Curriculum UpdateSecondary English Language Arts and

Reading

January 28, 2011

TITLECritics’ Corner

Critics’ Corner• Units too crammed full

of stories• Too much to cover• Grammar disjointed

We Heard You! Teacher Overview

• Genre• Reading Skills• Writing Skills• ECOS Selections• Removed the

listening/speaking/media tech.

We Heard You! Vocabulary Priorities

Vocabulary Building – stems that need to be explicitly taught

Academic Vocabulary – words that are frequently used in academic settings – these words should be emphasized

Content-Specific Vocabulary – words that are specific to ELAR - these words should be emphasized

Vocabulary in Context – has been omitted – you determine which words need to be emphasized

We Heard You!

• TEKS, ELPS, and CCRS, will be moved to another document.• Listening, Speaking, Media

and Tech included in new document.

We Heard You! High School Changes• Guiding questions have

been removed. Objectives only are listed.• We’ve begun highlighting

the supporting and readiness standards.

Now Playing…

STAAR TEST

How will the S.T.A.A.R.

test be formatted?

Now Playing…

ELAR TEKSReadiness Standards

Supporting Standards

Untested

To resize chart data range, drag lower right corner of range.

60-65%

10%35-40%

Coming Attractions

STAAR TESTReadiness Standards

Supporting Standards30-40%

60-70%

Let’s follow one path…

ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Writing Test DesignGrades 4 and 7 and High School

• Assessments at grades 4 and 7 administered over two days; writing component of English I, II, and III administered on Day 1 of test (with reading component on Day 2)

• Field tests embedded for grade 7 and English I, II, and III

• No thematic link between the reading and the writing test in high school

• Abbreviated stand-alone field test for grade 4 every three years

Open-Ended Response

• Body of evidence—they don’t have to support everything they say.

• If they do get a literal response (i.e. “they both served in Viet Nam,” “they were both old”), then they cannot get a 2.

• They must make a non-literal connection.

Open-Ended Response

• Shorter rubric—looking for strong, implicit connection

• They may not write outside the box or double space. They get 10 lines—plenty of room to make a 3. Only first 10 lines will be scored.

• One 2 OERs that count (3 total, but one is a field test)—one will be a single piece and one will be a crossover. The field test will be one or the other .

Open-Ended Response

• Adjusted 2/3 line—5% 3s on field test

• Short answer will be about 1/3 of the reading score—right now it’s 24%

Now Playing…

Textbook committee will recommend Prentice Hall’s Writing Coach.

The Board will be asked to approve the choice at the February meeting.

Now Playing…

Literature Advisory Committee• Currently reading Into the Wild• Currently reading Watson’s Go to Birmingham

• Remember to do a rationale to any book new to BISD

Coming Attractions

Curriculum—This Fall• The curriculum for 5th

and 6th six weeks is being written right now.• We will post as we get it

finished.

Coming Attractions

Curriculum—This Summer• We will survey ELAR teachers to

find out what changes we need to make.

• We will revise the first semester, add resources and integrate the new writing/ grammar book.

• We will try to write a Deep Reading unit for all of the common novels.

Coming Attractions

We will monitor and adjust all that we do based on:

• The new state budget• The new STAAR test• Our new leadership

Coming Attractions

Theme: Curriculum Matters• We should have four full days next

year with our ALTS.• All ELAR teachers will be given a

Needs Assessment this spring to determine what sessions to offer during those days.

• We will have ALT time to work with colleagues.