PSD Disciplinary Literacy Plan

Year Two

Determine Importance

TERM FIVE

Comprehension Processes Characteristic of Proficient Readers

Questions to be answered

1. Can you quickly and simply clarify for me what this comprehension process involves?
2. What is my learning target?
3. What standard(s) does this comprehension process address?
4. What resources are available to help me help students develop this comprehension process in my classroom?

What is it?

a simplified refresher

“Determining importance means picking out the most important information when you read, to highlight essential ideas, to isolate supporting details, and to read for specific information. Teachers need to help readers sift and sort information, and make decisions about what information they need to remember and what information they can disregard.”

from Strategies that Work, Stephanie Harvey

Panning for Gold

Important vs. Interesting

Understand the difference

Determining Importance

...at its core...

• People are bombarded with information on a daily basis.
• Readers need to develop and possess a strategy to cope with all of the information that they encounter.
• Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what's important.
• Readers need to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.

​

​

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Fiction requires the reader to...

• identify main ideas.
• infer the bigger ideas or themes of a story.

​

Nonfiction requires the reader to…

• retain important information and learn from the text.
• sift through information and decide what is most important.
• understand the many features and structures specific to the genre.

​

Show students how to make decisions about what information in a text is critical and needs to be processed and remembered and what information can be overlooked.

Learning Target

“Readers of nonfiction have to decide and remember what is important in the texts they read if they are going to learn anything from them. We must teach our students what nonfiction is. Teaching our students that expository text has predictable characteristics and features they can count on before they read allows them to construct meaning more easily.”

from Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller

Determining Importance in Nonfiction

from Stephanie Harvey

• Nonfiction reading is reading to learn something. Nonfiction can make false assertions, and often does. The question is whether the assertions claim to describe reality, no matter how speculative the discussion may be.
• Nonfiction frequently has a defined structure and identifiable features.
• As you read, think of facts, questions and responses. Write these down as you read. Think before you write.
• Reading nonfiction takes time. You may have to reread to make sure you understand.
• Stop often and ask yourself if what you are reading makes sense.
• Reading fiction is like watching a movie. Nonfiction is more like watching a newscast.

​

When you get down to determining importance, you actually get down to the

author’s intent in writing that text.

Why is it important?

It sets a purpose for reading

Why is it important?

What standards are addressed by this comprehension process?

International Reading Association and CCSS

IRA (International Reading Association) Standards for the English Language Arts

​

Standard #1: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

IRA (International Reading Association) Standards for the English Language Arts

​

Standard #3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound–letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Determining importance is implied throughout the CCSS standards and is a prerequisite skill to meeting the intended learning expectations of the following standards:

​

• Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
• Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
• Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
• Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
• Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

​

How can I help students develop this comprehension process in my classroom?

Ideas and Resources

​

Determining Importance

...a simple process...

1. Identify my purpose for reading this text.
2. Invoke prior knowledge before beginning to read.
3. Identify the key ideas in the text.
4. Use text features to help identify these important ideas, concepts, and details.

​

​

Tools for Readers when Determining Importance

Tangible Tools

• Highlighters
• Post-It Notes

​

Strategic Tools

• Skimming or Scanning of the text
• Locating Headings / Subheadings
• Identifying Cue Words / Phrases
• Interpreting Illustrations, Photographs, and Visuals

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Explicit instruction with modeling (“I do it.”)

Ample opportunities for guided practice (“We do it.”)

Collaboration (“You do it together.”)

Independent practice on unfamiliar texts (“You do it alone.”)

Determine Importance

TERM FIVE

Our memories quickly overload unless we can pare down a text to its essential ideas. Texts contain key ideas and concepts amid much background detail. Proficient readers strive to differentiate key ideas, themes, and information from details so that they are not overwhelmed by facts.

Literacy TA Resources

• Summarizing Main Ideas
• Summarizing a Process
• Analyzing Text Structure
• Analyzing Author’s Purpose

Other Online Resources

• Key Concept Synthesis
• Main Idea Notes
• Pyramid Notes

PSD Disciplinary Literacy Plan

Year Two

cient Readers

PSD Lit Coaches

• Sarah Smith -- Horizon -- smitsar@pewaukeeschools.org
• Rebecca Reagles -- Asa -- reagreb@pewaukeeschools.org
• Vicky Whelan -- Asa -- whelvic@pewaukeeschools.org
• David Zindler -- PHS -- zinddav@pewaukeeschools.org

​

​