SecondaryLiteracyCoreComponentsofInstruction

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InSecondaryLiteracy,weaimtobuildstudentswho
Asreaders,canreadandcomprehendtheplotandbasicflowofideasingradeleveltextsacrossgenres
Aswriters,cancommunicatetheirideaslogicallyandlucidlywithappropriatesupportingevidenceandinterpretation
Ascriticalthinkers,canuncovertheimplicitthemes,arguments,andideaswithinandacrosstextsanddeterminehowand
whytheauthorconveyedthem

Wedothisbyteachinginwaysthatvaluechildrensidentities,harnessandaffirmthepowerofstudentvoice,keeptheburdenand
joyofreading,writing,andthinkingonchildren,andmethodicallyanddeliberatelybuildingbasicreadingandwritingskillsof
studentswhoareoperatingbehindgradelevel.

OurApproachtoSecondaryLiteracy:PrinciplesofExemplaryLiteracyClassrooms

Readcomplex,gradeappropriatetextsworthreading:Allchildren,regardlessofreadinglevel,
spendthemajorityoftheirclasstimereadingcomplex,gradeappropriatetextsacrossgenres
withadequatesupportfromtheteacher&/orpeers.Textsbecomeincreasinglycomplexfrom
grades612andenablestudentstobuildthecriticalthinkingskillsandacademicvocabulary
requiredtobecomecollegeandcareerready.

AcommonmisperceptionoftheCommonCoreStateStandards(CCSS)isthatstudentsinupper
gradesarerequiredtoreadasubstantialamountofinformationaltextsattheexpenseofreading
literatureintheirEnglishclasses.However,theCCSSrequiresubstantialattentiontoliterature
throughoutK12andexplicitlystatethatliteratureshouldbethecoreoftheworkof612ELA
teachers.1TheStandardsplacegreateremphasisonreadingliterarynonfictionasasubgenreof
informationaltexts.Inaddition,theStandardsforsocialsciences,science,andtechnicalsubjects
nowrequirethatstudentsbuildknowledgeinthesedisciplinesthroughreadingandwriting.

Reading,writing,andspeakingaregroundedinevidencefromtext,bothliteraryand
informational:TheCCSSrequirethatstudentsanswerquestionsthatdependontheircareful
readingofthetext.Insteadofaskingquestionsthatallowstudentstorelyonpriorknowledgeor
experience,studentsusetextdependentquestionstoexaminethingslikethetextsstructure,
vocabulary&syntax,andauthorspurpose&/ortheme.2Studentsunderstandingandanalysisis
typicallydemonstratedthroughwritingtasksinwhichstudentsmustprovidetextevidenceto
supporttheirclaim.

Childrenbeartheburden&joyofthereading,writing,&thinking:Inorderforstudentstobe
abletoread,understand,andrespondtocomplex,gradeappropriatetextwithindependence,
theymustspendthemajorityoftheirclasstimedoingthelionsshareofthereading,writing,
andthinking.Althoughthisseemslogical,wehaveseenmanyclassroomswheretheteacher
andnotthestudentsisdoingtheworkofareader,writer&criticalthinker.

Whilestudentsmustdothemajorityofthereading,writing,andthinkingintheclassroom,this
doesnotmeanthattheycannotbeprovidednecessaryscaffoldingandsupport.TheCCSS
requireequaloutcomesforstudents,buttheydonotrequireequalinputs.Teacherswillneedto
varytheamountsandtypesofinstructionprovidedtostudentstoensurehighratesofsuccess.
Forexample,thefollowingstrategiescouldbeusedtosupportstrugglingreaderswithcomplex
texts:3
Tierthetask
Providestudentswithsectionsorsmallchunksofthetext
Readaloudtoindividualorsmallgroupsofstudents

Copyright 2013 by Teach For America


IndependentReading:TheCCSSdemandthatsecondarystudentsreadgradeappropriateand
complextexts.However,giventhecontextwithinwhichweteachandourstudentsstarting
points,manystudentswillneedscaffoldinginordertoengagewithandunderstandingcomplex
textsindependently.Onekeylevertobuildstudentsbasicreadingskillsisthroughindependent
reading,inwhichstudentsreadtextsontheirreadinglevelwith90%orabovesuccess.All
students,regardlessofreadinglevel,needopportunitiesearlyintheyeartoattempttoread
complex,gradeappropriatetextsindependentlysothattheycanbecomeaccustomedtowhatis
expectedofthem.Bydoingso,studentswilldeveloptheperseveranceandgritnecessaryto
readandanalyzecomplextexts.

LiteracyFostersIdentity,Community,&AwarenessoftheBroaderWorld:WhiletheCCSSstate
thatstudentsmustreadcomplextextsworthreading,wehavealsoseenourmostsuccessful
teachersusetheircontenttofosterchildrensidentities,senseofcommunity,andawarenessof
broaderissues.Specifically,teachersoftenchoosefictionorliterarynonfictiontextsthatfeature
authors,charactersorcommunitieswithsimilarbackgroundstoourstudents.Informational
textsareoftengroundedinstudentscommunitiesordiscussissuesthatareprominentin
studentslives.Finally,thequestions,themes,andtasksthatstudentsgrapplewiththroughouta
unitand/orlessonoftengiventhemopportunitiestoexaminetheirownperspectivesandhow
thosearesimilarto&/ordifferentfromthosearoundthem.

References

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3.

4.

achievethecore.org

CommonCoreShiftsforEnglishLanguageArts/Literacy,fromachievethecore.org
EdWeekCommonCoreProfessionalDevelopmentWebinarSeries:CommonCoreMythbusters:ClearingUptheBiggestMisconceptionsAbout
theELAStandards
Allington,RichardL.WhatReallyMattersforStrugglingReaders:DesigningResearchbasedPrograms.NewYork:Longman,2001.Print.

AbouttheCoreComponentsofInstruction

TheCoreComponentsofInstructionwerecreatedtoprovideanorthstarforTeachforAmericacorpsmembersandstaffthat
outlinesourorganizationsbestthinkingaboutwhatconstitutesthemosttransformationalsecondaryliteracyclassrooms.
Specifically,theCCIweredevelopedthrough:
CommonCoreresearch,includingreviewingthestandards,publishingcriteria,releasedtestquestions,exemplartools,and
professionaldevelopmentresourcesrelatedtotheCCSS
Externalresearchandpublicationsfromprominentscholarsinsecondaryliteracy
Casestudiesofexemplarysecondaryliteracyteachers
Observationsandinterviewswithoutstandingteachers
InterviewswithTeachforAmericacorpsmembersandstaff

FurtherReading&Resources:

CommonCore:ExpectationsforStudentsWhoareCollegeandCareerReadyinReading,Writing,Speaking,Listening,&
LanguageAportraitofstudentswhomeetthestandardssetoutinthisdocument.

CommonCoreELAStandards

Copyright 2013 by Teach For America

CommonCoreAppendixA:Learnabouttheresearchbehindtheimportanceoftextcomplexityaswellashowtodetermine
thecomplexityofatext.

CommonCoreAppendixB:TextExemplarsforGradesK12

CommonCoreAppendixC:StudentWritingExemplarsforGradesK12

CommonCorePublishersCriteria:DevelopedbytwooftheleadauthorsoftheCommonCoreStateStandardsandrevised
throughconversationswithteachers,researchers,andotherstakeholders,thesecriteriaaredesignedtoguidepublishers
andcurriculumdevelopersastheyworktoensurealignmentwiththestandardsinEnglishlanguagearts(ELA)andliteracy
forhistory/socialstudies,science,andtechnicalsubjects.

OneDayforELA:AcomprehensivewebsitethatfeaturesasecondaryELAteacherandherstudentsthroughouttheyear.
ThesiteincludesherVision,instructionalarcfortheyear,student&familyinterviews,studentworkacrosstheyear,and
twoweeksofinstructionalfootagetoseethewayinwhichshebuildsstudentsasreaders,writers,andthinkers(username/
passwordinformationcanbefoundhere).

SueLehmannArtifactsforChloeKannan(Delta10,secondaryELA):AccessChloesVision,studentworksamples,andvideo
fromherclassroomthatshowwaysinwhichshebuildsstudentsasreaders,writers,andthinkers(username/password:
tal/talrubric).

MillionWordsCampaign:TeachForAmericasnationalcampaignforincreasingstudentsvolumeandloveofreading.One
stopshopforindependentreading.Includesdaybydayguideforimplementingindependentreading,suggestsfor
acquiringbooks,motivatingstudents,andtrackingprogress.

AchievetheCore:DetailedinformationabouttheshiftsrequiredbytheCCSS,aswellasmodelsoftextdependent
questions,professionaldevelopmentwebinars,andstoriesfromteachersimplementingtheCCSSintheirclassroom.

AmericaAchieves:CommonCorealignedlessonplanswithvideosofteachersimplementinglessonsanddiscussingkey
shiftsinthecommoncore.

Copyright 2013 by Teach For America