Priscilla Witte: Complex Text Analysis

Priscilla Witte is a first grade teacher in an area that is striving to meet the required Common Core State Standards. Specifically, being able to understand different texts with stable difficulty as they continue to advance through their education. To start she had to find a way to distinctly determine what is considered a complex text. One commonly used system for regulating the difficulty is the Lexile framework, which uses “semantic difficulty of words in a lexical database and sentence length to match books to readers.” (p.30) However, she approved the Complex Text Analysis instructional method and continued with this unique process.
Teachers who desire to apply the Complex Text Analysis the author suggests five different steps including: (1) select texts purposefully; (2) prepare for each lesson; (3) scaffold instruction; (4) maintain high expectations for all students; and (5) assess and reflect. Select texts purposefully includes superior texts with messages that are clear and are equivalent to the interests of the students. Preparing for each lesson students should complete a chart of the text analysis preceding the lesson and determine key words of vocabulary that are misunderstood. Scaffolding instruction is to help students understand the text on …show more content…
She provided a complex text analysis chart for the book Leo the Late Bloomer, by a young student Kayla that did not exceed any of the requirements and only earned four tenths of the points available. While at the end of the year that same student was given the assessment on the book The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss and the student completed the chart alone and earned five more points than before. “To establish reliability in scoring, a colleague who teaches first grade in my school scored 25% of the CTA chart rubrics for each testing period. After an initial discussion regarding differences, the goal to obtain a 90% agreement was exceeded.”