LET STUDENTS (NOT JUST THE TEACHER) READ THE COMPLEX TEXT!
Overview of this Page
OUSD's Balanced Approach to Literacy holds that productive struggle with text that is beyond a student's guided reading instructional level is a an important lever to drive reading growth. Moreover, this work with complex grade-level and beyond text has produced strong results at several high-performing schools with high ELL populations. Within a Balanced Approach to Literacy Model, this grappling is called Shared Reading, with all students having a copy of the text themselves, either as a big book, an Elmo projection, or a paper copy. (Note that many texts shared as big books are not complex texts, e.g. a predictable rhyming text, while others are, e.g. Happy Birthday Martin Luther King. Also note that in Pre-K, K, 1st, and even 2nd, a grade-level or beyond complex text usually means a read aloud. Generally from 2nd through 5th, students usually have their own copy of a shared complex text).
Shared Reading of text outside a student's independent or guided reading instructional level receives relatively light treatment in the Teacher's College Reading Workshop where the main lever of growth is motivated independent reading and discussion with text matched to a student's level. In particular, supports for ELLs and below-grade-level students are not extensively developed with relation to complex text above a student's instructional level. Part of the reason for this, of course, is that the whole point of Reading Workshop is for kids to develop their independent reading life. One of the purposes of this page, on the other hand, is emphasize how critical a lever shared reading of complex text is when done properly, particularly for ELLs, and to emphasize that a focus on Reading Workshop should not push out shared reading and discussion of complex-, grade-level-and-above text.
This page focuses on practices that give just enough support to students so that their grappling with complex text will be productive. First, it will be useful to outline the theory of action underlying this work with complex and content-area text:
- Students must be able to negotiate difficult text independently, and regular teacher-assisted encounters are essential in moving them towards independence
- The text supports and reinforces:
- lecture content
- content-based academic discussions
- hands-on activities and demonstrations
- The text remains as a permanent anchor and rallying point for thinking and discussion after talk and demonstrations are over
- The reading of academic content area text reinforces academic vocabulary use, complex language structures and comprehension, providing multiple in-context teachable moments for integrated and designated ELD
- Teacher analysis of complex text and lesson study around complex text builds up our ability embrace the complex text challenges emphasized in the Common Core
Close Reading
D. David Pearson calls close reading "Systematic and careful interrogation of text for a purpose." As you explore close reading, remember that the activity of reading closely is not merely a series of procedures or a matter of making sure the basic knowledge in the text is understood. Rather, it requires that you have a specific purpose that you are trying to satisfy as you dig deeply into a text, and close reading should lead your far beyond basic knowledge harvesting.
Close Reading Protocols have emerged as one approach to bringing complex text work into 2nd-throug-12th-grade classrooms in Oakland and around the country. These points from Fisher and Frey summarize the gist of close reading:
- Use a short passage
- Analyze the text to understand what it means and decide where you want students to focus
- Re-reading
- “Read with a pencil”
- Text-dependent questions
- Give students the chance to struggle a bit
Here is a Teacher's College video showing close reading of complex informational text which looks a lot like a RALLI-style reading (see RALLI below). Notice the routines and high levels of student engagement and her "just-in-time" strategy use and teaching that makes strategy teaching powerful. The teacher handles the reading of the text in this case, but it is important to note that ultimately we must release responsibility for reading the text to students as they engage in close reading:
Bringing Close Reading and Accountable Talk into an Interactive Read Aloud of Gorillas (3-5)
Read Alouds with Accountable Talk
Read-Aloud
with Accountable Talk, or Interactive Read Aloud, is an opportunity for
students and practice thinking with, about and beyond texts that are
above their instructional level. This is different from the “after
lunch, turn off the lights, let’s close our eyes and listen to a story”
read aloud. Often these types of read alouds are done with the intent of
giving students’ access to text they are not ready for. The Interactive
Read Aloud, on the other hand, engages students with a complex text,
but then asks students to process and make meaning out of what they
heard. This is particularly helpful for ELLs because it removes the task
of decoding, while providing an opportunity to practice and strengthen
their aural and oral comprehension skills.
1. Teachers sets a purpose for reading (modeling and transferring this skill)
2. Teacher previews cover and illustrations and asks for predictions about the book
3.
Teacher pauses in pre-planned, strategic places to invite students to
briefly comment, react, interpret or make text-self, text-to-world,
and/or text-to-text connections. These are usually turn and talks, but
especially for pre-intermediate English speakers, they could also be:
turn and act out, turn and add on, think and draw/sketch, or think and
write.
4.
After the read aloud there may be a group discussion that expands these
ideas even further or another activty which provides an opportunity for
students to engage in further thinking about the text.
RALLI
RALLI has many similarities with Close Reading protocols, but differs in that it serves for longer shared texts, has a fully developed routine for analyzing texts, and provides systematic supports for ELLs and below-grade level students. A Read Aloud with Accountable talk has some similarities with RALLI, though it might not include the systematic supports of RALLI, or the strong engagement with shared text (from complex big books, to science text books to source texts, etc). The learning focus and supports for RALLI are detailed below.
RALLI and Text-Based QAD
- What
- A powerful connection to the Common Core State Standards, the new CA ELD Standards, and Blooms Taxonomy
- Systematic inclusion of text-based Quality Academic Discussions in terms of both Output and Interaction
- Clear tools for backwards planning and teaching texts with special attention to vocabulary development and expression of ideas in speech and writing
- A lean and effective BEFORE, DURING and AFTER reading routine to ensure all students productively engage with complex, grade-level text across the curriculum
- A clear theoretical framework for literacy supported by up-to-date research and best instructional practices
- A well-articulated system of supports for ELLs
- How
- An initial four-day institute, Results: Academic Language and Literacy Instruction K-6 (RALLI), two groups
- A built-in model of Lesson Study during the school year supported by the ELL Office to fortify teacher practice and build fluency with deep text analysis and teaching
- Clear Google Drive Documents and an ongoing Google Site that includes archives lessons for key science and other texts, OUSD teacher videos, and best practices
- ELL Office support, including a designated specialist to facilitate ongoing implementation and inquiry
Schools Participating in the 2014-2015 School Year
Stage 2 sites
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Stage 1 sites
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