Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies, Grade 6

The Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies program is an integrated set of English Language Arts/Literacy units spanning grades 6-12 that provide student-centered instruction on a set of literacy proficiencies at the heart of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Reading Closely for Textual Details Making Evidence-Based Claims Making Evidence-Based Claims about Literary Technique (Grades 9-12) Researching to Deepen Understanding Building Evidence-Based Arguments The program approaches literacy through the development of knowledge, literacy skills, and academic habits. Throughout the activities, students develop their literacy along these three paths in an integrated, engaging, and empowering way. Knowledge: The texts and topics students encounter in the program have been carefully selected to expose them to rich and varied ideas and perspectives of cultural significance. These texts not only equip students with key ideas for participating knowledgeably in the important discussions of our time, but also contain the complexity of expression necessary for developing college- and career-ready literacy skills. Literacy Skills: The program articulates and targets instruction and assessment on twenty CCSS-aligned literacy skills ranging from “making inferences” to “reflecting critically.” Students focus on this set of twenty skills throughout the year and program, continually applying them in new and more sophisticated ways. Academic Habits: The program articulates twelve academic habits for students to develop, apply, and extend as they progress through the sequence of instruction. Instructional notes allow teachers to introduce and discuss academic habits such as “preparing” and “completing tasks” that are essential to students’ success in the classroom. The program materials include a comprehensive set of instructional sequences, teacher notes, handouts, assessments, rubrics, and graphic organizers designed to support students with a diversity of educational experiences and needs. The integrated assessment system, centered around the literacy skills and academic habits, allows for the coherent evaluation of student literacy development over the course of the year and vertically across all grade levels.

Table of Contents:
About Odell Education v Acknowledgments vi Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies: User Guide xi Unit 1: Reading Closely for Textual Details: “The wolf you feed” 1 Topic and Texts 2 Learning Progression 2 Outline 3 Introduction to the Reading Closely Literacy Toolbox 3 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 4 Common Core State Standards Alignment 6 Part 1: Understanding Close Reading 7 Activity 1: Introduction to the Unit 9 Activity 2: Attending to Details 12 Activity 3: Reading Closely for Details 16 Activity 4: Attending to Details in Multimedia 20 Activity 5: Independent Reading and Research 23 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 26 Part 2: Questioning Texts 27 Activity 1: How Skillful Readers Approach Texts 29 Activity 2: Approaching a new Text 34 Activity 3: Analyzing Text with Text-Specific Questions 37 Activity 4: Posing Text-Specific Questions 39 Activity 5: Independent Writing 41 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 43 Part 3: Analyzing Details 44 Activity 1: Analyzing Textual Detail 46 Activity 2: Analyzing and Discussing Details across Texts 51 Activity 3: Explaining and Comparing Texts 53 Activity 4: Independent Reading 55 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 57 Part 4: Explaining Understanding 58 Activity 1: Introduction to Culminating Activities 61 Activity 2: Reading and Discussing Related Texts 61 Activity 3: Questioning and Analyzing Texts Independently 62 Activity 4: Writing a Text-Based Explanation 66 Part 4: Summative Assessment Opportunities 70 Part 5: Discussing Ideas 71 Activity 1: Understanding Text-Centered Discussions 73 Activity 2: Preparing for a Text-Centered Discussion 74 Activity 3: Leading a Text-Centered Discussion 75 Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 76 Reading Closely for Textual Details Unit Texts 78 Reading Closely Literacy Toolbox 118 Reading Closely Media Supports 133 Unit 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims: “Connecting the Dots” 137 Topic and Texts 138 Learning Progression 138 Outline 139 Introduction to the Making EBCs Literacy Toolbox 140 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 140 Common Core State Standards Alignment 142 Part 1: Understanding Evidence-Based Claims 143 Activity 1: Introduction to Unit 145 Activity 2: Independent Reading 147 Activity 3: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 150 Activity 4: Model the Forming of EBCs 152 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 154 Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims 155 Activity 1: Independent Reading to Find Supporting Evidence 157 Activity 2: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 158 Activity 3: Finding Supporting Evidence in Pairs 161 Activity 4: Class Discussion of EBCs 162 Activity 5: Forming EBCs in Pairs 163 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 164 Part 3: Organizing Evidence-Based Claims 165 Activity 1: Independent Reading and Forming EBCs 167 Activity 2: Comparing EBCs 169 Activity 3: Model the Organizing of EBCs 169 Activity 4: Deepening Understanding 171 Activity 5: Organizing EBCs in Pairs 174 Activity 6: Class Discussion of Student EBCs 174 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 175 Part 4: Writing Evidence-Based Claims 177 Activity 1: Model the Communication of an EBC through Writing 180 Activity 2: Model and Practice the use of Questions and Criteria to Improve a Written EBC 181 Activity 3: Writing EBCs in Pairs 183 Activity 4: Reviewing and Improving Written EBCs 184 Activity 5: Independent Reading, Developing Questioning Paths, and Making EBCs 186 Activity 6: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 187 Activity 7: Independent Writing of EBCs 187 Activity 8: Using Peer Feedback to Revise a Written EBC 188 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 189 Part 5: Developing Evidence-Based Writing 191 Activity 1: Independent Reading and Class Discussion of Global EBCs 194 Activity 2: Forming Global or Comparative EBCs 195 Activity 3: Reviewing and Organizing EBCs 196 Activity 4: Independent Drafting of a Final Written Evidence-Based Essay 196 Activity 5: Using the Collaborative, Criteria-Based Process to Improve Essays 197 Activity 6: Class Discussion of Final EBCs Essays 199 Part 5: Summative Assessment 200 Making Evidence-Based Claims Unit Text 202 Making Evidence-Based Claims Literacy Toolbox 209 Making Evidence-Based Claims Media Supports 229 Unit 3: Researching to Deepen Understanding: Prehistoric Cave Art 231 Topic: Prehistoric Cave Art 232 Learning Progression 233 Outline 234 Introduction to the Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 235 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 236 How This Unit Aligns with CCSS for ELA and Literacy 238 Terms and Definitions Used in This Unit 239 Common Texts 239 Source Search Locations 239 Part 1: Initiating Inquiry 241 Activity 1: Introducing the Unit 243 Activity 2: Exploring a Topic 245 Activity 3: Recording Research Interests and Potential Sources 249 Activity 4: Exploring a Topic Further 251 Activity 5: Choosing an Area of Investigation 254 Activity 6: Generating Inquiry Questions 255 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 257 Part 2: Gathering Information 259 Activity 1: Introduction to Sources 261 Activity 2: Assessing Sources 261 Activity 3: Making and Recording Notes 268 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 271 Part 3: Deepening Understanding 272 Activity 1: Reading Sources Closely 275 Activity 2: Writing EBCs about Sources 278 Activity 3: Discussing Understanding of the Area of Investigation 280 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 281 Part 4: Finalizing Inquiry 282 Activity 1: Addressing an Inquiry Question 285 Activity 2: Organizing Evidence 286 Activity 3: Evaluating Research 286 Activity 4: Refining Inquiry 287 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 288 Part 5: Developing and Communicating an Evidence-Based perspective 290 Activity 1: Reviewing Research Portfolios 293 Activity 2: Expressing an Evidence-Based Perspective 293 Activity 3: Writing a Bibliography 298 Activity 4: Communicating a Final Evidence-Based Presentation (Optional) 299 Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 299 Researching to Deepen Understanding Common Texts 302 Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 305 Unit 4: Building Evidence-Based Arguments: “Energy Crossroads” 331 Unit Topic and Texts—Energy Consumption and Production 333 Learning Progression 333 Sequencing Learning Over Time and Across Grade Levels 334 Outline 335 Introduction to the Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 335 How This Unit Teaches Vocabulary 336 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 337 Common Core State Standards Alignment 338 Part 1: Understanding the Nature of an Issue 340 Activity 1: Introducing the Unit 342 Activity 2: Exploring the Issue 344 Activity 3: Deepening Understanding of the Issue 352 Activity 4: Questioning to Refine Understanding 358 Activity 5: Writing an EBC about the Nature of the Issue 360 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 361 Part 2: Analyzing Arguments 363 Activity 1: Understanding Argumentative Position 366 Activity 2: Identifying Elements of Argumentation 368 Activity 3: Delineating Arguments 371 Activity 4: Understanding Perspective 373 Activity 5: Delineating and Comparing Arguments 374 Activity 6: Reading and Delineating Additional Arguments 380 Activity 7: Writing to Analyze Arguments 381 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 382 Part 3: Evaluating Arguments and Developing a Position 384 Activity 1: Evaluating Arguments 387 Activity 2: Developing a Perspective and Position 390 Activity 3: Deepening Understanding 392 Activity 4: Using Others’ Arguments to Support a Position 392 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 393 Part 4: Organizing an Evidence-Based Argument 395 Activity 1: Planning an Argument—Identifying Supporting Evidence 397 Activity 2: Developing and Sequencing Claims to Build the Argument 398 Activity 3: Organizing Evidence to Support Claims 399 Activity 4: Reviewing a Plan for Writing an Argument 400 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 401 Part 5: Developing Writing through a Collaborative Process 403 Activity 1: Strengthening Writing Collaboratively—Principles and Processes 406 Activity 2: Focus on Content—Information and Ideas 410 Activity 3: Focus on Organization—Unity, Coherence, and Logical Sequence 413 Activity 4: Focus on Support—Integrating and Citing Evidence 415 Activity 5: Additional Rounds of Focused Review and Revision 418 Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 420 Building Evidence-Based Arguments Unit Text Set 423 Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 426 All materials from the Literacy Toolbox are available as editable and printable PDFs at www.wiley.com/go/coreliteracy. Use the following password: odell2016

About the Author :
ODELL EDUCATION (OE) is dedicated to fostering creativity and critical thinking in students and the education community. OE has developed nationally validated and acclaimed literacy curricula and collaborates with schools, states, and organizations on assessment design, curriculum development, and teacher training.