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What's New in ELA?

Increasing Rigor in Reading and Writing

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Reading and Writing

Lucy Calkins: Lucy Calkins is a writing curriculum that teaches opinion, information, and narrative writing with increasing complexity and fosters high-level thinking. This writing workshop approach develops strategies for content-area writing that supports greater independence and fluency.

TDA: The writing prompt will be a “text-dependent analysis” (or TDA) item. This type of item requires that students read a piece of text or passage and support their responses with evidence from the text. The type of text that the students read and respond to for the TDA item may be drawn from different genres or modes, but the type of writing that the students produce is not a specific mode.

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What’s TDA?

Text

Dependent

Analysis

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What is & isn’t TDA?

  • Not a summary
  • Involves students’ own reactions,

connections, thoughts

  • Students have to use the text to explain thinking (quotes, details, information)
  • More about content and structure, then conventions

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Samples of TDA

Sample of 3rd Grade TDA

Example of a 4 Paper (3rd grade)

4th Grade Reading Passage

5th Grade Reading Passage

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What is Expected?

  • To have ideas, claims, opinions about text (Analyze)
  • Organize your thinking with an introduction, conclusion and transitions
  • Vocabulary: using ELA language and variety of descriptive language

TDA Rubric

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How to Raise the Rigor

The questions you ask, the thinking you do, and

the conversations you have!�

Ask about a connection

  • How did you connect to the character?
  • What book, movie, or other character does this remind you of?
  • How does this connect to events today? Something you learned in history or science?

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Ask to make prediction

  • Continue the story! Write a sequel.
  • If reading a chapter book, ask what next? WHY?�

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Tips to Raise Rigor when Reading

  • Text dependent bookmarks
  • Ask higher level thinking questions
  • Have students read texts that they are interested in and passionate about
  • Read teacher’s newsletter for ELA focus
  • Write or create a book review
  • Book Club with your child

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Lucy Calkins

K-5 Writing Curriculum to build strong writers

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Units of Writing

Narrative

  • Crafting True Stories & Fairytales
  • The Arc of the Story: Realistic Fiction
  • Narrative Craft

Informational

  • Art of Information Writing
  • Bringing History to Life
  • Lens of History: Research Reports

Opinion/Argumentative

  • Changing the World
  • Boxes and Bullets: Persuasive/Personal Essays & Literary Essays
  • Memoir & Argument Essay

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Unit with Lucy Calkins

Bend 1

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  • Collecting Ideas
  • Planning
  • Generating Entries
  • Brainstorming

Bend 2

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  • Choose idea
  • Planning
  • Rough drafts
  • Revising
  • Going through process with support

Bend 3

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  • Reflection
  • Independent
  • Revising
  • Editing
  • Publishing

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Writing at Home

  • Gathering Ideas
  • Reflecting
  • Building stamina
  • Reading your student’s writing
  • Have your student share their writing
  • Write back to them

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Writing at Home

  • Encourage them to choose what to write
  • Writing with a purpose: �Thank you notes �Sorting- Grocery List
  • Be Flexible�It can be long or short�Format- Comic, story, poem
  • Let them be creative!�Drawings, colored pencils, fancy/fun �writing tools

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Writing for

Life

Building Lifelong, Passionate Writers

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Thank You!

Any

Questions?

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