Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies, Grade 7 , Teacher Edition

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.

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.

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