Vocabulary - Shifts for Standards-Aligned Instruction

Shift Explanation What might this look like in your

classroom?

Balance 50% literary and 50% Read a current event and then a
Informational informational related story or poem about the same
& Literary topic
texts

Knowledge in Teach literacy across the Use Social Studies and Science
the curriculum materials as well as traditional ELA
Disciplines materials with students.

Staircase of Choose grade appropriate Write a unit plan or curriculum map

Complexity texts and plan to make texts that starts at students' grade level
more complex over time and then increases the text
complexity over time.

Text-Based Ask questions about the text.
Answers Avoid asking questions that
elicit opinions or anecdotal
evidence.
Teach students how to cite and
paraphrase the text. Say, "Great!
Now please show me the evidence in
the text that led you to that
conclusion."

Writing from Write about what you read. Shift from journaling about personal
Sources Learn to cite, paraphrase, life to journaling about the texts you
and summarize texts. are reading and their connections to
personal life.

Academic Select and teach Tier-2 or Select all of the words from the text
Vocabulary Academic vocabulary. with multiple meanings or semantic
word families.