Letting the Text Take Center Stage

Jennifer Brickey

CA—Curriculum and Assessment

CA--Common Core Assessments

CO--Reading Workshops

Shanahan, T. (2013). Letting the text take center stage. American Educator, 37 (3), 4-43.

Retreived from

http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/fall2013/shanahan.cfm

In his article, “Letting the Text Take Center Stage,” Shanahan underscores the importance of making the text central to student learning under the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). What the CCSS do that the old standards do not is they acknowledge text complexity. Because of these new demands, Shanahan explains that students will experience more acute frustration when reading difficult texts and “teachers must learn to anticipate text challenges and how to support students to allow them to negotiate texts successfully, but without doing the work for the” (p. 6)--a difficult task for any teacher. In past practice, teachers spend ample time preparing students to read by connecting to prior knowledge and gathering background information on a text; however, Shanahan argues that this “daily reading ritual found in most US classrooms” (p.7) may not be the best approach for helping students access challenging texts. He promotes a hybrid approach--Shanahan acknowledges that background knowledge is needed to help deepen understanding of a text, but the time spent on building background should be minimal. Instead, he suggests that in order to maximize the depth of knowledge gathered a brief overview of a text and deep concentration on the text itself through close readings is the most important strategy. “Part of the CCSS (and of “close reading”) is that text must play a central role in reading and cannot profitably be ignored” (p. 8). In addition, teachers must decide what questions to pose to students that emphasize this focus on text. Teachers will need to ask questions that tap into higher order thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluative questions; these questions should be text-dependent and ask “Why” and “How.” Lastly, Shanahan points out the questions related to the craft and structure of the text should be asked, since these frequently lend to a reader’s interpretation.

This article proves to be a useful source for rethinking one’s teaching under the CCSS, especially in the area of developing students’ reading skills. I believe Shanahan makes astute observations regarding how teachers can engage students in deep, meaningful reading to meet the demands of the CCSS. However, I would take his logic a step further: By making the text central to learning, not only will a teacher enhance students’ understanding of complex text, but it will also assist students’ writing abilities. When form, structure, syntax, and organization become part of the reading discussion, students can then begin to examine their own writing. This, I believe, will also be needed as well when tackling the CCSS. 

What is “Authentic” Assessment?

Chambers, Julia

Edutopia. (2011, February 9). What is “authentic” assessment? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/stw-assessment-school-of-the-future-introduction-video

This short video covers the basics on what authentic assessment strives to do for students:

• create learning opportunities that mimic real-life tasks/jobs, which adds meaning
• increase students’ engagement/interest level
• design synthesis tasks, which promote/stretch students’ critical thinking skills
• strive for true understanding vs. learning required content only

To enact authentic assessment, educators at School of the Future, in Manhattan, recommend backward planning. This starts by identifying The Big Idea they want students to walk away with, identifying how they will know that students have “gotten it, and then creating projects, assignments, tasks that will get students there.

Evaluation: This video offers a nice overview of authentic learning if you’re unfamiliar with the term, as I was. Authentic assessment goes hand-in-hand with project-based learning, learning by design, and inquiry-based learning.

www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9l5m66Y607U?rel=0

Performance Tasks on Common Core Assessments

Jack, Gordon

CA, Common Core Assessments

Sarles, P. (2013, August/September). The common core ELA assessments: What we know so far about the performance tasks. Library Media Connection, 32(1), 10-13. Retrieved from: http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=llf&AN=89933228&site=ehost-live

Sarles provides an overview of the assessment tasks being developed for the new Common Core curriculum.  In her review, she focuses on the part of the English Language Arts (ELA) tests that are directly related to the work teacher-librarians do.  In looking at both the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests, Sarles explains how students will be assessed on research skills, including inquiry, evaluation and synthesis.  The PARCC task includes a “Research Simulation Task”, which asks students to summarize and analyze multiple sources of information into a “constructed-response item, targeting their response to a particular audience and support their response with evidence from the tests” (p. 11).  The SBAC performance task, estimated to take up to 140 minutes for eleventh graders, asks students to evaluate a variety of Internet sources and then write a position paper on a controversial issue.  Both task prototypes are available at the following websites:

PARCC

http://www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes

SBAC

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks

Evaluation

This article sheds light on the types of performance tasks students will be asked to complete for the new Common Core Standards tests.  While it is encouraging that the tests are moving away from assessing rote memorization of facts, these new tasks represent greater challenges for both students and teachers alike.  Students must be able to summarize, evaluate, and synthesize a wide variety of documents into a cohesive response.  Rather than select the best answer from a list of options, students will be doing more note taking, drafting, and writing online.  These challenges present great opportunities for teachers and teacher-librarians to collaborate on curriculum and instruction.  As Linda Darling Hammond states in the article, “to prepare for [these] more rigorous assessments aligned with the Common Core standards, teachers will need more time and opportunities to collaborate with each other” (p. 12).  As the experts in the research process and Information Literacy, teacher-librarians are a critical resource to help students succeed on these new exams.

Jack, Gordon

ET, Inquiry and Problem-based Learning

Perkins-Gough, D., & Duckworth, A. (2013). The Significance of GRIT. Educational Leadership, 71(1), 14-20.  Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=90068941&site=ehost-live

This interview with Angela Lee Duckworth, an educational researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, is the lead story in Educational Leadership’s September issue. Grit, or “the quality that enables individuals to work hard and stick to their long-term passions and goals” (p.14), is a noncognitive skill receiving attention now as an important criteria for success in any endeavor.  Duckworth discusses her research that showed how levels of “grit” were better indicators for success at West Point Military Academy, as well as her own experience of finding and following her passions.  She emphasizes how grit is made up of two distinct qualities: 1) having resilience in the face of failure and 2) having deep commitments.  The article also discusses how schools have developed programs to help students develop grit through character education programs.

Evaluation

Schools seem to be moving away from the testing mania that emphasized cognitive abilities and  recognizing that noncognitive traits, such as grit, are an equally important measure of success. Grit, it appears, is especially important with students who struggle in school and question the value of education. As schools move to more cognitively demanding work (due to new Common Core standards), teachers must also address the character traits needed to accomplish more complex tasks.  The Big Think activities are an ideal opportunity for educators to raise the issue of grit with students and have them work on their resilience skills in the face of challenges.  This does not have to be an either/or option (i.e. either I cover my content or I attend to these noncognitive skills).  By incorporating The Big Think into unit plans, teachers can help students develop the skills they will need to be successful in the future.

Challenge Based Learning

Silva, Katherine

ET

"Challenge Based Learning - Welcome to Challenge Based Learning!" Challenge Based Learning. [Website] Apple, 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. Retrieved from https://challengebasedlearning.org/pages/welcome

Apple. (2012). Challenge based learning: A classroom guide.  Retrieved from https://challengebasedlearning.org/public/toolkit_resource/02/0e/0df4_af4e.pdf?c=f479

The Challenge Based Learning website is an online community and forum for teachers using challenge based learning projects in their classroom.  Challenge based learning is very similar to inquiry based or project based learning where the process begins with a compelling issue that is engaging to students and has implications to their community or society at large.  Students take this idea and connect their lives to it through the essential question.  For example, “Sustainability: What is the impact of my water consumption on my community?” or “Conflict: How do views on race, ethnicity, and nationality contribute to conflicts?” or “Identity: What groups do I belong to and what roles do I play?” (CBL Classroom Guide, p. 9).  From here, the essential question is turned into a challenge for the students, as in “Reduce your family’s (or your school’s) water consumption,” “Improve tolerance at your school,” or “Create opportunities for group dialogues at your school” (CBL Classroom Guide, p. 10).  Students then develop their own research questions and research plan as they find solutions to this challenge.  The community provides a 40 page classroom guide to explain the process.  The guide includes step by step guidance, tips for teachers and several practical templates for teachers including a preparation checklist, prompts for creating essential or guided questions, a team group work agreement, and a storyboard template.  

Students of LIBR250 will easily recognize familiar concepts as this model combines many of Dr. Loertscher’s core concepts and learning models.  CBL emphasizes essential questions, student driven learning, collaboration, and technology to make learning more real, personal, and exciting.  By signing up for the community, teachers and librarians have access to projects and videos from previous classes.  Teachers and librarians can also use the site to share what their own class videos with the community, which in this model is important to finish the process by sharing with a real world audience.  (Keep in mind that the terms of service give Apple the rights to any videos uploaded.)  

Evaluation:

Although created by Apple and Apple Educators, the website and guide does not try to sell Apple products too much, and the reality is, most schools are using Apple products anyway.  The templates and teacher checklists in the guide are very useful and time-saving, especially the student agreement and the storyboard planners.  Although the guide is geared to the classroom teacher, for the students’ research and discovery to be successful, librarian collaboration would be essential.  Overall, the guide and the website seem to be worthy supplements to Beyond Bird Units and The Big Think.  

(Personal note: I have a colleague who is attempting one of these units right now on Cultural Diversity.  She reports that the process is “NOT easy” and “slow,” but that she is really pleased with her students' conversations and what her students have produced so far.  It is a change in mindset for both teachers and students.)

Reveles, Jana

ET-Changing Reading Practices

Morgan, D.H. & Wagner, C.W. (2013). “What’s the catch?”: providing reading choice in a high school classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 56(8), 659-667. DOI: 10.1002/JAAL.193

 

Summary:

The article, What’s the Catch, was written by Denise Morgan, a university researcher, and Chris Wagner, a high school language arts teacher. In this article, the authors discuss a research project that investigated if giving students a chance to self-select their reading material would improve their reading engagement. The investigation was only implemented for three weeks. However, the teacher saw an improvement in the attitudes of the students toward reading long after the investigation was over.

The first part of the article examined other research that has been conducted on students having a choice in their reading materials. The research shows that student choice improves student engagement and can also raise state test scores.

The article goes on to describe how the teacher implemented the change in his classroom instruction. One of the changes was to have conferences each week with his students. Wagner noted that one of the side benefits to having these conferences was getting to know his students better. Wagner noted that having students read books at their level was a great way to differentiate his reading instruction. The article also gives samples of students’ comments from their reading journals.

 

Evaluation:

            This article supports the theory that students will be motivated to read if they are given a choice in their reading materials. The various references throughout the article help to validate this theory. Although the investigation was short, it brought up several positive reasons why students should be allowed to self-select. The article gives teachers and teacher librarians some basic ideas and instructions on how to begin this type of reading program in their schools. It is easy to read and offers other resources to explore. One of those resources is a video by Penny Kittle on the importance of student choices in their reading material.

http://www.pennykittle.net/index.php?page=reading-2011

True Grit

Jack, Gordon

ET, Inquiry and Problem-based Learning

Duckworth, A.L., Eskeis-Winkler, L. (2013, April). True Grit. Observer, 26(4). Retrieved from

 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2013/april-13/true-grit.html

Duckworth and Eskeis-Winkler discuss the significance of perseverance or “grit” in student achievement.  Recent studies, some of which are reported in Paul Tough’s recent bestseller, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and Hidden Power of Character, have emphasized that grit, more than natural ability or intelligence, is the distinguishing characteristic of successful students.  The challenge is how to assess this characteristic in young people.  Most studies rely on questionnaires or self-reporting to gauge an individual’s level of long-term stamina.  Another challenge discussed by the authors is what schools can do to teach grit to students.  Duckworth and Eskeis-Winkler discuss the role practice and a growth mindset have in developing grit in students but hold off on making any recommendations.  In some cases, they say grit can contribute to lower achievement, as “grittier” students may be more stubborn in their beliefs and less open to different perspectives.

Evaluation

The issue of stamina is an important one to consider when developing inquiry and problem-based units.  These projects tend to be more complex and longer in duration.  Students who have been trained to turn in short “Bird unit” assignments quickly may struggle with the perseverance required for more challenging tasks. While the article doesn’t give any specific suggestions for how to teach grit, it does confirm its importance in success at school and in life.  For this reason, the research should be shared with students, along with information from Carol Dweck’s findings on growth mindset. While grit is a critical component of a person’s achievement, it is important to balance with an opportunity for exploration. “Early in life, it may make more sense to privilege exploration over specialization,” the authors write. “Until we develop a solid understanding of our own inherent interests and abilities, it may make sense to hold off on committing to lifelong goals.”