Literacy across the content areas is inclusive of content standards in science and social studies within the context of literacy standards.  Starting in grade 6 the science and social studies standards are defined in the CCS with shared responsibility for literacy standards embedded. The common core demands that the literacy standards are infused into content area standards with intention.  Understanding by design units of study defines content area standards in the context of enduring understandings and essential questions drive instructional planning and execution.   Thoughtful planning using the components of reading and writing workshop and thinking strategies bring scholars to a place where reading, writing, listening and speaking are fully integrated into the work of acquiring world knowledge across disciplines. 

 

Anchor Texts

Texts chosen for shared reading/read aloud ground the community in the construction of grade level understandings across disciplines.  These texts are on or above grade level in terms of text complexity.  Students are supported as they access these texts using a variety of differentiation strategies but ALL students participate in instruction in grade level texts.

 

Students are expected to construct deep understandings of genre, world knowledge, universal truths and enduring understandings therefore they must be immersed with books based on those topics, themes and big ideas.   These texts are known as unit anchor texts.

 

Read aloud with accountable talk is the primary way to use these anchor texts.  The anchor text serves as a starting point as scholars explore unit enduring understandings and standards, while embedding reading and writing standards.  Although other structures such as independent reading,  partner reading,  book club, may be used when students are more able to access complex text independently or as a part of multiple readings of the text.

 

The community participates in a shared experience collaboratively constructing answers to the essential questions by accumulating text, forming theories and testing those theories by grounding them textual evidence over the arc of a given unit of study.  Anchor texts are often reread as a part of CLOSE reading experiences to analyze and synthesize text.

 

Accountable Talk

Habits of Discussion

Read Aloud

Read-aloud with accountable talk is a learning experience in which the teacher reads a book aloud to the whole group.  The purpose of the read-aloud is to read grade level or above text while modeling appropriate reading behaviors and reading strategies.  The read aloud is often an anchor text that supports a transdisciplinary unit of study.   Read Aloud provides a structure that meets the demands of the collaboration and conversation common core anchor standards, reading anchor standards and grade level CCSS for all scholars.   The reading community makes meaning of the text collaboratively, by posing and proving theories grounded in textual evidence.  The teacher captures the reading communities’ journey across a given text via a variety of note-taking tools. It is during this time that scholars are exposed to a variety of genres, literary styles and levels of text complexity.  The teacher models for scholars the joys of reading and teaches them how to think deeply and discuss text analytically. The read aloud also supports the acquisition of world knowledge and content vocabulary.

 

Teachers intellectually prepare to be facilitators of the discussion by careful reading of the text annotating the critical elements.  The read-aloud is intentionally aligned to both the common core standards and the textual demands.  The teacher reads with the proper fluency, rhythm, and intonation and facilitates so that scholars will construct a deep meaning of the text.  The anchor text used in the read aloud is often reread in a future close reading or mini-lesson, which provides scholars with the opportunity to see the teacher model the lesson using an authentic text that they have already studied together as a community. 

 

Partner Work/Collaborative Groups

Partner work—collaborative groups is a structure that is used across disciplines in order to support scholars in reading and researching within a unit of study.  Partner work and collaborative groups can include structures such as:

• Partner reading

• Jigsaw

• Eeek

• Back to back—front to front

• Save the last word for me

• Socratic Circle

• Fishbowl

• Rainbow collaboration

Note:  Scholars need to be explicitly taught the social and collaborative skills necessary for successful group work. 

 

Vocabulary

Vocabulary acquisition requires:  ensuring the classroom is full of accountable talk, listening, reading and writing.  Intentionally teaching individual words, from literacy materials, content materials, current events etc. (academic, content, high frequency.) Building and strengthening the student’s word learning strategies of the generative elements of words. (etymology)  Fostering words consciousness, an awareness of/and interest in words and their meaning. Intentionally planning for embedded vocabulary instruction in each instructional unit, and or text, inclusive of the three levels of vocabulary instruction recommended by the common core standards.

Level 1:  conversational vocabulary

Level 2:  text specific vocabulary

Level 3:  content specific vocabulary