Grade 5
Interpretive Literacy Workshop
Interpretive Literacy Workshop
A Study of Complex Text
Text complexity is an
important part of the Common Core Standards. In order to meet this demand we
will give students more opportunities to learn from complex texts, and the hope
is that by setting these high standards for students to read grade level
complex texts “independently and proficiently” students will be ready for
future challenges as a reader.
Through modeling,
scaffolding, and support from the teachers students will…
• Read complex texts
• Notice & ‘name’ what is difficult in the text
• Learn & practice strategies for getting through
the difficult parts
• Practice repeated & purposeful re-reading of different
text
• Use text-based evidence to answer questions
Work In Action!!!
1. Students will read articles, mark the parts that
are difficult & be ready to explain what made them difficult.
2. Share
– Come together- Students share parts they found
difficult
– Help students give a name to what is difficult-
Make class list of difficult parts
3. Teach Strategies
– Refer to class list- (Teach strategies)
– Guided practice of strategy
– Create on-going list of strategies
4. Write from a prompt
Sample of Compiled Strategies from IL/Complex Text
Work
Strategies for
Getting through TRICKY SENTENCES
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What is Tricky
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Strategy
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1.
First sentence is weird; it’s a question-like a riddle
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Sometimes writers start with a question to pull
the reader in and get them thinking. Connect
this to your preview work- what are they talking about?
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2.
Short, weird sentences
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Authors use short sentences because what they are saying is important,
they use a short sentence for emphasis.
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3.
Long, complex sentences with a list of 3 or more things with commas
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Find one or two things in the series you understand to help you get the gist or
the meaning of the whole list.
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4.
Long, confusing sentence with lots of commas
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Read each part of the sentence slowly, pausing at the commas.
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5.
Weird sentence that has a comma with words after it
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Strategy
1: Sometimes the author provides you with extra information after a comma.
Strategy
2: Sometimes writers start their sentence by
telling when something happened -comma- and then say what happened. Look
for Time Signal Words (that tell us when something happened): Previously
(means before), After, or During
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Strategies for
WORDS I DON’T KNOW
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What is Tricky
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Strategy
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Hard
or tricky words
I
don’t know
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Strategy 1: Figure out what at part of speech it is. This will help you better understand the
word. Ask yourself, is the word a
For
example: Here is a tricky sentence - “A world-record coprolite was recently
found in…” Try each part of speech
in place of the tricky word, like this: “A world-record thing was recently
found in…” OR “A world-record jump was recently found in…” OR “A world-record pretty was recently
found in …” Which makes sense? So a
coprolite must be a thing- I don’t know what it is, but it is a thing.
Strategy 2: Root Word Strategy. Look
for the root word (take away the prefix/suffix). You might recognize a word hidden
inside. Use the meaning of the prefix
together with the root word to determine the meaning. Example:
un- dis- in- all mean not, mid- means middle, sub- means under, pre- means before.
Strategy 3: Also known as strategy. Sometimes
the author gives us clue words that the definition of a tricky word is coming
up, like this: “also known as…” or
“called…”
Strategy 4: Sometimes, the author gives you
the meaning of the tricky word right
after it in parenthesis (). It’s almost like the author is whispering the
meaning to you.
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