Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies, Grade 7

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 xii Unit 1: Reading Closely for Textual Details: “We reckoned now that we were at the Pole” 1 Topic and Texts 2 Learning Progression 2 Outline 4 Introduction to the Reading Closely Literacy Toolbox 4 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 5 Common Core State Standards Alignment 7 Part 1: Understanding Close Reading 8 Activity 1: Introduction to the Unit 10 Activity 2: Attending to Details 13 Activity 3: Reading Closely for Details 17 Activity 4: Attending to Details in Multimedia 21 Activity 5: Independent Reading and Research 24 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 27 Part 2: Questioning Texts 28 Activity 1: How Skillful Readers Approach Texts 30 Activity 2: Approaching a New Text 35 Activity 3: Analyzing Text with Text-Specific Questions 38 Activity 4: Posing Text-Specific Questions 40 Activity 5: Independent Writing 42 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 42 Part 3: Analyzing Details 44 Activity 1: Analyzing Textual Detail 46 Activity 2: Analyzing and Discussing Details across Texts 50 Activity 3: Explaining and Comparing Texts 52 Activity 4: Independent Reading 54 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 56 Part 4: Explaining Understanding 57 Activity 1: Introduction to Culminating Activities 60 Activity 2: Reading and Discussing Related Texts 60 Activity 3: Questioning and Analyzing Texts Independently 61 Activity 4: Writing a Text-Based Explanation 66 Part 4: Summative Assessment Opportunities 69 Part 5: Discussion 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 109 Reading Closely Media Supports 126 Unit 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims: “We organized!” 127 Topic and Texts 128 Learning Progression 128 Sequencing Learning over Time and across Grade Levels 129 Outline 130 Introduction to the Making Evidence-Based Claims Literacy Toolbox 130 Common Core State Standards Alignment 133 Part 1: Understanding Evidence-Based Claims 134 Activity 1: Introduction to Unit 136 Activity 2: Independent Reading 139 Activity 3: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 146 Activity 4: Model the Forming of EBCs 149 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 151 Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims 152 Activity 1: Independent Reading to Find Supporting Evidence 154 Activity 2: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 155 Activity 3: Finding Supporting Evidence in Pairs 158 Activity 4: Class Discussion of EBCs 159 Activity 5: Forming EBCs in Pairs 160 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 161 Part 3: Organizing Evidence-Based Claims 162 Activity 1: Independent Reading and Finding EBCs 165 Activity 2: Comparing EBCs 167 Activity 3: Model the Organizing of EBCs 167 Activity 4: Deepening Understanding 169 Activity 5: Organizing EBCs in Pairs 173 Activity 6: Class Discussion of Student EBCs 173 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 174 Part 4: Writing Evidence-Based Claims 176 Activity 1: Model the Communication of an EBC Through Writing 179 Activity 2: Model and Practice the use of Questions and Criteria to Improve a Written EBC 180 Activity 3: Writing EBCs in Pairs 182 Activity 4: Reviewing and Improving Written EBCs 183 Activity 5: Independent Reading, Developing Questioning Paths, and Making EBCs 185 Activity 6: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 186 Activity 7: Independent Writing of EBCs 187 Activity 8: Using Peer Feedback to Revise a Written EBC 187 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 188 Part 5: Developing Evidence-Based Writing 190 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 EBC Essay 196 Activity 5: Using the Collaborative, Criteria-Based Process to Improve Essays 197 Activity 6: Class Discussion of Final Evidence-Based Claims Essays 200 Part 5: Summative Assessment 200 Making Evidence-Based Claims Unit Texts 203 Making Evidence-Based Claims Literacy Toolbox 230 Making Evidence-Based Claims Media Supports 250 Unit 3: Researching to Deepen Understanding: Water: Why is it so valuable? 251 Learning Progression 252 Sequencing Learning over Time and across Grade Levels 253 Outline 254 Introduction to the Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 255 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 256 How This Unit Aligns with CCSS for ELA and Literacy 258 Terms and Definitions Used in This Unit 259 Research Topics 260 Common Source Set 260 Source Search Locations 261 Part 1: Initiating Inquiry 262 Activity 1: Introduction to the Unit 264 Activity 2: Exploring a Topic 266 Activity 3: Conducting Pre-searches 276 Activity 4: Vetting Areas of Investigation 281 Activity 5: Generating Inquiry Questions 282 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 285 Part 2: Gathering Information 287 Activity 1: Planning Searches for Information 290 Activity 2: Building an Initial Research Frame 294 Activity 3: Conducting Searches for Background Sources Using Inquiry Questions and Paths 296 Activity 4: Assessing Sources 297 Activity 5: Making and Recording Notes 301 Activity 6: Conducting Searches Independently 304 Activity 7: Reviewing and Revising the Research Frame 305 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 306 Part 3: Deepening Understanding 307 Activity 1: Selecting Key Sources 310 Activity 2: Analyzing a Source’s Perspective 310 Activity 3: Reading Key Sources Closely—Forming Claims 314 Activity 4: Writing EBCs about Sources 315 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 317 Part 4: Finalizing Inquiry 318 Activity 1: Addressing Inquiry Paths 321 Activity 2: Organizing Evidence 322 Activity 3: Evaluating Research 323 Activity 4: Refining and Extending Inquiry 325 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 326 Part 5: Developing and Communicating an Evidence-Based Perspective 328 Activity 1: Reviewing Research Portfolios 331 Activity 2: Communicating an Evidence-Based Perspective 331 Activity 3: Writing a Bibliography 339 Activity 4: Communicating a Final Evidence-Based Product (Optional) 339 Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 341 Researching to Deepen Understanding Common Source Set 343 Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 349 Unit 4: Building Evidence-Based Arguments: “Doping can be that last 2 percent” 383 Topic and Texts—Performance-Enhancing Drugs 385 Learning Progression 385 Sequencing Learning over Time and across Grade Levels 385 Outline 386 Introduction to Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 387 How This Unit Teaches Vocabulary 388 Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 388 Common Core State Standards Alignment 390 Part 1: Understanding the Nature of an Issue 392 Activity 1: Introducing the Unit 394 Activity 2: Exploring the Issue 395 Activity 3: Deepening Understanding of the Issue 404 Activity 4: Questioning to Refine Understanding 412 Activity 5: Writing an Evidence-Based Claim about the Nature of the Issue 413 Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 414 Part 2: Analyzing Arguments 416 Activity 1: Understanding Argumentative Position 419 Activity 2: Identifying Elements of Argumentation 421 Activity 3: Delineating Arguments 423 Activity 4: Understanding Perspective 426 Activity 5: Delineating and Comparing Arguments 427 Activity 6: Delineating Additional Arguments 434 Activity 7: Writing to Analyze Arguments 434 Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 435 Part 3: Evaluating Arguments and Developing a Position 437 Activity 1: Evaluating Arguments 440 Activity 2: Developing a Perspective and Position 443 Activity 3: Deepening Understanding 445 Activity 4: Using Others’ Arguments to Support a Position 446 Activity 5: Responding to Opposing Arguments 446 Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 447 Part 4: Organizing an Evidence-Based Argument 449 Activity 1: Identifying Supporting Evidence 451 Activity 2: Developing and Sequencing Claims as Premises of the Argument 452 Activity 3: Organizing Evidence to Support Claims 453 Activity 4: Reviewing a Plan for Writing an Argument 454 Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 455 Part 5: Developing Writing through a Collaborative Process 457 Activity 1: Strengthening Writing Collaboratively: Principles and Processes 460 Activity 2: Focus on Content: Information and Ideas 464 Activity 3: Focus on Organization: Unity, Coherence, and Logical Sequence 467 Activity 4: Focus on Support: Integrating and Citing Evidence 469 Activity 5: Additional Rounds of Focused Review and Revision 472 Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 474 Building Evidence-Based Arguments Unit Texts 476 Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 479 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.