Romeo, Romeo, Art thou complex?Romeo, Romeo,

Art thou complex?

Text Complexityand the

Common Core State

Standards

What do you mean by complex?

What do you mean by complex?

South Area I-Zone 2-7-12

One of the key requirements of theCommon Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school.

Complexity of Text

Complexity of Text

Why does text complexity matter?

What factors influence text complexity?

What are the characteristics of complex text?

How do we support students with instruction that engagesthem in a deep understanding of complex texts andfosters their independence as lifelong learners who will becareer and college ready?

RATIONALE FORINCREASED TEXT COMPLEXITY

complexity of reading demands in college, career,

citizenship

complexity of K-12 texts

DECREASED

INCREASED

Question type (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT the chief differentiator between student scoring above and below the benchmark.

Question type (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT the chief differentiator between student scoring above and below the benchmark.

Question level (higherorder vs. lower order; literal vs. inferential) is NOT the chief differentiator

Question level (higherorder vs. lower order; literal vs. inferential) is NOT the chief differentiator

ACT 2006

Analyzed the Reading section of the ACT college entrance exam to determineWhich skills differentiated those that achieved benchmark and those that did not.(About half, 51%, of the half million test takers who take the test each year)What students could read, in terms of its complexity, rather than what they

could do with what they read, was determined to be the greatest predictor of success.

What students could read, in terms of its complexity, rather than what they could do with what they read, was determined to be the greatest predictor of

success.

Quantitative Qualitative Reader and Task

Readability Measures

Developmental Appropriateness

Common or Intended Usage

Sentence Length

Length of Text

Word Frequency

Levels of Meaning

Text Structure

Language Conventions and Clarity

Knowledge Demands

Discourse Style

Motivation

Knowledge

Experiences

What factors influence text complexity?

A text that has short simple sentencesmay, nevertheless, be challenging to

read/comprehend when it contains abstract ideas, unfamiliar concepts, andhigh levels of interpretation” (Hess andBiggam, 2004).

Romeo, Romeo, How art thou

complex?

Romeo, Romeo, How art thou

complex?

Text Exemplars

Performance Tasks

I shall dance tonight.When the dusk comes crawling,There will be dancing and feasting.I shall dance with the othersin circles, in leaps, in stomps.Laughter and talkWill weave into the night,Among the firesof my people.Games will be playedAnd I shall bea part of it.

By Lopez, Alonzo

K-1

1. Structure2. Language Demands3. Levels of Meaning4. Knowledge Demands

Amusement Park Physics Grades 9-10 Literacy for Science, SS, Technical Subjects

1. Structure2. Language Demands3. Levels of Purpose4. Knowledge Demands

Amusement Park Physics Grades 9-10 Literacy for Science, SS, Technical Subjects

Students determine how Jearl walker clarifies the phenomenon of acceleration in his essay “Amusement Park Physics,” accurately summarizing his conclusionsregarding the physics of roller coasters and tracing howsupporting details regarding the processes of rotational dynamics and energy conversion are incorporated in his

explanation. (RST.9-10.2)

Students read (read aloud) Paul Fleischman’s poem Fireflies, determining the meaning of words and phrases in the poem,

particularly focusing on identifying his use of non-literal language (e.g., “light is the ink we use”) and

talking about how it suggests meaning. [RL.3.4]

Students read (read aloud) Paul Fleischman’s poem Fireflies, determining the meaning of words and phrases in the poem,

particularly focusing on identifying his use of non-literal language (e.g., “light is the ink we use”) and

talking about how it suggests meaning. [RL.3.4]

The tramp steamer Drake plowed away from the coast of India and pushed its blunt prow into the Arabian Sea, homeward bound. Slowly it made its way west toward the Gulf of Aden. Its hold was loaded with coffee, rice, tea, oil seeds and jute. Black smoke poured from its one stack, darkening the hot cloudless sky.

Alexander Ramsay, Jr., known to his friends back home in New York City as Alec, leaned over the rail and watched the water slide away from the sides of the boat. His red hair blazed redder than ever in the hot sun, his tanned elbows rested heavily on the rail as he turned his freckled face back toward the fast-disappearing shore.

Farley, Walter. Farley, Walter. The Black Stallion. The Black Stallion. New York: Random New York: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2008. (1941). From House Books for Young Readers, 2008. (1941). From Chapter 1: “Homeward Bound”Chapter 1: “Homeward Bound”

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 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]

Mr. Jefferson came into Congress, in June, 1775, and brought with him a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent of composition. Writings of his were handed about, remarkable for the peculiar felicity of expression. Though a silent member in Congress, he was so prompt, frank, explicit, and decisive upon committees and in conversation, not even Samuel Adams was more so, that he soon seized upon my heart; and upon this occasion I gave him my vote, and did all in my power to procure the votes of others. I think he had one more vote than any other, and that placed him at the head of the committee. I had the next highest number, and that placed me second. The committee met, discussed the subject, and then appointed Mr. Jefferson and me to make the draught, I suppose because we were the two first on the list.

The subcommittee met. Jefferson proposed to me to make the draft. I said, “I will not.”

“You should do it.”

“Oh! No.”

“Why will you not? You ought to do it.”

“I will not.”

“Why?”

“Reasons enough.”

“What can be your reasons?”

“Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can.”

“Well,” said Jefferson, “if you decided, I will do as well as I can.”

“Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting.”

Adams, John. “Letter on Thomas Jefferson.” Adams, John. “Letter on Thomas Jefferson.” Adams on Adams.Adams on Adams. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. (1776)Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. (1776) Students

determine the point of view of John Adams in

his Letter on Thomas

Jefferson and analyze how he

distinguishes his position

from an alternative approach

articulated by Thomas

Jefferson. [RI.7.6]

Students determine the

point of view of John Adams in

his Letter on Thomas

Jefferson and analyze how he

distinguishes his position

from an alternative approach

articulated by Thomas

Jefferson. [RI.7.6]

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head;It is some dream that on the deck,You’ve fallen cold and dead.

Students analyze Walt Whitman’s

“O Captain! My Captain!” to uncover the

poem’s analogies and allusions. They

analyze the impact of

specific word choices by

Whitman, such as rack and grim, and

determine how they contribute to the overall meaning and tone of the

poem. [RL.8.4]

Students analyze Walt Whitman’s

“O Captain! My Captain!” to uncover the

poem’s analogies and allusions. They

analyze the impact of

specific word choices by

Whitman, such as rack and grim, and

determine how they contribute to the overall meaning and tone of the

poem. [RL.8.4]

Whitman, Walt. “O Captain! My Captain!.” Whitman, Walt. “O Captain! My Captain!.” Leaves of Grass.Leaves of Grass. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. (1865)Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. (1865)

1818

Students cite specific textual evidence from Annie J. Cannon’s Classifying the Stars to support their analysisof the scientific importance of the discovery that light is composed of many colors. Students include in their analysis precise details from the text (such as Cannon’s repeated use of the image of the rainbow) to buttresstheir explanation. [RST.9–10.1].

Sunlight and starlight are composed of waves of various lengths, which the eye, even aided by a telescope, is unable to separate. We must use more than a telescope. In order to sort out the component colors, the light must be dispersed by a prism, or split up by some other means. For instance, sunbeams passing through rain drops, are transformed into the myriad-tinted rainbow. The familiar rainbow spanning the sky is Nature’s most glorious demonstration that light is composed of many colors.

The very beginning of our knowledge of the nature of a star dates back to 1672, when Isaac Newton gave to the world the results of his experiments on passing sunlight through a prism. To describe the beautiful band of rainbow tints, produced when sunlight was dispersed by his three-cornered piece of glass, he took from the Latin the word spectrum, meaning an appearance. The rainbow is the spectrum of the Sun.

In 1814, more than a century after Newton, the spectrum of the Sun was obtained in such purity that an amazing detail was seen and studied by the German optician, Fraunhofer. He saw that the multiple spectral tings, ranging from delicate violet to deep red, were crossed by hundreds of fine dark lines. In other words, there were narrow gaps in the spectrum where certain shades were wholly blotted out.

We must remember that the word spectrum is applied not only to sunlight, but also to the light of any glowing substance when its rays are sorted out by a prism or a grating.

Cannon, Annie J. “Classifying the Stars.” The Universe of Stars. Cambridge: Harvard Observatory, 1926.

1919

Close Reading

• Past standards have been based largely upon theories of reading comprehension drawn from cognitive science.

• These theories have emphasized procedures or strategies that readers could use to guide their reading (e.g., summarization, questioning, monitoring, visualizing).

• The common core standards are also based upon theory, but literary theory not psychological theory.

• These standards depend heavily upon “New Criticism.”

Implications• Re-reading texts for understanding

• Students read widely from complex text that varies in length, style, genre, structure, organizational pattern… everyday. Provide systematic instruction in vocabulary and word study.

• Gradual decrease of scaffolding and increase to independence

• Engage to a greater extent in deep analysis of the text and its meaning and implications.

• Less emphasis on background information, comprehension strategies, picture walks, etc. (though these still can be brought in by teachers)

• Greater emphasis on careful reading of a text, weighing of author’s diction, grammar, and organization to make sense of the text.

• Maintain high expectations

• Provide extensive writing opportunities for students to draw evidence from texts (i.e., write to sources) supporting logical inferences, presenting careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information.

• Provide explicit instruction in grammar and conventions

• Celebrate independence as readers, writers, listeners, speakers, and thinkers

• Ask text-dependent questions that require students to demonstrate that they follow the details of what is explicitly stated in the text while also asking them to make valid claims that square with all the evidence in the text.

• Facilitate regular opportunities for students to share ideas, evidence, and research. Students should be engaged in most of the text based-talk in the classroom.

Teaching Reading is Urgent

A student at the 10th percentile reads about 60,000 words a year in 5th grade.

A student at the 50th percentile reads about 900,000 words a year in 5th grade.

Average students receive about 15 times as much practice in a year.

(Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988)