Paired Texts from ReadWorks

ReadWorks is a non-profit online reading comprehension tool, and it is FREE for educators to create an account and access ALL of their materials. (How often is the entire access free?! Woo-hoo!)

One of the newer features of ReadWorks is the expansion of their paired texts sets, which now includes a number of passages that are deemed 9-10 reading level or 11-12 reading level (according to their Lexile scores). Within the paired texts sets, teachers have FREE access to literary texts, non-fiction texts (some of which are primary sources), artwork, and question sets; all of the pieces are available for print or as a PDF download, which could then be shared with students via an online classroom (such as Google Classroom or Edmodo).

The question sets appear to follow this format:

• a few questions pertaining to text #1
• a few questions pertaining to text #2
• a few questions requiring the synthesizing of information from both texts

The purpose of the questions appears to focus on student ability to state an answer and support it with evidence from one or both texts. The questions could easily be used as is, but they would be enhanced by adding a few questions that look at other aspects of the Informational Text standards or research skills.

To view all of the passages available in the paired texts sets, click here. Filter the list keyword, grade, Lexile, topic, text type, or skill.

Lexile Measures of Frequently Taught Classics

Lexile Measures of Frequently Taught Classics
Just for consideration and reference...

1984 – 1090

Book Thief - 730

Crime and Punishment - 850

Enrique’s Journey - 770

Fahrenheit 451 - 890

Fallen Angels – 650

Glass Castle - 1010

Grapes of Wrath - 680

Great Expectations – 880

Heart of Darkness - 1050

Hobbit - 1000

Jane Eyre - 610

The Kite Runner – 840

Lord of the Flies – 770

Metamorphosis - 1340

Night – 570

The Poisonwood Bible - 960

Pride and Prejudice – 1090

The Road - 670

To Kill a Mockingbird - 870

Measuring Text Complexity

Since the adoption of the CCSS, we have heard the term text complexity many times. The concept has also emerged through questions bubbling up as we embark upon our English curriculum revision.

How do we ensure that we are placing adequately challenging texts within the grade level curriculum guides?

As we seek to diversify our literature options, how do we know that we are adding options that are of high quality?

These questions are undoubtedly important for us to examine during our study because we need to be intentionally including both accessible texts and texts that stretch our students; these questions, however, go beyond the diverse literature element we recently started exploring. As we review the texts currently in our curriculum and as we study potential new texts to add, I challenge us to turn to this question:

What does it mean for a text to be challenging or of high quality?

Often, the first measure to come to mind is a text's Lexile score, which can be a very good place to start. When thinking about Lexile in a post-CCSS-adoption world, however, it can get a bit tricky. The Lexile Band has changed for each grade band due to the fact that over the past 50 years, the gap between most secondary texts and most college texts has widened. In order to move students closer to the College and Career Ready Lexile level, a new "Stretch" Lexile Band has been adopted by The Lexile Framework for Reading. (But this is a whole other topic...Click here to read more from the Lexile Framework group.)

So should Lexile be our go-to for determining a text's complexity? 

Does a Lexile number really inform us if a text will be challenging for our students or if it is of high quality?

While the Ledile measure can be a starting point, the CCSS promotes a three-pronged approach when determining a text's complexity, and many educators with whom I have spoken agree that the following three elements are all important when considering a text: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Reader & Task.

One of the three prongs is, of course, the quantitative measures, which includes Lexile measures. Algorithms are used to analyze the word length, word frequency, sentence length, and cohesiveness of the text. This is helpful, but it is not the only factor to consider.

The qualitative measurements, on the other hand, are evaluated by a human. An actual, living, breathing person has read the text. This pulse-maker considers aspects of the text like levels of meaning, the clarity and conventions of the language used, the knowledge demands, the format and structure, and the complexity of the visual materials. These factors place different requirements on the reader than a Lexile score.

The third prong is the reader and task combination. Within this sphere, reader pieces such as motivation, background knowledge, and previous experience are considered. The other element of this portion is ensuring that the text fits the purpose and the complexity of the task at hand.

Each one of these prongs fails to paint a full picture of the text by itself. Together, however, they create a fairly sturdy stool on which the reader can sit.

As we move forward with our Curriculum Study, it is my hope that we can keep this stool with us. What does it mean for a text to be challenging or of high quality? To start, it means that the stool is just the right size for the reader to grow.

FREE Google Education On Air Online Conference

This spring, Google is hosting a free two-day online conference called Education On Air. Join other educators from around the world, and participate in online Keynotes, panel discussions, and mini-sessions. It appears to be the sort of thing that you can jump in and out as your schedule allows, so if you are unsure of committing, register just in case! Remember, it is FREE!

Friday, May 8: Leading for the Future (9 am - 2 pm CST)

The Friday online Keynote and panel sessions are marketed towards those in leadership positions (anywhere from admin to a team leader to IT), but the posted topics sound applicable to classroom teachers as well. The full schedule will be released in April, but here are a few of the currently posted sessions:

*Creating Student Ownership

*Fostering Innovation in Schools

*Making Technology Work for Learning

*Communicating Change

Saturday, May 9: Shaping the Classroom Today

The Saturday online sessions are meant to be convenient and applicable to the classroom teacher. As Google puts it, "run by educators for educators, designed to be immediately useful to you." Sessions range from 15-45 minutes, and they are led by Google Certified Teachers, trainers, and general Googlers. Again, the full schedule is set to be released in April, but here are the posted teaser sessions:

*Supporting Literacy in Early Learners

*Fostering Collaboration with Google Docs

*Empowering Digital Citizens

Register Here!

Spring and Summer Workshops at USF

The University of Sioux Falls offers numerous topics for personal professional development. If you are in need of graduate credits for a lane change or renewal credits for re-certification, USF offers both opportunities for their courses.

Some of the upcoming offerings that might be of interest include:

*Writing from Middle School, High School to College (Starts June 3)

*Discipline with Love and Logic (starts June 5)

*Literacy and Gender (Starts June 8)

*Teaching with the Brain in Mind (Starts June 10)

*Grammar 101: Beginners to Advanced (Starts June 10)

Click on the links below to view the full spring and summer listings.

Spring Workshop Listing

Summer Workshop Listing

One Book South Dakota 2015

If you happen to be looking for a novel idea for yourself (or possibly for your classroom?), here's a modern title you might consider.

Each year, the South Dakota Humanities Council seeks to promote unity through literacy by encouraging communities around the state to read and discuss a selected title, and to build upon the experience by hosting connected events. Ordinary Grace by Minnesota author William Kent Krueger was recently announced as the 2015 selection for One Book South Dakota. Amazon describes Ordinary Grace as "a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God." (Click here to read the rest.)

Ordinary Grace has received many awards, including the Mystery Writers of America's 2014 Edgar Award, which is bestowed upon the best mystery novel published during that year. The New York Times bestseller also boasts receiving the Barry Award, Anthony Award, DILYS Award, and Macavity Award for Best Novel.


And, if this particular title doesn't sound like a great fit for you (or your students), you may wish to check out the past One Book South Dakota titles.

*Please note: I have not personally read Ordinary Grace; please use at your discretion if considering this book for your classroom.

The Big Read Book Resources

Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts selects one book to promote literacy across our nation. In their own words,

"The Big Read aims to address this crisis squarely and effectively. It provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities."

Through The Big Read, communities may apply for grants to host events connected to the year's book. But the biggest draw perhaps is this: even if there are no events in your area, The Big Read provides (free!) online access to some fantastic resources for both current and past books. These books include both classics and modern literature, so if you are looking for some new resources, you may want to check out their website. The books currently include:

• Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The by Mark Twain
• Age of Innocence, The by Edith Wharton
• Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, The by Dinaw Mengestu
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
• Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town, The by Thornton Wilder
• Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat New for 2015
• Call of the Wild, The by Jack London
• Death of Ivan Ilyich, The by Leo Tolstoy
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Farewell to Arms, A by Ernest Hemingway
• Grapes of Wrath, The by John Steinbeck
• Great Gatsby, The by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The by Carson McCullers
• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
• Joy Luck Club, The by Amy Tan
• Lesson Before Dying, A by Ernest J. Gaines
• Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
• Maltese Falcon, The by Dashiell Hammett
• My Antonia by Willa Cather
• Namesake, The by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Old School by Tobias Wolff
• Poetry of Emily Dickinson, The
• Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The
• Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, The
• Shawl, The by Cynthia Ozick
• Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, The
• Sun, Stone, and Shadows edited by Jorge F. Hernandez
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• Thief and the Dogs, The by Naguib Mahfouz
• Things They Carried, The by Tim O'Brien
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• True Grit by Charles Portis
• Washington Square by Henry James
• When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
• Wizard of Earthsea, A by Ursula K. Le. Guin

The Big Read offers a variety of resources for each book, including a Reader's Guide, a Teacher's Guide, and a Media/Audio Guide. Within those guides, you gain access to resources related to the book's author, content, and historical and literary contexts. There are also lesson plans, discussion questions, and project ideas. If you happen to teach one of the above authors but not that particular book, the resources may still be worth checking out.

Super Bowl Digital Texts (AKA Ads)

This Sunday, some people will actually watch the Super Bowl for the game. These people will hoot and holler at the screen, perhaps rooting for the lesser of two evils because their team was not fortunate enough to make the game.

I am not one of these.

While I enjoy the Super Bowl, I have always been there more for the food. That's not entirely honest. Most of my Super Bowl Sunday enjoyment stems from the commercials. However, the food is typically what makes it so that I am actually in a room where the game is on the screen. If it weren't for the food, I would miss the commercials as they were strategically revealed throughout the game; without the beckoning of the food, I would most likely end up perusing them later on via YouTube.

Originally, I enjoyed Super Bowl commercials simply because they were often well-done and witty. Since becoming a teacher, however, I have also looked at them with a critical eye for the classroom and considered them a type of digital literacy. Most years, there is at least one commercial that is applicable to the classroom in some way, like the Kia Optima "One Epic Ride" from a few years ago.

I recently came across these two resources that can help educators utilize Super Bowl ads more effectively in the classroom.

The first, Super Bowl Ads archive, is simply an easier way to browse past Super Bowl ads.

The second, Teach Media Literacy with Super Bowl Ads, is a blog post by Frank Baker (creator of the Media Literacy Clearinghouse) where he encourages teachers to look at these expensive commercials as persuasive digital texts. He includes some ideas for application to classrooms across the content areas (including thinking like an advertiser), but you can also view some more lesson ideas for close readings of digital texts at the MLC website here.

Other random Super Bowl ad resources:
*Ad Week's Super Bowl Ad Tracker
*USA Today's Ad Meter

Whatever draws you to the big game this weekend, have a good one! (And maybe take a few notes...)

"I Am Biased, Obviously and Enormously"

It's not every day that the author of a piece flat out proclaims his/her bias regarding the topic at hand. While students are unlikely to come across bias laid out this clearly during research, perhaps author Neil Gaiman's honesty and explanation of what contributes to his own bias on the topics of libraries and literacy may help students understand what to look for when bias is less obvious.

"It's important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members' interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I'm going to tell you that libraries are important. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I'm going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things.

"And I am biased, obviously and enormously: I'm an author, often an author of fiction. I write for children and for adults. For about 30 years I have been earning my living though my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down. It is obviously in my interest for people to read, for them to read fiction, for libraries and librarians to exist and help foster a love of reading and places in which reading can occur.

"So I'm biased as a writer. But I am much, much more biased as a reader. And I am even more biased as a British citizen.

"And I'm here giving this talk tonight, under the auspices of the Reading Agency: a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. Which supports literacy programs, and libraries and individuals and nakedly and wantonly encourages the act of reading. Because, they tell us, everything changes when we read.

"And it's that change, and that act of reading that I'm here to talk about tonight. I want to talk about what reading does. What it's good for."

Click here for the full article.

Source: Gaiman, N. (2013, October 15). Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Early Literacy Practices for the Secondary English Teacher

The University of Sioux Falls is offering a literacy workshop this spring. If you need credits for either lane change or re-certification, this might be one to consider with our district's literacy focus. It is a weekend class, so it is a one-time commitment. 

What: Early Literacy Practices: Foundations for Secondary English Teachers

When:
March 27-28
Friday: 4:30-9:30 pm
Saturday: 8 am - 6 pm

Workshop Description:

Secondary English teachers are trained to understand middle and high school literacy practices.  As a result, the background related to beginning literacy is often not part of the curricular studies.  This workshop focuses upon the theories, methods, and issues in language and literacy in the early years.  How do teachers instruct reading and writing in the early elementary classroom? 

The study of these foundational elements will guide current English language arts teachers in middle and high school to have a holistic understanding of literacy for all ages.   The foundations of early literacy practices will serve as the grounds for current literacy practices in the secondary classroom to serve readers and writers at all levels.

Cost:
For Graduate Credit: Workshops are one credit and are graded either Pass or No-Credit (P or NC). Grade reports are not issued to students, however, transcripts may be requested free of charge. The cost is $120 per credit.

Renewal (Non-Credit): Workshops can also be taken for non-credit for $50. A certificate of attendance will be provided for teacher renewal purposes.

Click here to see USF's full Spring 2015 workshop listing.

Lexile Based Readings at ReadWorks

The ReadWorks website allows you to search reading passages by Lexile, similar to NewsELA, but it also includes more in-depth comprehension questions, paired with a teacher guide. The comprehension questions combine multiple choice and short-answer. The website does require registration, but it is completely free. You can filter readings by topic, Lexile, grade level, all of the above, etc. Once you find a reading you like, you can save it to your ReadWorks account for easy access.

Below is the updated Lexile chart showing both the current Lexile band and the "stretch" band implemented recently with the CCSS. Click on the image to access the information behind the Lexile band change.

What Your 9th Graders Did Last Year

Here is a small sample of some pieces used at the middle school level for reading and writing:

RACE
Most Whittier and some Patrick 8th-grade teachers used the RACE: Restate, Answer, Cite, and Explain strategy with their students last year (2013-2014). This year, most 8th-grade teachers are using it. It is a strategy to help students answer constructed response questions.

Sentence Starters for Response
These two documents, Reading Strategies and Cognitive Reading Strategies, are used by many middle school teachers to help students work through the reading strategies, as well as the idea: What strategic readers are thinking. Both documents also provide example sentence starters for responses.

Sorting Google Searches by Reading Level

(Image from Caitlin Tucker's blog post)

Here's a useful trick to find readings appropriate for your audience. When you (or your students) do a Google search, follow-up the search by clicking on "Search Tools," then "All Results," then "Reading Level." Google will provide you with a breakdown of basic, intermediate, and advanced reading levels. Click on the reading level for your audience to filter your search results. Click here to view these directions with screenshots.