IRA
–SSENTIALS
ENG AGING
T HE A D OL E S C EN T L E A RNER
BY DOUG L A S FISHE R A N D N A N C Y F RE Y
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The F Com mon Core Edition
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THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013
2013 International Reading Association
“Where do I even begin?”
This question has been posed
innumerable times as the
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts (CCSS;
National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices [NGA Center]
& Council of Chief State School
Officers [CCSSO], 2010) move from
theoretical construct to reality. Even
in regions within and outside of the
United States that have not adopted
these standards, the CCSS for English
Language Arts have become the
800-pound gorilla in the room,
dominating nearly every professional
conversation. Whether the question
is asked of colleagues or is directed
inward, there is little doubt that the
dilemma of where to begin is of
central concern.
Understanding
New Demands
A sea change is upon us. The release
of the Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium’s practice tests and
performance tasks in May 2013 are
shaping our understanding of what
students will be expected to know
and be able to do. For example, the
seventh-grade practice test includes
an item that asks students to select all
the sentences that support a stated
concept (item 5). Students reread a
14-sentence passage to determine the
answer. The sheer number of possible
combinations is mind boggling, and
the likelihood of guessing the correct
one is near zero. Either one knows the
answer, or one doesn’t. For students
who have grown accustomed to
locating one correct answer from four
or five choices, this is a daunting task.
On the same test, students listen
to a four-minute audio presentation
about bats (no text) and then
answer several multiple-choice and
constructed-response questions
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(items 12–15). Although the audio
can be replayed, students are not
able to look at a written transcript
of the recording. How will students
learn the skills needed to answer such
questions? How often do students
confront such a task in their classes?
We return to the question that
opens this article: Where to begin? To
be sure, the habit of regularly using
the critical thinking skills required by
the CCSS means that we will need
to change our practices accordingly.
Questions and tasks that rarely require
students to dive below the surface of
a text are no longer sufficient. At the
same time, secondary students are
arriving at our classroom doors with
the expectation that it’s business as
usual. It’s not. Chinese philosopher Lao
Tzu’s reminder that the completion of a
long journey begins with the first step
is as timely today as it was 2,500 years
ago. In this article, we describe a 20day calendar for getting started with
CCSS goals in mind.
Above all else, the CCSS require
students to construct knowledge
within and across disciplines. Text is
at the center, but deep understanding
comes by way of extended discussion,
research, and writing. This is a marked
change from the way many learners
have acquired knowledge: the lecture.
Students think, The teacher will tell
me the content—I just need to listen
and take notes.
It is unlikely, however, that high
school history students will be able to
“evaluate authors’ differing points of
view on the same historical event or
issue by assessing the authors’ claims,
reasoning, and evidence” (RH.11-12.6)
without contextualizing these within a
time period, participating in debate of
the issues, and knowing the structure
of argumentation writing. As well,
middle school science students need
regular opportunities to write if
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
they are to “develop and strengthen
writing as needed by planning,
revising, editing, rewriting, or trying
a new approach” (WHST.6-8.5).
Establishing routines, procedures, and
expectations within the first 20 days
of the school year is critical if students
are going to learn at the increased
levels demanded by the CCSS.
The First Month
of School
Although the domains of reading,
writing, speaking and listening, and
language are organized in a linear
fashion in the CCSS for English
Language Arts, in practice they
require an integrated and interleaved
approach. The first month of school
consists of about 20 instructional days
that serve as students’ gateway to
the disciplinary knowledge they are
expected to learn. These first weeks
of school are a critical period in the
lives of teachers, too: We encounter
and assess students, establish habits
of mind and of procedure, and build a
community from a group of strangers.
Students learn about us as well.
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
They try to ascertain if we will be flexible
or rigid, formal or laid back. Your lessons
indicate to students what is important
to you. In other words, this is the
perfect time to signal to them that how
and what they learn will be different
from their previous years of schooling.
Using the
Calendar
We have developed a calendar of
literacy lesson topics for the first 20
days of the school year (see Figure).
The content of your discipline drives
your curriculum, while the literacies
used provide the tools for building
knowledge. Therefore, the calendar
should be understood as a means
to spotlight an aspect of the CCSS
for English Language Arts that is
dovetailed with your curriculum
content. These spotlight lessons are
interleaved; that is, they are layered
to establish a range of practices
about how the content is understood,
discussed, and written.
Although these topics are
introduced on a single day, they are
built upon and extended throughout
the school year. For example, on Day
8, students are instructed on solving
unknown words and phrases, but in
reality this complex skill is fostered
Speaking
and Listening
The Speaking and Listening
standards overlay all the others
and represent the chief mode
of instruction in classrooms.
Students and teachers need to
use both in equal measure and
with equal emphasis in order
to maximize communication—
after all, they’re not called the
“Speaking and Waiting to Speak
Again Standards.”
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over an entire school career. The
calendar is color coded to represent
the four domains of the CCSS, but
in many cases they entail more than
one modality. These spotlight lessons
are not designed to consume the
entire class period and are generally
completed in 20–30 minutes, leaving
time to attend to other aspects of the
curriculum.
The First Week
of School:
Community
Building and
Assessment
While the first week is filled with the
clerical tasks of firming up rosters,
reviewing the course syllabus, and
assigning textbooks, content teaching
is also occurring. These spotlight
lessons give you the opportunity to
establish a classroom culture, gather
informal literacy assessment data, and
introduce a related reading.
Day 1: Links in a Chain
Many teachers begin the school year
with an activity that gets students
talking about themselves. This is
also an ideal time to gather some
informal assessment information
about each learner. How does he or
she make use of vocabulary? What
grammatical structures does he or she
use while conversing? Who is loud
and boisterous? Who is quiet and
subdued? Distribute four or five strips
of colored paper and ask students to
write their names on each, as well as
a talent, skill, or interest, while you
do the same. Model how you use the
strips to support your introduction of
yourself and link the strips together
to form a paper chain. Each student
does the same, creating a long
chain that serves as a metaphor for
the classroom community you are
building. Be sure to take notes about
each student so you can use this
information in future instruction.
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
Day 2: Listening Across
the Divide
Barrier games force students to rely
on their listening comprehension
skills to glean information. Structure
a task for your students to complete
that is consistent with your discipline
(e.g., assemble a salt molecule using
molecular model kits in Chemistry,
plot a route on an ancient map
in World History, or describe a
vocabulary term in English, Passwordstyle). Create a barrier for each
student so that he or she cannot see
what the other student is doing (e.g.,
sitting back to back in their chairs,
propping a binder between them).
This may be done first as a fishbowl,
with a pair of student volunteers who
work through a problem together
while others observe. After students
have completed the activity, debrief
with them and make connections to
your content.
For instance, English teacher Kate
Woodbury distributed pairs of slightly
different visual scenes to her sixthgrade students and asked them to
determine the differences between
the two. “They discovered they had to
be systematic, explicit, and patient,”
she said. “All the traits they’ll need to
be successful in this class!”
Day 3: Getting the Gist
of a Text
Select a text appropriate to the
content and worthy of discussion over
the course of several lessons. Middle
school science teacher Roberto Piña
chose an article on the science of
generating electricity, as designed
by William Kamkwamba. “As a
14-year-old, he figured out how to
construct a windmill using found parts
so that his family in Malawi would
have electricity,” Mr. Piña said. After
students read the article first on their
own, Mr. Piña modeled and thought
aloud for his students about how he
gained a general understanding of
the text. He showed students how
he used the title and subheadings
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
Figure. 20-day plan for introducing the CCSS
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
Links in a Chain
Listening Across
the Divide
Getting the Gist
of a Text
Language Frames
About Text
Writing About
Text
Pairs must
reconstruct a
drawing using a
visual barrier.
Modeled readaloud focused on
reaching a general
understanding of
the text.
Use language frames
to support textual
discussion.
Modeled writing
about the text.
DAY 6
DAY 7
DAY 8
DAY 9
DAY 10
Locating the Key
Details
Posing Questions
of a Text
Solving Unknown
Words and Phrases
Finding the
Author’s Purpose
Marking Text
Use a text to focus
attention on locating
the key details that
relate to the central
idea or theme.
Students ask and
answer questions of
a character in the
text.
Model looking
inside and outside
to resolve unknown
words and phrases
in a text.
Read and discuss
a text chosen
because the author’s
purpose is unclear or
unknown.
DAY 11
DAY 12
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 15
Reading
Explanatory Text
Types
Explaining to
Another
Writing to Explain
Reading Narrative
Text Types
Conveying
Experience to
Another
Students write name
and talents/skills on
4 or 5 paper strips,
introduce self, and
add to paper chain.
Introduce a text
that explains a
process or procedure
and identify key
characteristics.
Small groups
develop an oral
explanation of
another process or
procedure using
characteristics from
yesterday’s text and
then try it out with
others.
Individuals write
about a third process
or procedure,
applying identified
characteristics.
Introduce an
annotation process
for use in your class.
Introduce a text
that uses narrative
to illustrate an idea
and identify key
characteristics.
Small groups
develop an oral
narrative using
characteristics from
yesterday’s text and
then try it out with
others.
DAY 16
DAY 17
DAY 18
DAY 19
DAY 20
Writing to Convey
Experience
Learning About
Opinions
Convincing
Another
Writing to
Persuade
Individuals write
about a third
experience,
applying identified
characteristics.
Where do you stand
on a topic? Form an
opinion and discuss
it with others who
agree and others
who disagree.
Reading
Argumentation
Text Types
Small groups
develop an oral
argument using
characteristics from
yesterday’s text and
then try it out with
others.
Individuals write
about a third topic,
applying identified
characteristics of
argumentation.
Introduce a text that
uses argumentation
and identify key
characteristics.
Note. Speaking and Listening (yellow); Language (green); Writing (blue); Reading (orange)
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THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
to confirm his initial impressions and
noted that the article opened with
Kamkwamba’s achievements and then
described those achievements using
chronological order.
Mr. Piña stated, “I wanted
students to walk away with two ideas
today. One, that science is practiced
by observant and innovative people
every day and not just in laboratories.
Two, I wanted them to get a sense
of how many science articles are
structured. Most start with a summary
of sorts then go into more detail.
They’ll be locating science articles
from news outlets and writing about
them each week. This is my way of
getting them started.”
Day 4: Language Frames
About Text
Discussion of text may prove difficult
for many students because of a
lack of experience (as opposed to
answering the teacher’s questions).
This can be further magnified because
the adolescents in front of you feel
self-conscious and awkward in front
of strangers. Provide a few language
frames to get them talking to one
another using the language of the
lesson.
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U.S. history teacher Alexa
Jennings returned to the text she
had selected for the previous day’s
lesson. “Yesterday we read an article
from that date in history—the birth
of the outlaw Jesse James. I chose it
because of the date and because he
represents a figure whose reputation
has changed substantially during his
lifetime and in the century since his
death,” she said. “I’d like students
to see that historical study requires
sourcing information, contextualizing
it, and corroborating accounts. Stories
about James are all over the map.”
Ms. Jennings began with a
rereading of the article and a brief,
whole-class discussion on locating
the source. Then she divided the
class into small groups. She had table
tents in the center of each group
with language frames to structure
students’ discussion:
♦ The first thing I noticed in this
article was ____________. It got my
attention because ___________.
♦ I’m confused by _________ because
_________.
♦ The most surprising part of this
article was ______ because
________.
Each student discussed his or her
perspectives within the small group
in preparation for further wholeclass discussion. Ms. Jennings stated,
“At this point, I’m using short,
collaborative conversations to develop
the habit of checking in with one
another. Over the next few weeks,
the language frames are going to
push their historical analysis skills.”
Day 5: Writing About Text
Mr. Piña instructed his students about
the scientific method earlier in the
class period and then returned to
the text on William Kamkwamba to
model how he locates the application
of science knowledge in news articles.
“As a science teacher, I can’t help
but look for evidence of good or bad
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
science when I read an article,” he
explained. “I’m going to read this
again to look for evidence in the
windmill article we’ve been reading.”
Over the next 10 minutes, Mr.
Piña modeled how he identified
evidence of scientific thinking and
took notes about the role of the
scientific method in Kamkwamba’s
work. He referred frequently to a
chart he had introduced, describing
each step in the scientific method to
find his examples. “I can see where
his methods for testing took shape,”
he said. “It says that he began with
a prototype, much smaller than the
finished product. This would have
allowed him to see where the design
flaws might be.”
Mr. Piña added this information to
a graphic organizer he had developed
for the writing. Students began
adding evidence they had found in
the article, and soon the graphic
organizer was complete. “Now we
have a framework to write from,”
said Mr. Piña. For the remainder of
the period, students wrote a short
summary of the application of the
scientific method in Kamkwamba’s
windmill project. Mr. Piña stated,
“This is the kind of weekly science
writing they’ll be doing on their own.
This gives me a way to introduce the
task and provide a guide for their
thinking.”
The Second
Week of School:
Building Skills
As students move into the flow of
your classroom, it’s time to introduce
a new text. The spotlight lessons
for this week develop the habit of
rereading a single piece of complex,
worthy text for multiple purposes.
Day 6: Locating the Key
Details
Select a passage that contains
details that are not easily discerned,
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
Language
Although sometimes confused with speaking and listening,
language is a distinct field of knowledge. According to the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2012), speaking
focuses on oral expression, whereas language describes the
meaning of the words (vocabulary) and the rules of order that
make them meaningful (grammar and syntax). In addition,
language concerns itself with the combinations of words that
match the situation (pragmatics and register) as well as the rules
that allow us to create new words (conjugation).
avoiding ones that have a bulleted or
enumerated list. Your teaching goal in
this lesson is to demonstrate how key
details relate to the key ideas in the
text. Students commonly zero in on
the most interesting factors without
considering whether they relate to the
central theme or idea.
Middle school English teacher
Evelyn Jackson chose a short
passage on Nelson Mandela’s
accomplishments as part of a unit on
overcoming obstacles. Using a closereading procedure, Ms. Jackson’s
eighth-grade students determined
the central idea of this informational
text quickly but had more difficulty
determining the key details. “I chose it
for exactly that reason,” she later said.
“It’s actually not all that difficult to
read, but it’s easy to get caught up in
the specifics of his imprisonment and
lose sight of the psychological and
political obstacles he surmounted.”
Using text-dependent questions,
Ms. Jackson drew her students’
attention to a quote attributed to
Mandela: “After one climbs a great
hill, one only finds that there are many
more hills to climb.” She told her
students, “Those hills Mandela referred
to are his obstacles, and our search for
the key details means we are naming
those hills.” This proved to be a turning
point, and her students recognized that
imprisonment itself, rather than the
details of his suffering, are an obstacle,
along with apartheid policies, societal
prejudices, and the economic disparities
and poverty Mandela wrestled with
during his presidential term.
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Day 7: Posing Questions
of the Text
Most middle and high school learners
are not accustomed to questioning
a text, which makes it difficult for
them to divine the inferential levels
of meaning hidden just below the
surface. This habit takes years to
develop and is enhanced as content
knowledge grows. Using a target
text that has been discussed before,
role-play a character or other persona
and ask students to develop interview
questions for that character.
After reading the Mandela text
again the next day, Ms. Jackson
discussed qualities of good journalistic
interview questions (e.g., Don’t ask
yes–no questions because that’s all
the information you’ll get). Students
worked in small groups to draft
questions and then posed them to Ms.
Jackson, playing the role of Nelson
Mandela. After their discussion had
finished, they examined the text
again using the questions they had
developed. “They figured out that the
text raised some questions for them,
some that could be answered, and
others that demanded more research.
We’ll return to that idea later this
month when we design and conduct
investigations to find more information
about a topic,” Ms. Jackson said.
Day 8: Solving Unknown
Words and Phrases
“Biology is loaded with vocabulary,”
said 10th-grade biology teacher
Michael Chen. “If you’re not
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
conversant in the language, you’re
not going to be able to learn the
concepts.” Using a passage from their
textbook, Mr. Chen modeled how
he resolves terminology as he reads.
“When I run into a term or a phrase I
don’t know, I think about three ways
that I can unlock it. First, I look inside
the word to see if I can figure out
the word parts. If that doesn’t work,
I look outside the word to see if the
context helps. I reread the sentence,
as well as what comes before and
after the sentence. I look around on
the page for diagrams. Sometimes
looking inside and outside aren’t
enough. I have to go further outside
to check resources. The glossary is
one good source,” he explained.
Using a passage from the chapter
on foundations of life sciences, Mr.
Chen read aloud and modeled how
he resolves terms such as metabolism,
symbiosis, and mutualistic relationships.
He said, “Students are going to run
into unfamiliar terms throughout this
course, and I don’t want them to give
up on a reading because they don’t
know what to do. My intent today
was to get them started on building a
toolkit for themselves.”
Day 9: Finding the
Author’s Purpose
The purposes for writing any text
include informing or explaining,
persuading, and entertaining. These
purposes become more nuanced
when considered through the lens of
history. Twelfth-grade U.S. government
teacher Henry Konigsberg and his
students had been examining types of
government for the past week, and in
this lesson he used editorial cartoons
that make reference to these. “This is
an opportunity for them to apply new
knowledge to interpret these texts,”
he said.
Through extended discussion,
students identified references to
oligarchy, socialism, free enterprise,
and direct democracy in the cartoons
that spanned the late 19th and early
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
20th centuries. With each analysis,
students had to address the artist’s
purpose, taking into consideration
the context of the time. “There’s
a strong message in each of the
six editorial cartoons we examined
today, but without an understanding
of the governmental structures they
were referencing, the purpose would
be lost. It would just be a cartoon
without teeth,” Mr. Konigsberg said.
Day 10: Marking Text
Annotation is the practice of marking
a text in order to support one’s
own comprehension. It refers to the
habit of making notes in the margin,
especially questions, connections,
and observations. We ask students
to “read with a pencil” in order to
make their thinking visible to us
by circling confusing words and
underlining main ideas and key points.
We often witness teachers moving
quietly around the classroom while
their students read, making notes
on their own copy of the text to
identify patterns of understanding
or confusion exhibited by students’
annotations. These observations serve
as a formative assessment that aids in
making instructional decisions about
what should occur next in the lesson.
Sixth-grade English teacher Ted
Dziki introduced a simple annotation
system to his students on this day.
Teachers at his school had reached
agreement earlier in the summer on
some annotation practices to be held
in common across grades and content
areas. “We encourage students to
personalize this as they become more
adept, but these initial annotation
procedures build a foundation for
them,” said Mr. Dziki. The following
are recommended by Adler and Van
Doren (1972):
♦ Underlining for major points.
♦ Vertical lines in the margin to denote
longer statements that are too long
to be underlined.
♦ Star, asterisk, or other doodad in
the margin to be used sparingly to
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emphasize the ten or dozen most
important statements. You may want
to fold a corner of each page where
you make such a mark or place a slip
of paper between the pages.
♦ Numbers in the margin to indicate
a sequence of points made by
the author in development of an
argument.
♦ Numbers of other pages in the margin
to indicate where else in the book the
author makes the same points.
♦ Circling of key words or phrases to
serve much the same function as
underlining.
♦ Writing in the margin, or at the top
or bottom of the page to record
questions (and perhaps answers)
which a passage raises in your mind.
(pp. 49–50)
Mr. Dziki used a new piece of
text for students to read first “for the
flow.” When they signaled to him that
they were finished, he placed a copy
of the text on the document camera
and offered a think-aloud about his
annotations. “You don’t need to
copy mine,” he said, “just watch and
think about what I’m doing.” After
he finished, he asked his students
to read the text a second time and
to annotate. “Don’t forget to write
questions and connections. If you
have a paper filled with symbols you’ll
never remember why you made them
later,” he reminded them.
Mr. Dziki explained that this is the
beginning step in a longer process:
“They need lots of experience with
doing this, and when we begin using
their annotations in their writing
it’s going to help quite a bit. It lets
them see the purpose beyond simply
doing an activity to please me. Those
annotations will become a way they
engage in a conversation with the text
itself.”
Weeks Three and
Four: Quickening
the Pace
The focus of these spotlight lessons
is on consolidating habits. A key
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
intersection of the standards
involves text types. Unlike genres,
which describe written forms, text
types describe purposes. Therefore,
a narrative text type can include
historical fiction, science fiction, a
personal letter, a recount of a day at
the shopping mall—anything that
conveys an experience. An explanatory
text type can include informational
readings, directions for baking
snickerdoodle cookies, or a written
essay. Argumentation text types
can include a film review, a literary
criticism, or a debate. These text types
traverse what is read, discussed, and
written. Therefore, a goal in these
lessons is to encourage students to use
all these literacies to build knowledge.
Days 11–13: Reading,
Discussing, and Writing
for Explanation
Ninth-grade earth science teacher
Elisha Orton was going to introduce
investigation labs later in the week,
but first she needed to ensure that
her students are well grounded in
lab safety. “People don’t think that
an earth science lab can be just as
hazardous as a chemistry lab, but
they’re wrong,” she said. A portion
of her lesson on each of these days is
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
Reading
The CCSS for reading are
anchored by 10 college- and
career- ready standards.
Standard 1 requires students to
“read closely” while standard 10
describes “complex literary and
informational texts.” Standards
2–9 describe the ways in which
these are understood through
identifying key ideas and details,
acknowledging the role of craft
and structure, and integrating
knowledge and ideas coherently.
devoted to the topic of lab safety. “I
want them to read about it, talk about
it, and write about it,” said Ms. Orton.
She directed students’ attention
to a lab safety chart in her classroom
and an accompanying passage from
their earth science textbook on the
topic. The chart was organized into
five columns: Safety Symbols, Hazard,
Examples, Precautions, and Remedy.
“That’s what good explanatory
text does, and what you need to
do when you’re giving explanations
to others. It’s organized, contains
pertinent information, uses consistent
and precise language, and provides
examples,” she told her students.
Using the chart as a guide, students
located supporting evidence and
explication in the passage.
The following day, students used
a jigsaw method to discuss lab safety
topics (Aronson, Blaney, Stephin,
Sikes, & Snapp, 1978). Jigsaw is a
two-part, small-group approach
for examining and constructing
texts. Students are members of a
home group comprising members
distributed across topics, as well as
an expert group to build knowledge
about a single topic. They worked
in expert groups to discuss 2 of the
10 safety hazards, then reconvened
in their home groups to teach the
content to the other four members
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of the group. They are, in turn, also
taught content by their peers. “This
really pushes their speaking and
listening skills, because they need to
add information about the hazards
to the content from yesterday. The
ones being taught need to pay close
attention and ask for clarification as
needed,” Ms. Orton remarked. To
support students’ discussions with
their expert and home groups, Ms.
Orton provided language frames
on table tents to serve as reminders
about providing clear explanations.
By the third day, students became
more confident with the content.
Students developed a set of lab safety
procedures with their home groups.
Ms. Orton reminded her students,
“Remember to keep them clear and
precise.” Each group proposed lab
rules and compared them against
those Ms. Orton had already created
but had not shared with them until
that point. “My lab rules get better
every year because the students
refine them,” she said. “If I just told
them the rules, they would go in
one ear and out the other. Spending
some time each class for a few days
examining potential hazards makes it
much more memorable for them.”
Days 14–16: Reading,
Discussing, and Writing
to Convey Experience
The narrative text type conveys
experience and is not limited to the
English classroom. Eighth-grade social
studies teacher Carmen Bowden
introduced issues that punctuate
United States history. “I don’t teach
strictly in a chronological order,”
she explained. “Certain issues
arise repeatedly and continue to
challenge us. One is the rights of
Native Americans.” When an issue is
foreshadowed early on, she zoomed
ahead a century or more to see how
not confronting a problem ends up
magnifying it for a later generation.
In their current study of early
exploration of the continent, the class
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
witnessed how Native Americans
will be treated. Ms. Bowden said,
“Today I want them to examine the
surrender speech of Chief Joseph
of the Nez Perce in 1877.” After the
tribe’s resistance to a federal order
to move to a reservation, as well as
a failed attempt to escape across the
Canadian border, Chief Joseph took
stock of his people’s suffering and
surrendered.
As a class, students read and
discussed the speech, especially its
haunting final line, “I will fight no
more forever.” Ms. Bowden drew their
attention to elements that made the
speech so effective, especially Chief
Joseph’s ability to tell a moving story
as a way to explain his decision. They
identified literary devices he used, such
as repeating words and phrases (e.g.,
freezing to death, listing the names of
dead warriors).
The following day, students read
and discussed an account of the
interactions between Christopher
Columbus and his men and the Taino
Indians of Hispaniola. “Remember
the elements of a compelling story as
you read and discuss this first-person
account,” Ms. Bowden reminded
them. Students searched for similarities
between the two pieces of text, noting
that both the speech and the account
contained vivid images of suffering.
On day 16, students worked in
small groups to develop a story that
the Taino Indians of Hispaniola would
have told about their experiences,
had their people survived. Using
VoiceThread, an online storytelling
platform (www.voicethread.com),
students retold the story using
supporting images. “Native American
history was primarily passed from one
generation through an oral tradition,”
Ms. Bowden said. “Narrative devices
are so important within this culture,
but also in recounting historical
events. Throughout the year we’ll
read and discuss lots of first-person
accounts. This gives students an
introduction to narrative as a means
for retelling our histories.”
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
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© 2013 International Reading Association
Days 17–20: Reading,
Writing, and Discussing
Through Argumentation
Students entering middle school are
not going to know about the nuances
of argumentation, and it is a safe bet
that many high school students don’t
know these, either. Argumentation at
its core is about formal reasoning and
the means by which a case is built to
support a position. English teachers
commonly draw upon Aristotle’s classic
appeals of logic: ethos (credibility),
pathos (emotional), and logos
(logical). Sixth-grade English teacher
Bill Coughlin introduced these three
principles in the first month of the
school year. “Some people like to say
that there’s nothing more that young
adolescents like to do than argue, and
then they roll their eyes,” he said. “But
I think that reaction stems from the
fact that many don’t argue especially
well. We’ll be looking at how these
appeals work in advertising.”
After introducing the three types
of appeals and sharing examples of
each, Mr. Coughlin provided samples
of advertising copy with the images
removed to focus students’ attention
on the words. First as a class and
then in collaborative groups, students
studied the written copy and sorted
them into one of the three categories.
Students soon realized that some
samples rightfully belonged in two
or even all three categories. “In other
words, I deliberately provide a dilemma
each group must solve,” Mr. Coughlin
said. “It’s interesting to watch how
each group resolves this. Some make
new categories that describe how
many types of appeals were used.
Others list the various combinations
and sort them accordingly.” Mr.
Coughlin debriefed the activity with
the class and asked the groups to
categorize their own methods for
solving the problem. “I’m interested in
them appreciating that these appeals
are used to resolve a problem,” he
said, “not just to sell a product.”
The next day, students returned
to identify another dilemma,
starting with a short video of people
presenting three viewpoints. Using
an inside/outside circle, groups made
up of half of the total class identified
the arguments themselves, while
the remainder of the class served
as observers who categorized the
appeals they witnessed. Mr. Coughlin
then showed a second short video
and students reversed roles.
By the third day, students were
ready to take on appeals for use in
their writing. Each student chose
one of the topics discussed in the
videos and wrote a summary of
the argument. “Each has to have
examples of ethos, pathos, and logos
in it,” Mr. Coughlin says.
He collected students’ summaries
as tickets out the door at the end
of the period and then redistributed
them on the fourth day. “Now
they have someone else’s writing,”
Writing
The CCSS for writing echo those of reading as it applies to text
types; that is, students must also produce narrative, explanatory,
and argumentative texts. Importantly, secondary students
must become more adept at mixing these text types to suit the
audience, task, and purpose, such as using an opening scenario
(a narrative text type) to illuminate a point of argumentation.
The types of writing vary as well, ranging from those that are
produced on demand to those that are the product of extended
research. Technology plays a key role in both research and
production, as well as in collaboration with others.
9
THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
Mr. Coughlin noted. Students read the
summary and then chose an opinion
station posted in the room that best
reflected the writer’s position. Those
in possession of summaries for the
first topic chose Strongly Agree,
Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree
to reflect the position. Students with
the second topic observed as Mr.
Coughlin facilitated discussion within
and among groups. “You have to use
the reasoning on the paper, not your
own,” he reminded them.
After the second topic was
discussed in similar fashion, the
writers turned the summary over
to revise it. “When they have to
argue what’s on the page, and not
interject what they believe they get
pretty frustrated, but they begin to
see what makes for a strong or weak
argument,” states Mr. Coughlin. The
summaries with peer revisions on
them were returned to the original
writers, who revised their summaries
based on the feedback. “Teaching
argumentation is a long and complex
task, but this gives me a good
jumping-off point,” he said.
Conclusion
The CCSS for English Language Arts
represent fundamental shifts in the
way we teach and how students learn.
One can be easily overwhelmed by the
scope of the work, especially because
we must acknowledge that it will take
several years to refine our practices.
However, that work is going to be
thwarted if we engage in magical
thinking. We hold high expectations
for ourselves, and we want to be
flawless the first time we try something
new. Yet we don’t hold our students
to that same expectation; in fact, quite
the opposite. We realize that their
learning is forwarded through trial
and error, and we encourage them
on a daily basis to try something new.
Allow yourself the same conditions.
Try something new, be reflective, and
polish your practice. The first step can
make all the difference in the journey.
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association
Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey are
IRA Resources
The International Reading Association
CCSS for English Language Arts Resource
Page: www.reading.org/resources/
ResourcesByTopic/CommonCoreresourcetype/CommonCore-rt-resources
.aspx
The International Reading Association’s
resource page serves as a clearinghouse
for locating books, articles, white papers,
archived webinars, and external links
for all things CCSS. The page is regularly
updated, so check back frequently to
discover new tools.
professors in the College of Education at
San Diego State University and teacher
leaders at Health Sciences High and Middle
College. They are interested in quality instruction for diverse learners
and are coauthors with Diane Lapp of Text Complexity: Raising
Rigor in Reading (International Reading Association, 2012).
You may contact Doug at [email protected] and Nancy at
[email protected].
The Path to Get There: A Common
Core Road Map for Higher Student
Achievement Across the Disciplines
(Fisher, Frey, & Alfaro, 2013)
Published as a joint partnership between
the International Reading Association and
Teachers College Press, this book is written
expressly for content teachers of history/
social science, science, and technical
subjects. Each chapter addresses a domain
of the core standards for literacy, with
attention given to the discipline-specific
literacies that underpin learning in each
of these subjects. In addition, the unique
needs of English learners and students with
disabilities in reading, writing, speaking
and listening, and language are discussed
throughout.
PREVIOUS MEMBERSONLY COLUMNS
The Power of the Word: Vocabulary
Across the Disciplines (July 2011)
examines types of vocabulary and
strategies for resolving unknown words
and phrases.
Notetaking and Notemaking
(December 2011) discusses annotation in
more detail.
Text Complexity and Close Readings
(January 2012) addresses instructional
implications of working with complex text
to foster deep comprehension.
Text-Dependent Questions (April 2012)
focuses on this essential aspect of close
reading.
R E F ER EN C E S
Adler, M.J., & Van Doren, C. (1972). How to read a book. New York, NY: Touchstone.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012). What is language? What is speech? Retrieved at
www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech.htm
Aronson, J., Blaney, N., Stephin, C., Sikes, J., & Snapp, M. (1978). The jigsaw classroom. Beverly Hills, CA:
Sage.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers.
(2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies,
science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC: Authors.
IRA E-ssentials © 2013 International Reading Association
ISSN 2326-7216 (online) | No. 8034
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THE FIRST 20 DAYS: COMMON CORE EDITION ♦ August 2013
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8034
♦
© 2013 International Reading Association