semantic Mapping •Semantic Feature Analysis •Linear Arrays Frayer Model Semantic Mapping Semantic Feature Analysis Linear Arrays WRITING FROM SOURCES SUBSHIFTS Common Core Literacy Shifts 1. Balancing Informational & Literary Texts (Grades PK-5) 2. Knowledge in the Disciplines (Grades 6-12) 3. Staircase of Complexity 4. Text-based Answers 5. Writing from Sources 6. Academic Vocabulary Writing from Sources Subshifts Subshift A Work with sources Subshift B Grapple with complex text and content; leverage academic vocabulary Subshift C Emphasize questioning, inquiry, and explaining understanding rather than defense Subshift D Follow inquiry process: questions, sources, information, scope and plan product Subshift E Use technology and other minds Subshift F Repeat Writing from Sources Writing needs to emphasize the use of evidence to inform or make an argument rather than personal narrative or decontextualized prompts. Writing from Sources While narrative still has an important role, students develop skills through written arguments that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented in the texts they read. ELA/Literacy Shift 5: Writing from Sources Our Students Need to… • Generate more informational text • Organize evidence to support a claim • Compare evidence from multiple sources • Make arguments using evidence So We Need to… • Spend less time on personal narrative • Present opportunities to write from multiple sources • Give opportunities to analyze and synthesize ideas • Develop student’ ability to argue a point with evidence • Give students permission to reach their own conclusions about what they read and articulate those conclusions Writing Progressions 50 EngageNY.org Productive Inquiry Productive Inquiry “In essence, the standards and the tests that will assess them are expecting that students become researchers – not graphic organizer filler-in-ers, not text copiers, but independently thinking, curious , and rigorous researchers…” “…Taking time to teach students to research well is taking time to teach them the skills of the standards. Teaching students to research well is teaching them to learn well.” Christopher Lehman, Energize Research Reading & Writing, p.3 All roads lead to research! Why do Core Research? Our students need to be able to find, evaluate, and apply information now. More importantly, the ability to research and to express an understanding of it are authentic college and career ready skills. How is Core Research different? The focus is on inquiry-based research. It’s about research to help students deepen their understanding of a topic and support them as they express that understanding. It’s not about searching for information to support conclusions we’ve already made. How is Core Research different? Inquiry Coverage • Attitude of question and reflecting with cognition • Start with a question • Investigation is open • Center is within student • Answers involving building ideas • Messy, recursive • Open-ended • Teacher selection and direction • Assigned topics and isolated facts • Student as information receiver • Reliance on a textbook • Hearing about a discipline • One subject at a time From Barbara K. Stripling “Inquiry-Based Learning.” Curriculum Connections through the Library From Barbara K. Stripling “Inquiry-Based Learning.” Curriculum Connections through the Library Inquiry Skills and Strategies • Connect: Initiate Inquiry • Wonder: Generate Questions • Investigate: Gather Information • Construct: Deepen Understanding and Finalize Inquiry • Express: Develop and Communicate Evidence-Based Perspectives • REFLECT Thank you! Before you go, please fill out an evaluation form. Have a great weekend!