Understanding and Integrating Text Complexity in the classroom using the

1. Understanding and Integrating Text Complexity in the classroom using the Common Core State Standards

2. English Language Arts and Literacy: Core Concepts • Need increase in text complexity K-12, foster close reading of these texts, and perseverance, literacy owned across all content areas • Writing is primary, not secondary. Students should write about complex texts, not their summer vacation. Goal: foster fluent, flexible rhetorically agile writers • Creation and delivery of material orally highly valued as is collaboration with peers • Strategic use of digital resources, including research skills, is highly valued

3. The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). www.corestandards.org www.sde.idaho.gov

4. A focus on college and career readiness • Inclusion of the four strands of English Language Arts: • Reading • Literacy in History/Social Studies • Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12 • Writing • Literacy in History/Social Studies • Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12 • Speaking and Listening K-12 • Language K-12

5. Prepare for the CCSS English Language Arts: Four Things to Do Today! • Explore the new definition of text complexity and build test dependent questioning into instruction and assessment across content areas. I

6. Creating Text-Dependent Questions

7. Text-Dependent Questions • Can only be answered with evidence from the text. • Can be literal (checking for understanding) but must also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation. • Focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well as larger ideas, themes, or events. • Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency. • Can also include prompts for writing and discussion questions.

8. Non-Examples and Examples • Not Text-Dependent • 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? • Text-Dependent • 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?

9. A Guide to Creating Text-Dependent Questions Hand Out • Step 2 • Every child writing every day

10. Prepare for the CCSS English Language Arts: Four Things to Do Today! 3. Visit Common Core Tool Box • Unpacked standards • TIA – http://www.ed.isu.edu/depts/tia • Content area standard with CCSS applied

11. Prepare for the CCSS English Language Arts: Four Things to Do Today! 4. What’s on the NEW test? • Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium • Examples of test questions

12. Six Item Types • Selected Response • Constructed Response • Extended Response • Performance Tasks • Technology-Enabled • Technology-Enhanced

13. Selected ResponseSingle Response – Multiple Choice Many experts will tell you that television is bad for you. Yet this is an exaggeration. Many television programs today are specifically geared towards improving physical fitness, making people smarter, or teaching them important things about the world. The days of limited programming with little interaction are gone. Public television and other stations have shows about science, history, and technical topics. Which sentence should be added to the paragraph to state the author’s main claim? A. Watching television makes a person healthy. B. Watching television can be a sign of intelligence. C. Television can be a positive influence on people. D. Television has more varied programs than ever before.

14. Selected ResponseMultiple Correct Options Which of the following statements is a property of a rectangle? Select all that apply. ☐ Contains three sides ☐ Contains four sides ☐ Contains eight sides ☐ Contains two sets of parallel lines ☐ Contains at least one interior angle that is acute ☐ Contains at least one interior angle that is obtuse ☐ All interior angles are right angles ☐ All sides have the same length ☐ All sides are of different length

15. Constructed Response The table below shows the number of students in each third-grade class at Lincoln School. There are 105 fourth-grade students at Lincoln School. How many more fourth-grade students than third-grade students are at Lincoln School? Show or explain how you found your answer.

16. Constructed ResponseExtended Response Pen 1: Length: (feet, square feet) Width: (feet, square feet) Area: (feet, square feet) Pen 2: Length: (feet, square feet) Width: (feet, square feet) Area: (feet, square feet) • Ms. McCrary wants to make a rabbit pen in a section of her lawn. Her plan for the rabbit pen includes the following: • It will be in the shape of a rectangle. • It will take 24 feet of fence material to make. • Each side will be longer than 1 foot. • The length and width will measure whole feet. Pen 3: Length: (feet, square feet) Width: (feet, square feet) Area: (feet, square feet) Part A Draw 3 different rectangles that can each represent Ms. McCrary’s rabbit pen. Be sure to use all 24 feet of fence material for each pen. Use the grid below. Click the places where you want the corners of your rectangle to be. Draw one rectangle at a time. If you make a mistake, click on your rectangle to delete it. Continue as many times as necessary. • Part B • Ms. McCrary wants her rabbit to have more than 60 square feet of ground area inside the pen. She finds that if she uses the side of her house as one of the sides of the rabbit pen, she can make the rabbit pen larger. • Draw another rectangular rabbit pen. • Use all 24 feet of fencing for 3 sides of the pen. • Use one side of the house for the other side of the pen. • Make sure the ground area inside the pen is greater than 60 square feet. • Use the grid below. Click the places where you want the corners of your rectangle to be. If you make a mistake, click on your rectangle to delete it. Use your keyboard to type the length and width of each rabbit pen you draw. Then type the area of each rabbit pen. Be sure to select the correct unit for each answer. [Students will input length, width, and area for each rabbit pen. Students will choose unit from drop down menu.] Use your keyboard to type the length and width of each rabbit pen you draw. Then type the area of each rabbit pen. Be sure to select the correct unit for each answer. Length: (feet, square feet) Width: (feet, square feet) Area: (feet, square feet)

17. Performance Task • Student Directions: • Part 1 (35 minutes) • Your assignment: • You will read a short story and article, watch a video, review research statistics, and then write an argumentative essay about your opinion on virtual schools. • Steps you will be following: • In order to plan and compose your essay, you will do all of the following: • Read a short story and article, watch a video, and review research statistics. • Answer three questions about the sources. • Plan and write your essay. • Directions for beginning: • You will now read the sources and watch a video. Take notes, because you may want to refer back to your notes while writing your essay. You can refer back to any of the sources as often as you like. • (short story) • (article 1) • (video) • (research statistics) • Questions • Use your remaining time to answer the questions below. Your answers to these questions will be scored. Also, they will help you think about the sources you’ve read and viewed, which should help you write your essay. You may click on the appropriate buttons to refer back to the sources when you think it would be helpful. You may also refer to your notes. Answer the questions in the spaces provided below them. • Analyze the different opinions expressed in “The Fun They Had” and the “Virtual High School Interview” video. Use details from the story and the video to support your answer. • What do the statistics from “Keeping Pace with K–12 Online Learning” suggest about the current trends of virtual schools in the U.S.? Use details from the charts to support your answer. • Explain how the information presented in the “Virtual High School Interview” video and the article “Virtual Schools Not for Everyone” differs from the information in the research statistics? Support your answers with details from the video and the articles. • Part 2 (85 minutes) • You will now have 85 minutes to review your notes and sources, and to plan, draft, and revise your essay. You may also refer to the answers you wrote to the questions in part 1, but you cannot change those answers. Now read your assignment and the information about how your essay will be scored, then begin your work. • Your Assignment • Your parents are considering having you attend a virtual high school. Write an argumentative essay explaining why you agree or disagree with this idea. Support your claim with evidence from what you have read and viewed.

18. Technology-Enabled Selected or Constructed Responses that include Multimedia Brianna is running for class president. She needs to give a speech to the 4th grade class. Listen to the draft of her speech and then answer the questions that follow. (Test-takers listen to an audio version of the following speech.) “Hi, My name is Brianna. I am running for class president, and I hope you will vote for me. You know many of my friends said they would. I am involved in many activities, including track and theater. If I am elected, I will hold several fundraisers so that all students in the 4th grade can go on a trip at the end of the year. Also, we can donate a portion of the money to a charity of our choice. If you want a class president who will work hard for you and listen to your needs, please vote for me next week!” This speech needs to be revised before the student presents it. Which sentence should be omitted to improve the speech. A. I am running for class president, and I hope you will vote for me. B. You know many of my friends said they would. C. If I am elected, I will hold several fundraisers so that all students in the 4th grade can go on a trip at the end of the year. D. If you want a class president who will work hard for you and listen to your needs, please vote for me next week!”

19. Technology-Enhanced Collects Evidence through a Non-Traditional Response Below is a poem, a sonnet, in which the speaker discusses her feelings about a relationship. Read the poem and answer the question that follows. Remember by Christina Rossetti Remember me when I am gone away,          Gone far away into the silent land;          When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day 5          You tell me of our future that you plann'd:          Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while          And afterwards remember, do not grieve: 10          For if the darkness and corruption leave          A vestige* of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile          Than that you should remember and be sad.   In the sonnet “Remember,” which two lines reveals a change in the speaker’s message to her subject?

20. Technology-Enhanced Collects Evidence through a Non-Traditional Response The value of y is proportional the the value of x. The constant of proportionality for this relationship is 1. On the grid below, graph this proportional relationship.

21. Flawed Middle School Selected Response Example Item Grade: 6 Claim 2: Students can produce effective writing for a range of purposes and audiences. Target 9. EDIT/CLARIFY: Apply or edit grade-appropriate grammar usage and mechanics to clarify a message and edit narrative, informational, and argumentative texts DOK: 3 BELOW TESTED GRADE TOO HIGH Uncle Sam Uncle Sam has long been an iconic image symbolic of the United States of America. His lean frame, flowing ivory beard, top hat, and patriotic ensemble are known throughout the world. Some people adhere to the belief that a gentleman by the name of Samuel Wilson is responsible for Uncle Sam. Wilson lived in Troy New York, in the early 1800s and he ran an extremely successful business that delivered meat to the United States Army. The meat was delivered in barrels stamped with “U.S.” to indicate that they belonged to the United States government. Sam Wilson’s employees quipped to the soldiers that the emblem stood for “Uncle Sam.” The farce spread and soon, throughout the country, “Uncle Sam” became a synonym for “United States.” This paragraph has a sentence that contains errors. Which sentence needs to be edited? A. the last sentence B. the fourth sentence KEY C. the second sentence D. the sixth sentence HIGH READING LEVEL TOO CONFUSING ILLOGICAL ORDER

22. Well Written Middle School Selected Response Example Item Grade: 6 Claim 2: Students can produce effective writing for a range of purpose and audiences. Target 9. EDIT/CLARIFY: Apply or edit grade-appropriate grammar usage and mechanics to clarify a message and edit narrative, informational, and argumentative texts DOK: 2 NEW DOK Uncle Sam Have you seen pictures of Uncle Sam? He is a skinny man with a long white beard and a top hat. He usually wears the colors of the American flag: red, white, and blue. He has been a symbol of the United States for about two hundred years. Some people think that there was actually a real Uncle Sam, named Samuel Wilson. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early 1800s, he ran a business that delivered meat to the United States Army. The meat was delivered in barrels stamped “U.S.” The “U.S.” stamp was to show that it belonged to the United States government. The people delivering the meat knew that it came from Sam Wilson. They joked to the soldiers that the “U.S.” on the meat barrels stood for “Uncle Sam.” The joke spread. Soon, all over the country, “Uncle Sam” became another way of saying “United States.” Select the correct way to revise the highlighted sentence. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early 1800s. There he had ran a business that delivered meat to the United States Army. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early 1800s he ran a business that delivers meat to the United States Army. He lived in Troy, New York in the early 1800s, and he ran a business that delivered meat to the United States Army. In the early 1800s, Sam Wilson lived in Troy, New York, and ran a business that delivered meat to the United States Army. CORRECT READABILITY CLEAR WORDING

23. Flawed Middle School Constructed Response Example Item Grade: 7 Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts. Target 7. LANGUAGE USE: Interpret impact or intent of figurative language use (e.g., alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery), literary devices (e.g., flashback, foreshadowing), or connotative meanings of words and phrases used in context and their impact on reader interpretation DOK: 2 DOES NOT ALIGN The Fox and the Goat A Fox fell into a well, and though it was not very deep, he found that he could not get out again. After he had been in the well a long time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought the Fox had gone down to drink, so he asked if the water was good. "The finest in the whole country," said the crafty Fox, "jump in and try it. There is more than enough for both of us." The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in and began to drink. The Fox just as quickly jumped on the Goat's back. Then he leaped from the tip of the Goat's horns out of the well. The foolish Goat now saw what he had gotten into. He begged the Fox to help him out. What does the word crafty suggest about the Fox? NOT COMPLEX TOO EASY POOR CR WORDING

24. Well Written Middle School Constructed Response Example Item Grade: 7 Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts. Target 11. REASONING & EVIDENCE: Use supporting evidence to justify interpretations of information presented or how it is integrated (author’s reasoning; interactions among events, concepts, people, or development of ideas) DOK: 3 PROPER ALIGNMENT What is Mold? Mold is the common name for many kinds of tiny organisms called fungi. There are thousands of types of molds that can be found indoors and outdoors. Different molds grow in colonies. They live on dead organisms such as decaying plants and animals. They can also live on wood, brick, stone, food, fabric and books. Some molds even thrive on living organisms as parasites! Spores from mold growth can pose health risks. Some people are very sensitive to mold. Molds may cause a runny nose or itchy, watery eyes. Or mold may cause major concerns such as difficulty breathing, asthma attacks, infections, fever and major skin irritations. The best way to reduce and prevent mold growth is to control moisture. It is important to keep humidity levels low. It is important to reduce excess moisture that molds need to grow. People should repair leaks, completely remove any existing mold growth, and ventilate rooms that are prone to damp conditions. Outside, molds may grow in damp, shaded areas. People who are sensitive to molds should avoid such places. Explain why people who live in moist climates work harder to prevent mold than people who live in dry climates. Include details from the passage about how they prevent mold. APPROPRIATE COMPLEXITY PROPER CR WORDING

25. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Content Specifications for ELA is a bridge document linking the CCSS to the Smarter Balanced assessment claims and targets. Claim #1 – Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts. Claim #2 – Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences. Claim #3 – Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences. Claim #4 – Students can engage in research/inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.

26. The rubric for literary text and the rubric for informational text allow educators to evaluate the important elements of text that are often missed by computer software that tends to focus on more easily measured factors.

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