Supporting Inquiry through

Multimodal Text Sets

https://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4263328317/

http://expandingtext.weebly.com
PowerPoint

Handouts/Text Set
Links
Ideas for extensions
Contact Information

 Define text
Participate in close reading of a text set
Based on Reading Closely Units, grades 6-12, by

Odell Education, found on Engage NY

Understand the concept of inquiry text sets

Works of Art, Artifacts, Songs

Maps, Charts, Speeches, Political Cartoons

Historical Documents, Photographs, Ephemera

Websites,
Infographics, Video,
Film, Web Cams

 Found on Engage NY
Units were created first, before the modules
Provide the structure and the tools (e.g., using details

to make a claim tool)

Units are more flexible

Reading closely for textual details is

the foundational literacy activity.

Image Credit: Tompkins County Public Library Local History

Backwards Design
Outcomes

SS Practices/Standards for Grade 8:

A. Gathering, Interpreting and Using Evidence
8.2e Progressive reformers sought to address political and social
issues at the local, state, and federal levels of government
between 1890 and 1920. These efforts brought renewed attention
to womens rights and the suffrage movement and spurred the
creation of government reform policies.
Students will investigate the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the

legislative response

Anchor Standards for Reading:

1. 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.

9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics

in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the

authors take.

 Identify factory/working conditions

during the early 1900s

Evaluate how the Triangle Shirtwaist

Fire impacted legislative change

(Social Studies Key Idea 8.2e)

Image Credit: Public Domain image from Pixabay.com

Garment factory
Circa 1900

What details
stand out?
What do the
details
suggest?
E.g., The light
coming through
the window
suggests that it
is day time.

Image Credit: Cornell University Kheel Center - Remembering the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire

Garment factory
Circa 1900
What new questions do
you have?

Image Credit: Cornell University Kheel Center - Remembering the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire

 Read closely to yourself, underlining important

words and noting the gist in the margin

Explain the gist to your partner, using evidence

from the text to back it up

What conditions does the author suggest

contributed to the catastrophic nature of the fire?
Now, return to the photo and write a caption

Text 1: noted details, made inferences, generated your own

text-dependent questions
Text 2: noted details, made inferences, and then synthesized
information from 2 sources
No initial context is provided. Odell Reading Closely Units

Question: What is the value in this approach vs.

starting with an encyclopedic text or textbook?

Odell/Close Read Model

SCIM-C Scaffold

 Part 1. Understanding Close Reading: Students attend to and

analyze textual details/analyze visual-based texts.

Part 2. Questioning Texts: Students use questions to guide their

analysis of texts.

Part 3. Analyzing Details: Students analyze textual detail as a

key to discovering meaning. Students read, analyze, and

compare texts.

Part 4. Explaining Understanding: Students summarize and

explain what they have learned. Students read and analyze three
related texts.

Part 5. Discussing Ideas: Students learn the characteristics of

an effective text-based discussion and demonstrate skills in

leading and participating in one.

 Summarize: What do you see? Just the facts.

Contextualize: Look for clues in the document to

place it in time and space

Infer: Educated guesses. What does the source

suggest?

Monitor: Recap the process. Have I done all the

steps well?

Corroborate: Take all the information from multiple

sources and synthesize it to answer the question.

 Students are the detectives or explorers

Evidence-based discussions help them shape

and reshape their own understanding.

All are engaged.

The text levels the playing field.
Text sets are a vehicle for inquiry

Constructivist learning: encourages students

to use active techniquesto create more
knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about
what they are doing and how their understanding
is changing
- Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Thirteen Ed Online

Making
EvidenceBased
Arguments

Interpretive
Inferential

Researching to
Deepen
Understanding
Making Evidence-Based
Claims

Making Inferences

Literal
Reading closely for textual details

not because of deficits in skills, strategies, or critical

thinking, but because they are unable to read complex
texts
Breakdown in understanding:
Vocabulary
Background Knowledge
Fluency

Reading a number of texts within a topic grows

knowledge and vocabulary far more than any other
way.
Liben, D. (2014). What does it take to succeed in the era of the Common Core?
[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://www.engageny.org

 Provides opportunities to access authentic materials

Allows for natural scaffolding and differentiation
Allows students to immerse in engaging content and build subject

knowledge

Creates student-led discovery of and discussions around key

information

Exposes students to multiple perspectives/representations of

information (and provide mentor texts for writing)

Increases acquisition of domain-specific vocabulary

We must organize our readings in every subject so each text

bootstraps the language and knowledge needed for the next.
Gradually, students will be ready for texts of greater complexity
-Marilyn Jager Adams

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/2446139106

Similar or related themes/topics,

ideas/concepts
Texts work together to build

student understanding of a topic

Increasing complexity:
Simpler texts bootstrap students

to more complex texts

Text 1

3-4 Photographs

Primary Source
Text 2 First Person account, related to the photos
General treatment
Text 3 Often a video
Student explore independently
Text 4 Multimedia/website

Editorials, Letters, First Person accounts that offer a

Texts
different perspective
5-8

 Selection choices based on outcomes

Identify factory/working conditions during the
early 1900s
Evaluate how the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
impacted legislative change
Importance of complex texts

See the Weebly Site for completed set and

recommendations

All texts should display:

Craft: at a level that is noteworthy and or widely recognized
Significance: the text is seminal or influential in its respective genre
Content: the text contains ideas or themes that are interesting, engaging,
provocative, and significant

Informational texts should display:

Relevant and accurate content
A clear point of view and/or purpose

A discernible main idea and a developed and clear organizational structure

Any argumentation in the text should contain claims supported by evidence in
the text

Literary texts should display:

Significant themes that can support analysis
A developed and clear narrative structure
A clearly discernible point of view

http://expandingtext.weebly.com
EngageNY

VTS Strategies

LOC

Project Look Sharp

PBS

History Unbound

SCRLC TPS

NY Heritage
C3 Inquiries Site

(Decoding Media)

Stanford SHEG
Liben/Achieve the Core

Go forth and build your

own text setor try
implementing todays set
with students.

If you send your sets to

uswell add it to our
Expanding Text site
(and credit you, of
course!)

http://expandingtext.weebly.com
NWaskieL@BTBOCES.org

@nwaskielaura

LeBlancS@DCMOBOCES.com
@leblanclib