Text Dependent Questions Drive Close Reading
Close reading leads students on a path of thinking. It starts with the literal meaning of a text and ends with exploration into deeper meaning and a plan for what could occur because something was read. There are essentially three phases on this path from surface to deep comprehension.
The questions with a bit of explanation are:
- What does the text say? The first stage involves the literal meaning of the text. It applies to explicit meaning or what the text says exactly. The anchor standards for this level are 1, 2, and 3.
- How does the text work? The second stage deals with the mechanics of the text especially as it applies to vocabulary, structure and author's craft. The corresponding standards are 4, 5 and 6.
- What does the text mean? As the meaning expands the next path is integrating knowledge and ideas to locate deeper and at times hidden meanings and to make logical inferences based on what thetest says. The standards that makes this questions tick are 7, 8 and 9.
You may hear the ring of familiarity. It's the same path you take each week as you use the resource. You begin the week with standards one-three. Move into structure, vocabulary and point of view(4-6). You wrap up using the scaffolds found in the close reading companion and write to sources at the end(7-9).
Last week I was working with the third grade team on these concepts. The discussion began with an analysis of their previous CFA. Our conclusion was that instruction may have just missed the mark because learning intentions and success criteria were not thorough enough. Additionally, they were able to see the connections within each week and unit as they unpacked the standards. We discussed how standard two was more than just main idea and how it would inform success when kids completed the common core companion reaching standard 6 (point of view). One of the points made was to read the entire standard. When we did this we noticed that students needed to determine key ideas that supported the main idea and summarize. One of the items on the CFA was to choose a sentence that supported the main idea. This was something that kids were not able to do consistently. This conclusion to teach the entire standard is critical in establishing the foundation of text dependency or What the text says explicitly. Without the explicit understanding it is very difficult for kids to determine deeper meaning.
Think of text dependency as a staircase with critical steps to climb. The team looked at standard four and how the vocabulary supported the central idea and key details. Again, read the entire standard but note how this standard supports understanding of key details and the central(main) idea. Finally, the mystery of point of view is solved when the other standards are used to draw the conclusion about why the author wrote the text. Yes, read the entire standard. Use the previous standards as success criteria when kids are working on writing to sources and the common core companion. They drew the conclusion that teaching the standard not the story is key.
In the end the third grade team was able to see the interconnectedness of the standards and how text dependency supported their students' understanding of text. Close reading is the how in comprehension. Text dependency (using the full standards) is the what. When you begin to unlock your own understanding you will become the expert and guide supporting learning.
First Grade:
ReplyDeleteUnpacking standards is critical in teaching because in order to successfully have students meet the learning intentions, it is important to understand as the teacher where they are going in the end. Unpacking the standard gives a step by step process for meeting the standard which in turn easily provides for developing success criteria. Our team utilizes the common core companion in order to unpack and understand each standard. We then use that information to look at lessons within the resource and write LI/SC along with DFA's to check for progress toward meeting the standard.
Kindergarten - We teach the standards, so it is important for us to fully understand them. It is our job to use the tools we are provided to teach each part of the standard.
ReplyDeleteFifth Grade:
ReplyDeleteUnpacking the standards is critical in teaching as it is the "why" in the unit. The resources help guide students through the standards. We intentionally use the standards to develop LI & SC.
L. Anderson
ReplyDelete4th and 5th grade students are navigating through a sheet of music. They are discovering how Coda sign and D.S.al coda differ and how the repeat sign can be placed in various places within the music. Students are encouraged to share how various music symbols are used during each song and why they are or are not necessary to use every time.
Second Grade: Unpacking and understanding the standards is so important for the teacher to know. The standard is what we are wanting students to master. Knowing them and knowing them well will help us develop better LI and SC. It will also help us ask better questions during lessons and give better feedback to students. We use the standards and the common core companion to guide our work.
ReplyDeleteThird Grade-
ReplyDeleteWe have a new appreciation and point of view when it comes to thinking about standards when delivering a lesson. We know that it is a bigger picture to look at standard than just the story or math problem. All three of us have a new view when delivering the day 1 of reading by providing our students with a purpose lense so that they can apply that skill to future work no matter the problem or text.