INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Are Your Teachers and Their Students Prepared?
Edwina Howard-Jack, NBCT, English Language Arts Coordinator,
WVDE
NEXT GENERATION ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS UNIT
• A Close Reading of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address
What’s at stake: a nation as a place
and an idea
• DAY 1 ACTIVITIES:
1. Read Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address silently
(five minutes)
2. Follow along as I read the text out loud (five
minutes)
3. Re-read the first paragraph of the Gettysburg
Address and translate it into their own words
(five minutes)
What’s at stake: a nation as a place
and an idea
• DAY 1 ACTIVITIES:
4. Participate in the discussion based on guiding
questions about the first paragraph of
Lincoln’s speech (ten minutes)
Guided discussion of the first
sentence/ paragraph:
Key Question #1 for discussion:
According to Lincoln, what
made this nation new?
Sub questions and key academic
vocabulary:
• What does he mean by four score and seven
years ago? Who are ―our fathers‖?
• What does conceived mean?
• What does proposition mean?
• What is new about America: Is he saying that
no one has been free or equal before? So
what is new?
Summarize the three ways in which the
nation is new:
• it did not exist before,
• it was made through free choice,
and
• it is dedicated to a specific idea –
―all men are created equal.‖
Key Question #2 for discussion:
• What happened four
score and seven years
ago?
Sub questions and key academic
vocabulary:
• When was ―four score and seven years ago‖?
• What important thing happened in 1776?
• What does Lincoln tell us in this first sentence about
what happened 87 years ago?
• Who are ―our fathers‖? What can we know about
―our fathers‖ from this sentence?
• What is the impact of Lincoln referring to such a
famous date?
Based on what you
have read, rewrite your
translation of the first
line.
Rewrite your translation
of Lincoln’s first
paragraph (five
minutes)
Recap of Instructional
Moves
• First move: Teacher does little to
introduce
So as not to simplify the text or
rob students of discovering things
for themselves
• Second move: Students read to
themselves
Research shows students
reading and re-reading improves
their comprehension
Recap of Instructional
Moves
• Third move: Teacher reads
portion of speech out loud
Research shows that teachers
reading out loud improves fluency
and builds vocabulary—smoothes
out comprehension bumps caused
by dysfluency, allowing all to access
challenging text
• Fourth move: Students
paraphrase or translate into own
words
Research shows asking students to
write about what they read
strengthens their comprehension of
texts
Recap of Instructional Moves
• Fifth move: Teacher asks a series
of specific, text-dependent
questions
Text-dependent questions
serve as the scaffolding.
They sustain focus on the
paragraphs, sentences and
even words of the text.
They ask for evidence to
support claims.
NEXT GENERATION ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS UNIT
• Let’s take a close look at this exemplar
unit entitled ―A Close Look at Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address.‖
Your Assignment
Current
Practices
NxG Practices
Shifts
1. Read and discuss the exemplar
unit at your tables and complete
your chart. Be prepared to
share. (20 minutes)
What’s In It For
Us?
Gettysburg Address Exemplar
• Lavish love and attention on the text (3 days of
study)
• Interplay of scaffolds and building students’
independent capacity
• Represents several key shifts in the NxG
CSO’s for ELA
o
o
o
o
o
Focus on the text (read, re-read, slow down)
Focus on complex informational text
Asks questions that require evidence
Focus on academic vocabulary
Analyze the text in writing
Vocabulary: Trace How the Power of
How a Word Grows
• How many times does
Lincoln use the word
dedicate?
• What verb is first
associated with
dedicate?
• What verb is associated
with the next two uses?
• What word is associated
with the last two uses of
dedicate?
Overview of the Three Days
• Day One: What’s at stake: A nation as a
place and as an idea (first two
paragraphs)
• Day Two: From funeral to new birth
(third paragraph)
• Day Three: Dedication as national
identity and personal devotion
So where to start?
Well, first where not to start. . .
• Don’t provide context about Lincoln or the Civil
War
• Don’t provide a main idea, purpose, or theme
• Don’t ask students to predict what Lincoln will say
Note What the Lesson
Does
• Allows the mystery to
unfold
• Includes scaffolding that
doesn’t simplify the text
(series of specific
questions)
• Asks questions that
require evidence
• Provides keen focus on
paragraphs, sentences,
and even words
Note What the Lesson Doesn’t Do
• Doesn’t ask students for their
personal opinion or what they are
feeling
• Doesn’t ask students to compare
another text to Lincoln’s speech
• Doesn’t ask big, broad questions
just to get students talking (no
bigger questions than how
Lincoln secures his claim)
Informational Text
80
70
60
50
Literary
40
Informational
30
20
10
0
Grade 4
Grade 8
Grade 12
Text Complexity
Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile
Ranges in Lexile Measures
•
•
•
•
•
•
K-1
2-3
4-5
6-8
9-10
11-CCR
N/A
450-790
770-980
955-1155
1080-1305
1215-1355
Making Professional Development Count
• What might you do to prepare your teachers and
your students?
Questions?
EDWINA HOWARD-JACK AT
[email protected]