Name: Emma Monfiletto

Text Complexity Evaluation Graphic Organizer

Road Density and Complexity - There is significant density and complexity with
Block 1 multiple layers of content topics present. The reader is expected to critique
or evaluate information.

Rationale Since the preamble is written in formal old english, students might have
behind trouble distinguishing what the text is actually saying, regardless of
Road vocabulary used. Even familiar vocabulary words, written within the formal
Block old english style would be difficult for students to comprehend. Students
need to be able to navigate the way that the text is written in order to be
able to understand what it is saying and think critically about its
implications.

Teaching Aaron will be work on close reading strategies. He can learn how to chunk
Point his own passage and pause after every sentence to think about what he has
read and react. He can also learn to take notes within the text based on what
he has read.

Rationale It has been determined that Aaron is capable of higher level conceptual
behind reasoning by the Matrix Reasoning, Picture Concepts, and Picture
Teaching Completion subtests. Aaron is perfectly capable of understanding the
Point preamble but, has reading difficulties with phonological processing,
phonemic reading, and rapid naming according to the Early Reading
Success Indicator. This means that he needs extra support with actually
reading the preamble and comprehending what he has read rather than the
concepts being represented. By taking a pause to think about what he has
read after every sentence, it breaks down the material into smaller chunks
and allows Aaron to focus on one idea at a time. Aarons notes will allow
him to connect his ideas later and look back at what he has read. By giving
showing Aaron how to close read with notes on the margins of his paper,
Aaron does not have to focus on decoding and comprehending at the same
time. Aaron can make notes about specific words first, then use his notes to
shape his understanding of the text.
 Road Background knowledge - The content demands specialized knowledge
Block 2 beyond the primary and secondary experiences of the reader and provides
no bridge or scaffolding between known and unknown.

Rationale Not only do students need to understand what specific words mean, but
behind they need to be able to understand how the words are utilized and how they
Road relate to one another to add meaning to the sentence. Background demands
Block on the students are particularly high as they need to understand concepts
surrounding human events, just powers, transient causes, sufferance, and
systems of government, as well as how concepts relate to one another
within the text.

Teaching The teacher will work to build Aaron’s schema surrounding the
Point Declaration of Independence. Aaron will investigate other artifacts and
videos about the Declaration of Independence that help him to better
understand its importance, its key points, and any abstract ideas within the
preamble.

Rationale By building Aaron’s schema, he is able to gain a greater basis for

behind understanding the domain specific vocabulary in the preamble. He can
Teaching connect more deeply to abstract ideas and use first-hand experience to
Point facilitate those connections. On the Comprehension Multiple Choice
subtest, Aaron was able to apply his reasoning skills when he was given
well-defined context for each question. Giving Aaron the schema to which
he can apply his reasoning skills will help him to work towards
understanding vocabulary and any abstract concepts associated with the
preamble.

Road Vocabulary - The vocabulary demand is extensive, domain specific and

Block 3 representative of complex ideas; little is offered in the way of context clues.
Rationale The preamble contains a variety of dense domain specific vocabulary terms
behind that weigh heavily on the meaning of the entire passage. There is little help
Road from context clues and no explanation for any domain specific vocabulary,
Block due to the formal nature of the text. Students need to know what each of the
domain specific vocabulary words means before they can begin to
comprehend the text.

Teaching Aaron will be pre-taught the domain specific vocabulary needed to

Point understand the text. Throughout the pre-teaching, Aaron will be creating a
word bank with his own interpretations of what the word means. This word
bank will also include picture interpretations and connections he has made
to the meanings of the words. Words that represent more abstract concepts
will be highlighted in the word bank because they are more difficult for
Aaron to comprehend.

Rationale On the Similarities and Comprehension subtests for vocabulary, Aaron had
behind areas of growth in articulating “his thoughts about the meanings of words
Teaching that represent concepts that are more abstract.” Aaron will be able to refer
Point to the word bank he created when he reads his version of the preamble. This
will allow him to more easily activate his schema for abstract concepts.