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Instructional Shifts in English Language Arts/Literacy
Experts have discussed three prominent “instructional shifts” that distinguish the demands of the Common Core State Standards, and therefore the Colorado Academic Standards, from previous sets of standards:
Regular practice with complex texts and their academic language
Students read grade level appropriate texts around which instruction is centered (teachers are patient, create more time and space and support for support for close reading); students move through a “staircase of complexity” students constantly build the transferable vocabulary they need to access grade level complex text
- NCTE Read, Write,Think Grade Level Resources: (For educators to discover ideas and strategies that support literacy learning, specially curated for the following grade bans)
- Reading and Scaffolding Expository Texts
- Close Reading of Literary Text (Grades 6-12)
- Creating Text dependent questions (Grades 1-3)
- Professional Development for Text Dependent questions
- Resources for text dependent questions from Fisher and Frey
Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from texts, both informational and literary
Students engage in rich and rigorous evidence-based conversations about a common text; writing emphasizes use of evidence from sources to inform or make an argument; students develop skills through written arguments that respond
- Writing from sources: Teaching Students to Write Like Reporters
- Close Reading and writing from sources (videos)
- Writing to Read (Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading)
- Writing to Learn (Research and Activities from Colorado State University)
Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
Students read a true balance of informational and literary texts (preK-5); students learn through domain / content area-specific texts and are expected to not just “refer to the text” but learn from the text (Grades 6-12); this could also be seen as developing disciplinary literacy.
- Does Disciplinary Literacy Have a Place in Elementary School? (from Reading Rockets)
- Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies for the Elementary Classroom
- Developing Readers in the Academic Disciplines by Doug Buehl
Instructional Resources to Consider
Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
- What Works Clearinghouse Recommendations
- Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (2009)
- Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (2010)
- Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers (2012)
- Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (2016)
- Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)
- Essentials for Reading Success
- Tools for effective K-5 Literacy Instruction
- FCRR Student Center Activities (PK-5)
- Reading 101: A Guide To Teaching Reading and Writing from Reading Rockets
Grades 4 through 12
- What Works Clearinghouse Recommendations
- Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices (2008)
- Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers (2012)
- Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (2014)
- Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9
- Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively (2018)
- Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)
- Essentials for Reading Success
- Tools for effective K-5 Literacy Instruction
- FCRR Student Center Activities (PK-5)
Multiple Grades / Classrooms
Reciprocal Teaching: “According to Hattie (2009), reciprocal teaching is among the most powerful instructional practices in terms of achievement outcomes for students with disabilities due to its combination of strategy and direct instruction methods.” (from William & Mary School of Education, Reciprocal Teaching: Seeing is Believing.)
- Reciprocal Teaching from Adolescent Literacy
- Reciprocal Teaching from Reading Rockets
- Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Comprehension Package from Intervention Central
Close reading: “Close reading in primary is a time when the unconstrained skills of vocabulary and comprehension are foregrounded, and decoding instruction takes a back seat. … As students move to 3rd grade and beyond, they assume responsibility of performing the initial reading on their own. Many have worried that this will place struggling readers in harm’s way, but keep in mind that in close reading students are reading and discussing the text many times. It’s a form of slow reading, where the end game is not about volume, but rather about depth of understanding” (Fisher, Douglas. Nancy Frey. John Hattie. Visible Learning for Literacy. Corwin. 2016).
- Close Reading in Elementary Classrooms (by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey)
- Close Reading as an Intervention for Middle School Readers (Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey)
- Close Reading (article by Doug Fisher in Principal Leadership)
- Modeling Close Reading for Future Teachers: ELA Videos and Webinars
- The Challenge of Challenging Texts
Building knowledge:
- Wisconsin Department of Education: Foundations for Disciplinary Literacy
Rigor, Relevance, Relationships and Habits of Mind
Meeting the “Just-Right Challenge”
- “Teaching for Rigor: A Call for a Critical Instructional Shift” by Robert Marzano
- Habits of Mind from Costa and Kallick
- Providing Feedback Video featuring Dylan Wiliam
- Formative Assessment Video from Dylan Wiliam
Creating Relevancy
- The Importance of Classroom Structure from Association from Middle Level Education
- Top 12 Ways to Bring the Real World into Your Classroom
- How to Make Learning Relevant to Your Students
Cultural Responsiveness Pedagogy
- Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995)
- Dr. Geneva Gay
- Dr. Django Paris
- Dr. Jeff Duncan Andrade
- Zaretta Hammond
- New York Department of Education Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Education Framework
- What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?
Building Relationships
- “The Key to Classroom Management”
- “Building Relationships in the Classroom”
Habits of Mind
- Habits of Mind and Common Core
- “Why Teach Habits of Mind?” from Visible Thinking
- Habits of Mind and Writing: from NCTE / WPA’s Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing