Reading Common Core

Implementation for Reading

College and Career Readiness

ACT: Reading Between the

Lines

“Those ACT-tested students who can read

complex texts are more likely to be ready

for college. Those who cannot read

complex texts are less likely to be ready for

college.”

Students who meet the Reading Benchmark are more

likely than students who do not meet the Benchmark

to:

▼ enroll in college (74 percent vs. 59 percent);

▼ earn a grade of B or higher (63 percent vs. 36 percent) or C or higher (85 percent vs. 64 percent) in first-year college U.S. History courses;

▼ earn a grade of B or higher (64 percent vs. 39 percent) or C or higher (85 percent vs. 68 percent) in first-year college Psychology courses;

▼ earn a first-year college GPA of 3.0 or higher (54 percent vs. 33 percent) or 2.0 or higher (87 percent vs. 76 percent); and

▼ return for a second year of college at the same institution

(78 percent vs. 67 percent).

Aspects of the ACT

But what differentiates students who meet

the Reading Benchmark from students who

do not? We looked at student performance

on three aspects of ACT Reading Test

content:

comprehension level,

textual elements, and

text complexity.

Literal and Inferential

Textual Elements

Text Complexity

“the percentage of

questions answered correctly remains virtually constant— and not much higher than the level suggested by chance

(25 percent, given that each question contains four answer choices).”

“Most importantly, above the Reading Benchmark performance improves more steeply than it does with either of the other two levels of text complexity, indicating that

students who can master the skills necessary to read and understand complex texts are more likely to be college ready than those who cannot.”

Furthermore, the three performance patterns shown in Figure 12 hold for both

genders, all racial/ethnic groups, and all annual family income levels.

How does this relate to the

EOC?

Use the following information to answer

questions 3-5.

From http://www.actstudent.org/sampletest/math/math_04.html

Taher has decided to create a

triangular flower bed border. He

plans to use 3 pieces of

rectangular lumber with lengths

4, 5, and 6 feet, as shown in the

figure below. Points A, B, and C

are located at the corners of the

flower bed.

Extended thinking:

reading stamina

Embedded infinitive

phrases and

prepositional phrase

with embedded key

concepts and ideas to

“hold in mind”

Participle embedded in

elliptical subordinate

clause followed by

prepositional phrase.

This is not the

question.

This is the

framework for the

question.

Taher plans to cut the 3 pieces of lumber for the flower bed border from a single piece of lumber. Each cut takes ⅛ inch of wood off the length of the piece of lumber. Among the following lengths, in inches, of pieces of lumber, which is the shortest piece that he can use to cut the pieces for the flower bed border?

Question 3 Infinitive phrase tied to 2 prepositional phrases

Close reading: It’s all in the details!

FINALLY.

A QUESTION.

Taher plans to cut the 3 pieces of lumber for the flower bed border from a single piece of lumber. Each cut takes ⅛ inch of wood off the length of the piece of lumber. Among the following lengths, in inches, of pieces of lumber, which is the shortest piece that he can use to cut the pieces for the flower bed border?

Cascading prepositional phrase, parenthetical prepositional phrase, prepositional phrase, and prepositional phrase PLUS prepositional phrase embedded in an infinitive phrase, both embedded in a relative clause AND …All of these embedded in an interrogative modal structure.

Close

reading:

Deeply

embedded

crucial detail

Question 4

The measure of ABC in the figure is x°. Which of

the following is an expression for ?

Tier 3 Vocabulary:

Discipline-specific

concepts

Question 5

After arranging the flower

bed, Taher decides that the

flower bed would look more

attractive if 1 of the angles

in the triangle were a right

angle. He decides to place

the right angle at vertex A

and to leave the lengths of

AB and AC as 4 and 5 feet,

respectively. To the nearest

0.1 foot, how long of a

piece of lumber would he

need to replace the 6-foot

piece represented by BC ?

Sentence 1: Gerund phrase embedded in introductory prepositional phrase + Subject+Verb + subordinate noun clause as Direct Object with embedded subordinate adverb clause and embedded prepositional phrase Sentence 2: Subject + Verb + compound infinitive phrases as Direct Object with embedded prepositional phrases. Tier 2 Vocabulary (“respectively”) and Tier 3 discipline-specific vocabulary. Sentence 3: Prepositional phrase + Subject + Verb + infinitive phrase with embedded participle and embedded prepositional phrase—all in interrogative mode and with Tier 3 Vocabulary.

Professional

Development for

School Leaders

Consider your

administrative

team, SIP Chair

and/or

members, and

any other adults

who serve in a

leadership

capacity

Table Talk

How are you supporting a school-wide expectation around literacy support?

How confident are your administrators in concepts around text complexity, close reading, writing, and scaffolding support for student success?

How can we continue to support you?