4. The Thinking Behind the Shift
• Much of our knowledge base comes from
informational text.
• Informational text makes up a vast majority of
required reading in college/workplace.
• It is harder to comprehend than narrative text.
• YET… students are asked to read very little of it
in elementary and middle school.
5. Practice
1. Closely read Shift One in the brochure
(remember to annotate).
2. How will this shift translate in terms of
classroom instruction? Review examples.
3. What changes might this shift bring to your
classroom/school/district? Complete the lined
section of the brochure.
6. ELA/Literacy Shift 1:
Building Knowledge Through Content-Rich Nonfiction and Informational Texts
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
• Builds content knowledge through • Balances informational & literary
text text
• Finds evidence • Scaffolds for informational texts
• Gains exposure to the world through
• Teaches “through” and “with”
reading informational texts by allowing
students to read the text instead of
• Handles primary source documents summarizing
Principal’s Role:
• Purchases and provides equal amounts of informational and literary texts for
each classroom and supports teachers’ transition to this balance
• Provides PD and co-planning opportunities for teachers to become more
familiar with informational texts and how to use them side by side with literary
texts
• Supports the role of all teachers in advancing students’ literacy 6
8. The Thinking Behind the Shift
• Ability to cite evidence differentiates
student performance on NAEP.
• Most college and workplace writing is
evidence-based and expository in nature
(not narrative).
9. Practice
1. Closely read Shift Two in the brochure
(remember to annotate, ask questions, …)
2. How will this shift translate in terms of
classroom instruction? Review examples.
3. What changes might this shift bring to your
classroom/school/district? Complete the lined
section of the brochure.
10. ELA/Literacy Shift 2:
Reading and Writing Grounded in Evidence from the Text
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
• Finds evidence to support their argument and • Facilitates evidence based conversations
writes using evidence and presents opportunities to write about
• Forms own judgments and creates multiple texts
informational texts • Keeps students in the text and gives them
• Reads texts closely opportunities to analyze, synthesize ideas
• Engages with the author and his/her choices • Identifies questions that are text-dependent,
• Compares multiple sources worth asking/exploring, delivers richly
• Develops students’ voice so that they can argue
a point and articulate their own conclusions
using evidence
• Spends much more time preparing for
instruction by reading deeply
Principal’s Role:
• Provides planning time for teachers to engage with the text to prepare and identify appropriate text-
dependent questions
• Supports teachers as they spend more time with students writing about the texts they read – building
strong arguments using evidence from the text
• Encourage teachers to foster evidence based conversations about texts with and amongst students
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12. The Thinking Behind the Shift
• The gap between complexity of college
and high school texts is huge.
• What students can read in terms of
complexity is the greatest predictor of
success in college (ACT study).
13. Practice
1. Closely read Shift Three in the brochure
(remember to annotate).
2. How will this shift translate in terms of
classroom instruction? Review examples.
3. What changes might this shift bring to your
classroom/school/district? Complete the lined
section of the brochure.
14. ELA/Literacy Shift 3:
Regular Practice with Complex Text and its Academic Vocabulary
What the Student Does… What the Teacher Does…
• Rereads • Spends more time on more complex
• Tolerates frustration when engaged texts at every grade level
with challenging text • Gives students less to read, lets them
• Uses high utility words across content reread
areas • Provides scaffolding & strategies
• Builds “language of power” database • Develops students’ability to use and
access words
• Is strategic about the new vocabulary
words
• Teaches fewer words more deeply
Principal’s Role:
• Supports teachers as they work through and experience their students’ frustration with
complex texts and learn to chunk and scaffold that text
• Ensures that texts are appropriately complex at every grade and that complexity of text
builds from grade to grade
• Supports teachers as they scaffold so that students can move to more complex texts
• Provides training to teachers on the shift for teaching vocabulary in a more meaningful,
effective manner
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