MAKING SENSE OF THE APPENDICES AND THE EXPLANATIONS AND

EXAMPLES DOCUMENT

Arizona’s Common Core StandardsEnglish Language Arts

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Claudia Gaxiola

GoalArticulate the research in Appendix A that supports the need for increased text complexity

Identify in Appendix B grade level text samples and performance tasks

Build awareness of the exemplars of student writing in Appendix C

Understand the purpose and intended use of the Explanations and Examples Document.

APPENDICES AND ALIGNMENT DOCUMENT

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Essential Questions1.Why is there a need for increased text complexity?

2.What is text complexity and what are its components?3.Where would examples of appropriate text complexity for specific grade levels be found? How should scaffolding be used?4.How might the annotated writing samples be used by leadership and classroom teachers?

5.How might the Explanations and Examples Document be used to support teachers?

APPENDICES AND ALIGNMENT DOCUMENT

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Research Supporting Key Elements of the

Standards

Glossary of Key Terms4

APPENDIX A

RESEARCH SUPPORTING KEY ELEMENTS OF THE STANDARDS

Appendix A

Reading: Text Complexity Pages 2-16

Reading: Foundational Skills Pages17-22

Writing Pages 23-25

Speaking and Listening Pages 26-27

Language Pages 28-31

Vocabulary Pages 32-35

Bibliography and Glossary of Key Terms Pages 36-43

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Appendix A:• Articulates the research that supports the need for

increased text complexity K-12.

Appendix B: • Applies understanding of text complexity to

identify grade level text samples and corresponding performance tasks.

Appendix C:•Identifies exemplars of student writing.

APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A: THE BIG PICTURE

“Take a walk” through Appendix A

First Thoughts? Usefulness? Surprises?

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APPENDIX A: THE BIG PICTURE

Reading• The Standards’ Approach to Text Complexity• Key considerations in Implementing Text

Complexity• The Standards’ Grade-Specific Text

Complexity Demands• The Model in Action: Sample Annotated

Reading Texts• Reading Foundational Skills

WritingSpeaking and ListeningLanguageVocabulary

Appendix A

Pages 2-5

JIGSAW

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ACTIVITY 1 - HANDOUT: WHAT IS TEXT COMPLEXITY AND WHY

DOES TEXT COMPLEXITY NEED TO INCREASE?

What does the research tell us?What is the need for increased text complexity?

Materials: Appendix A pp 2-5

Jigsaw Why Text Complexity Matters (p 2) College, Careers, and Citizenship: Steady or Increasing Complexity of Texts and Tasks

(p 2-3) K-12 Schooling: Declining Complexity of Texts…(p 3) The Consequences: Too Many Students Reading at Too Low a Level

Assign a section to each member at your table. Share your findings.

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Overview of Text Complexity

Reading Standards include exemplar texts (stories and literature, poetry, and informational texts) that illustrate appropriate level of complexity by grade.

Text complexity is defined by:

Qua

litat

ive

1. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language

conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

Quantitative

2. Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity

Reader and Task

3. Reader and Task – background knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned

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TEXT COMPLEXITYTEXT COMPLEXITY

Qualitative dimensions of text complexity are bestmeasured or only measurable by an attentive humanreader. Dimensions include• meaning or purpose• structure• language conventionality• clarity• knowledge demands

Knowledge Demands: Life Experiences (literary texts)• Simple theme → Complex or sophisticated themes

Knowledge Demands: Cultural/Literary Knowledge (chiefly literary texts)•Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions required → Cultural and literary knowledge useful

Knowledge Demands: Content/Discipline Knowledge (chiefly informational texts)• Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions

required → Extensive, perhaps specialized discipline-specific content knowledge required

QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF TEXT COMPLEXITY

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Page 6

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Levels of Meaning (literary texts) or Purpose (informational texts)• Explicitly stated purpose → Implicit purpose, may be

hidden or obscure

Structure• Explicit → Implicit

Language Conventionality and Clarity• Literal → Figurative or ironic

QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF TEXT COMPLEXITY

Page 6

ACTIVITY RESPOND TO THE QUESTION:

HOW DO THE QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS HELP TEACHERS ADDRESS RIGOR AND HIGHER ORDER

THINKING SKILLS?

1. On page six in Appendix A, read the list of Qualitative Dimensions.

2. Talk about one or two of the dimensions with your partner.

3. How could the dimensions affect classroom instruction?

*If publishers don’t address this, as professionals, we must.

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Quantitative Dimensions refer to:word lengthword frequencysentence length text cohesion

These are difficult, if not impossible, for a human reader to evaluate efficiently, especially in long texts. Today they are typically measured by computer software.

QUANTITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF TEXT QUANTITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF TEXT COMPLEXITYCOMPLEXITY

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These decisions are best made by teachers who employ their professional judgment, experience, and knowledge of their students and the subject.

Variables specific to reader’s •Motivation•Knowledge•Experiences

READER & TASK CONSIDERATIONSREADER & TASK CONSIDERATIONS

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Students reading well above and well below grade-band levels need

additional support.

Many students on course for college and career readiness are likely to need scaffolding as they master higher levels of text complexity.

READER AND TASK SUPPORT READER AND TASK SUPPORT

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• It is important to recognize that scaffolding often is entirely appropriate, particularly with challenging texts.

• The general movement, however, should be toward decreasing scaffolding and increasing independence both within and across the text complexity bands defined in the Standards.

SCAFFOLDING

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TEXT COMPLEXITY ACTIVITY

Great whirling storms roar out of the oceans in many parts of the world. They are called by several names-hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are the three most familiar ones. But no matter what they are called, they are all the same sort of storm. They are born in the same way, in tropical waters. They develop the same way, feeding on warm, moist air.

And they do the same kind of damage, both ashore and at sea. Other storms may cover a bigger area or have higher winds, but none can match both the size and the fury of hurricanes. They are earth’s mightiest storms.

Like all storms, they take place in the atmosphere, the envelope of air that surrounds the earth and presses on its surface. The pressure at any one place is always changing. There are days when air is sinking and the atmosphere presses harder on the surface. These are the times of high pressure. There are days when a lot of air is rising and the atmosphere does not press down as hard. These are times of low pressure. Low-pressure areas over warm oceans give birth to hurricanes.

From Lauber, Patricia. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Excerpt from “The Making of a Hurricane.”

TEXT COMPLEXITY

Text complexity is an important component of the new standards, how would you

explain it to a parent?

ThinkShare

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WRITING

• Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing

• Writing about sources

• Students are required to adapt their writing to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks

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Pg. 23

LISTENING AND READING COMPREHENSION BY AGE

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Pg. 26

LANGUAGE

• Acquisition of general academic and domain-specific vocabulary

• Knowledge of Language• Conventions

Progressive Skill DevelopmentSkills should be mastered in the year they are

introduced. (example)• K-3 Simple, Past Present and Future Verb

Tenses• 4-5 Progressive and Perfect Tenses• 8th Active and Passive Voice

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Pg. 29

APPENDIX B Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks

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BACKGROUND- APPENDIX B:

TEXT EXEMPLARS AND SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASKS

Selecting Text ExemplarsExemplars are useful guideposts.

• Complexity

• Quality

• Range

Page 2

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SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASKS

•Text exemplars are supplemented by brief performance tasks.

•Tasks illustrate specifically the application of the Standards to texts of sufficient complexity, quality, and range.

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SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASKS

Students (with prompting and support from the teacher) describe the relationship between key events of the overall story of Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik to the corresponding scenes illustrated by Maurice Sendak. [RL.K.7]

Students describe how the narrator’s point of view in Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion influences how events are described and how the reader perceives the character of Alexander Ramsay, Jr. [RL.5.6]

Students summarize the development of the morality of Tom Sawyer in Mark Twain’s novel of the same name and analyze its connection to themes of accountability and authenticity by noting how it is conveyed through characters, setting, and plot. [RL.8.2]

Students analyze how Michael Shaara in his Civil War novel The Killer Angels creates a sense of tension and even surprise regarding the outcome of events at the Battle of Gettysburg through pacing, ordering of events, and the overarching structure of the novel. [RL.9–10.5]

Pg. 61

APPENDIX B: ORGANIZATION

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K-1

2-3 4-5 6-8 9-10

11-CCR

Stories √ √ √ √ √ √

Poetry √ √ √ √ √ √

Read-Aloud Stories √ √

Read-Aloud Poetry √ √

Informational Texts √ √ √

Read-Aloud Informational Texts

√ √

Drama √ √ √

Informational Texts: ELA √ √ √

Informational Texts: History/Social Studies

√ √ √

Informational Texts: Science, Mathematics, Technical Subjects

√ √ √

Pg. 4

•Does my reading program have the appropriate level of text complexity?

•How would I know?

•What are examples of appropriate text complexity for specific grade levels?

ACTIVITY 5TOURING THE TITLES

RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONS

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ACTIVITY 5TOURING THE TITLES

RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONS

Appendix A: Pages 4-16Appendix B: Table of ContentsHighlighters

1. At your tables, highlight titles currently being used in your grade level.

2. Using a different colored highlighter, identify titles that have been moved from your level to another grade.

3. What “AHAS” and “UH-OHS” did you observe?

What you need

APPENDIX C

Samples of Student Writing

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Writing samples:

Annotated to illustrate the criteria required to meet the standards

Samples include the following types of writing at all grade levels:

• Argument (“opinion” writing in K-4)

• Informative/explanatory

• Narrative

Demonstrate the lowest level of quality required to meet the Writing standards for that grade level

SAMPLES OF STUDENT WRITING

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WRITING SAMPLES: KINDERGARTEN

K.W.1 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and states an opinion or preference about the topic or book.

Find the Student Sample: K, Argument (Opinion) in your Handout Section.

Annotations refer back to the standards

The writer of this piece

Tells the reader the name of the book (in the title of the paper).

My fabit (favorite) Book is do you Want to be my FRIEND

States an opinion or preference about the book.

. . . My fait (favorite) pot (part) is the hos (horse)34

Standards Pg. 19

Appendix C Pg. 6

Read through the student writing samples from your grade level band.

Discuss how the annotated writing samples might be used by leadership, classroom, and content teachers.

ACTIVITY TAKE A PEEK!

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THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS EXPLANATIONS AND EXAMPLES

DOCUMENT

A Brief History:

•Crosswalk•Alignment Document•Explanations and Examples Document

Explanations and Examples are the result of two efforts including ADE/ELA committee work and a national perspective from commoncore.org.

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CODING: QUICK REVIEW

1.RL.1

RL.1.1

Grade Level

Strand:Reading Literature

Standard 1

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DESIGN OF DOCUMENT

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DESIGN OF DOCUMENT

Clusters are a category of College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards.

For example under the Reading Literature (RL) Strand, the clusters are:

1. Key Ideas and Details2. Craft and Structure3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas4. Range of Reading and Level of Text

Complexity

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GRADE K EXPLANATIONS AND EXAMPLES

GRADE 2 EXPLANATIONS AND EXAMPLES

Explanations and Examples Document

Individually- Summarize what you have learned about the Explanations and Examples Document and how it might be used in three sentences or less.

As a Table Group- Refine the summaries into one Three SentenceWrap Up.

Be ready to share.

ACTIVITY 7: HANDOUT

TABLE DISCUSSION: THREE SENTENCE WRAP UP

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OLD GRADE 2 ALIGNMENT DOCUMENT

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS ALIGNMENT OF 2010 STANDARDS TO ARIZONA 1996, 2003 and 2004 STANDARDSExamples and Explanations from ELA Committee and Common Core.org

Grade 2

2010 Reading Standards for Informational Text K-5

Cluster Explanation and Examples

1996, 2003, and 2004 StandardsReading, Writing, Listening & Speaking, and Viewing

& Presenting

Key Ideas and Details Strands, Concepts, and Performance Objectives

2.RI.1Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Source: ADE/ELA CommitteeTeacher posts the question words (who, what, where, when, why, and how) and s/he says, “Let’s review what we just read. Turn to your elbow buddy and take turns asking your buddy questions beginning with the words on the board.”Teacher provides opportunities for students to practice formulating questions by providing question stems for students to use with a partner. Connections:SS02.S1C10.02, SS02.S2C9.01

Source: commoncore.orgClass Discussion / Informational TextGrade 2 Unit 2Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy (Andrea Davis Pinkney) is a true story of an African-American cowboy. After the story is read, display the same kind of chart from the unit one segment on fiction (see below). Again, remind the students that these are only question stems and must be amplified to focus on the story. Ask students to choose two questions to answer and write on their white boards. Share the responses from the students and add to the class chart. (RI.2.1, SL.2.2)

R02.S1C6.03Ask relevant questions in order to comprehend text.R02.S3C1.02Locate facts in response to questions about expository text. R01.S3C1.02Answer questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how) about expository text, heard or read.

Essential Questions1.Why is there a need for increased text complexity?

2.What is text complexity and what are its components?3.Where would examples of appropriate text complexity for specific grade levels be found? How should scaffolding be used?4.How might the annotated writing samples be used by leadership and classroom teachers?

5.How might the Explanations and Examples Document be used to support teachers?

APPENDICES AND ALIGNMENT DOCUMENT

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The appendices provide useful information and support for educators.

Using the document as a foundation for building teacher understanding about Arizona’s Common Core ELA Standards,

think about what you have learned and what you will take back to your site.

ACTIVITY STOP AND GO

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Got it Covered First Steps Next Steps Down the Road

RESOURCES

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1.Please fill out a 3-2-1 Summary2.If you are not returning for Days

2 & 3, please fill out an evaluation form Thank

you!

RESOURCES

Center for K-12 Assessment & Performance

Management at ETS Assessment Article

www.k12center.org

Arizona Department of Educationhttp://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/common-core-state-standards

/

Our CC Wikispace

http://pcrsc2010elacommoncorestandards.wikispaces.com/ 47