Building a Bridge to Complex Text with the CCSS

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© 2013 Scholastic IMPACT

Why Text Complexity Matters

“The clearest differentiator of students meeting benchmark performance, and those not meeting, was students’ ability to answer questions associated with complex texts.”

ACT, Between the Lines

Revised Text Complexity BandsText Complexity

Grade BandsPrevious

Lexile RangeRevised Lexile

Range 8/15/2012

K-1 N/A N/A

2-3 450L – 725L 420L – 820L

4-5 645L – 845L 740L – 1010L

6-8 860L – 1010L 925L – 1185L

9-10 960L – 1115L 1050L – 1335L

11-CCR 1070L – 1220L 1185L – 1385L

*COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH, LANGUAGE ARTS, APPENDIX A (ADDITIONAL INFORMATION), NGA AND CCSSO, 2012

Defining Text Complexity: Three Dimensions

1. Quantitative Evaluation of Text:

– Readability measures and other scores of text complexity

2. Qualitative Evaluation of Text:– Levels of meaning, structure, language

conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

3. Matching Reader to Text and Task:– Reader variables (motivation,

knowledge, and experience) and task variables (purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed)

Why All 3 Are Needed ELA: The Grapes of Wrath

• Quantitative Measures: 630L, grades 2-3 text complexity band

• Qualitative Measures: Text structure is simple and conventional, but levels of meaning are implicit; Dialect can be challenging; Theme is sophisticated

• Final Placement: Sophistication in theme and content more suitable for grades 9-10

Starting with Text Complexity

“It takes time to develop the thinking skills necessary to read complex text. It also takes really good instruction…. Teaching requires more than assigning students hard books and hoping they get better at reading. Teaching starts with a deep understanding about what makes text complex.

Fisher, Frey & Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)

Where Do We Find Texts in the Appropriate Text Complexity Band?

Use available resources to determine the text complexity of other materials on our own.

Text Complexity Grade Bands

Suggested Lexile Range

Suggested ATOS Book Level Range**

K–1 100L–500L* 1.0–2.5

2–3 450L–790L 2.0–4.0

4–5 770L–980L 3.0–5.7

6–8 955L–1155L 4.0–8.0

9–10 1080L–1305L 4.6–10.0

11–CCR 1215L–1355L 4.8–12.0

Determine Text Complexity

1. Determine the quantitative measures of the text.

2. Analyze the qualitative measures of the text.

3. Reflect upon the reader and task considerations.

4. Recommend placement in the appropriate text complexity band.

A Four-Step Process:

Text Complexity Grade Bands

K–1

2–3

4–5

6–8

9–10

11–CCR

• Word length

• Word frequency

• Word difficulty

• Sentence length

• Text length

• Text cohesion

Step 1: Determine Quantitative Measures

Measures such as:

How are Lexiles Calculated? • Semantic Complexity:

• The frequency with which words appear in MetaMetric’s Corpus of written text (over 600 million words).

• Less familiar words impede reading fluency & affect comprehension.

• Syntactic Complexity:• The number of words per sentence.• Longer sentences are more complex & require

more short-term memory to process.

• Structure

• Language demands and conventions

• Knowledge demands

• Levels of meaning/purpose

Step 2: Understand Qualitative Measures

Measures such as:

Every day when Henry woke up,

he saw Mudge’s big head. And

every day when Mudge woke up,

he saw Henry’s small face. They

ate breakfast at the same time;

they ate supper at the same time.

And when Henry was at school,

Mudge just lay around and

waited. Mudge never went for a

walk without Henry again.

“Every – single – day,” I told

him for the second time this

week. For the twentieth time

this month. The hundredth

time this year? And the past

few years?

Henry & Mudge (420L) Sarah, Plain & Tall (560L)

Grades K-5

• Simple → Complex

• Explicit → Implicit

• Conventional → Unconventional

• Events related in chronological order → Events related out of chronological order (chiefly literary texts)

• Traits of a common genre or subgenre → Traits specific to a particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)

• Simple graphics → sophisticated graphics

• Graphics unnecessary or merely supplemental to understanding the text → Graphics essential to understanding the text and may provide information not elsewhere provided

Structure

• Literal → Figurative or ironic

• Clear → Ambiguous or purposefully misleading

• Contemporary, familiar → Archaic or otherwise unfamiliar

• Conversational →General academic and domain-specific

Language Conventionality and Clarity

• Simple theme → Complex or sophisticated themes

• Single themes → Multiple themes

• Common, everyday experiences or clearly fantastical situations → Experiences distinctly different from one’s own

• Single perspective → Multiple perspectives

• Perspective(s) like one’s own → Perspective(s) unlike or in opposition to one’s own

• Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre conventions required → Cultural and literary knowledge useful

• Low intertextuality (few if any references/allusions to other texts) → High intertextuality (many references/allusions to other texts)

Knowledge Demands

• Single level of meaning → Multiple levels of meaning

• Explicitly stated purpose → Implicit purpose, may be hidden or obscure

Levels of Meaning/Purpose

• Motivation

• Knowledge and experience

• Purpose for reading

• Complexity of task assigned regarding text

• Complexity of questions asked regarding text

Step 3: Reflect on Reader and Task

Considerations such as:

“Educators who know Fountas and Pinnell’s guide to leveled texts recognize that their system for measuring texts involves measuring almost exactly what the Common Core takes into account—meaning, content, structure, vocabulary…. Because the criteria used by the CCSS to assess text complexity are similar to the criteria used by Fountas and Pinnell, it seems clear that a school that is already assessing students according to Fountas and Pinnell levels should continue doing so.”

--Lucy Calkins, Pathways to the Common Core

K-5: Guided Reading Levels?

Stair-Step to Complex Text: SurvivalIndependent Reading Example

Fiction: 750LNonfiction: 750L

Fiction: 670L

On Close Reading

“Simply selecting hard books and telling students to read them will not work. Students need to be taught how to read and think about complex texts.”

Fisher, Frey and Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)

Characteristics of Close Reading

• It works with a short passage that is worth reading closely.

• The focus is intense and on the passage.

• It should involve a great deal of exploratory discussion.

• It involves rereading with a purpose.

Adapted from Beers & Probst (2013)

Strategies for Close Reading

• Select short, worthy passages• Rereading• Reading with a pencil• Noticing confusing parts• Discussing the text (partners, whole class)• Asking text-dependent questions

Adapted from Fisher, Frey and Lapp, Text Complexity (2012)

Annotate:

? Write ? next to words/phrases/ operations, etc that are confusing.

____ Underline Important information.

#s 1. 2. Number the Main Points author is making in the margin.

3rd Reading: Annotate Text

Scaffolding Students Provide scaffolding by:• introducing background knowledge (after close reading)• immersing students in more complex language exposure

and usage that makes a difference in their ability to access knowledge

• engaging students with carefully selected or constructed graphic organizers that make the structure of the text visible

• modeling how to interpret the meaning of texts that use more complex approaches, like satire or rhetorical argument

Lifting Corners of Our Universe

It’s all about changing what’s handed to you, about poking around a little, lifting the corners, seeing what’s underneath, poking that. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t, but at least you’re exploring. And life is always more interesting that way.

A Corner of the Universe, Ann Martin

HOW CAN YOU HELP YOU CHILD

• - Homework

• - Don’t “do” for your children, let them figure “it” out

• - Have conversations with your children

• Challenge them

• Set the example

Questions?

Building a Bridge to Complex Text with the CCSS

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© 2013 Scholastic IMPACT