Informational Texts vs. Fiction Ratios in the Opening Ceremony of London’s 2012 Olympics | Used Books in Class Mary Poppins to the rescue:Photo from A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremoniestheblaze.com The London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was broadcast at 9pm on 27 July 2012 (EST). As a platoon of Mary Poppins clones decended clutching their iconic umbrellas to vanquish the Lord Voldemort mid-ceremony, I was suddenly struck by an idea. How would the Common Core English Language Arts Standards view this production? The extravanganza developed by world-class directors Danny Boyle, Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey and their teams was an eclectic mix of information and fiction that “celebrated contributions the UK has made to the world through innovation and revolution.” What grade, however, would the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) give London’s Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies? Recommended ratios of informational texts to fiction by grade level. A quick tally of the highlights as they appeared as either fiction or informational text: Like this: Like Loading...
Kelly Gallagher – Resources Part of the reason my students have such a hard time reading is because they bring little prior knowledge and background to the written page. They can decode the words, but the words remain meaningless without a foundation of knowledge. To help build my students’ prior knowledge, I assign them an "Article of the Week" every Monday morning. By the end of the school year I want them to have read 35 to 40 articles about what is going on in the world. Below you will find the articles I assigned* this year (2013-2014) to my students. "How Earth Got Its Tectonic Plates/On Saturn's Moon Titan, Scientists Catch Waves in Methane Lakes" by Monte Morin for the Los Angeles Times and by Amina Kahn for the Los Angeles Times, respectively "Hard Evidence: Are We Beating Cancer?" Looking for previous year's Article of the Week assignments?
New Feature: Test Yourself, Critical Thinking For a couple of years now, we’ve asked students to “test themselves” with daily math and English-language questions. We’re excited to announce that starting next month, we’ll be adding a weekly critical thinking question to the mix as well. This week we’ll be testing the idea by publishing one a day, so let us know what you think. First, though, what do we mean by “critical thinking”? All these are, of course, habits of mind for proficient readers, and each is also emphasized by the common core standards for informational text. We hope you’ve noticed that we try to encourage critical thinking on the blog in all kinds of ways every day, through lesson plans, our 6 Q’s About the News feature, Student Opinion questions, Reading Club and more. Our writer for these new questions will be Jessica Lahey, a middle-school teacher who also contributes to The Times’s Motherlode blog and writes about education and parenting on her own blog, Coming of Age in the Middle. Now, on to our first question …
Need Content? Just Google It! « Common Core I teach in a school that typifies skills-based education. We practice project based learning, utilize the latest technology, and hold to a mission of helping our students acquire “21st century skills.” We work diligently to replace traditional classroom norms with those of corporate culture so that our students will someday thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace — a new world demanding innovation, collaboration, and critical thinking. Unfortunately, bowing to the norms of 21st century business interests leaves little room anything else. So, how does my school help build the much-hyped 21st century skills? So, what is the role of content in a 21st century classroom? Apart from being grafted onto “real world” products, content is rarely discussed in the classroom. Emma Bryant
Reading Common Core State Standards Reading Bookmark Common Core Reading Standards- Informational Text K-5 Bookmark Common Core Reading Standards- Literature K-5 Bookmark Common Core Reading Standards-Foundational Skills K-5 Bookmark Common Core Reading Standards - Speaking and Listening Bookmark Common Core Reading Standards- Language Standards K-5 CC K-5 Read Aloud SR GR IR CC Narrative Flipbook K-5 CC Narrative Flipbook 6-12 Support Materials for CCSS in Reading Reading to the Core - Web resource to support Close and Critical Reading using the strategy Guided Highlighted Reading as a scaffold Literacy Leaders - Text Structure Web Resource Text Structure Map - Student Workmap for applying 5 text structure frames Text Structure Chart with Paragraph Frames Paths for Literacy - Close and Critical Reading Common Core Text Exemplars and Close and Critical Reading Below are Close and Critical Reading teaching units that use the exemplary text from the Common Core Appendix B.
Common Core. ORG Building on the best of existing state standards, the Common Core State Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals to help prepare students for college, career, and life. The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning. The standards are: Research and evidence basedClear, understandable, and consistentAligned with college and career expectationsBased on rigorous content and the application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skillsBuilt upon the strengths and lessons of current state standardsInformed by other top-performing countries to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society According to the best available evidence, the mastery of each standard is essential for success in college, career, and life in today’s global economy. For grades K-8, grade-by-grade standards exist in English language arts/literacy and mathematics.
Common Core Online Common Core State Standards is a real-world approach to learning and teaching. Developed by education experts from 45 states, these K-12 learning standards go deeper into key concepts in math and English language arts. The standards require a practical, real-life application of knowledge that prepares Washington students for success in college, work and life. Common Core provides: Consistent learning expectations for all students.Clear standards that focus on understanding over memorization.Emphasis on the critical topics students need to succeed after high school.Faster testing results with a better, more focused online assessment system. By 2014-15 these standards will be fully implemented and student achievement will be measured by a new assessment system. Get all the materials from past webinars and sign up for upcoming sessions. Washington joined the initiative in 2009 and adopted the standards in July 2011. The transition to Common Core is the collaborative effort of dozens of organizations.
All About Adolescent Literacy | AdLit.org Wondering About Common Core and Complex Text? - Common Core State Standards TOOLBOX "A lot of reading skills students can apply with a simple text, but can't do so much with a challenging text."- Dr. Blocked from YouTube? Does the information in this chart* cause you concern? *CCSS Appendix A: CCSS Lexile Bands How will you help ALL of your students access the required complex text? You may be thinking, why should I give my struggling readers such difficult text when I know they can’t read it? In a blog post from this summer, Dr. So why is the common core making such a big deal out of having kids read hard text? You can view the summary or download the ACT report right here. Watch Dr. Dr. www.mhecommoncoretoolboxtn.com
Implementation of the ELA Common Core State Standards Across the Country Brenda Overturf is a member of the International Reading Association's Board of Directors. You can reach her at boverturf[AT]reading[DOT]org. This is the final post in a three-part series that examines the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Part one introduced CCSS and provided context for those new to the standards. Part two reviewed the key features that offer opportunities for educators to transform their teaching. States across the country are in varying stages of adopting and implementing the CCSS. Currently, there are also state consortiums developing assessment systems aligned with the CCSS. In September, The Center on Education Policy released a report titled Common Core State Standards: Progress and Challenges in School Districts' Implementation to provide data on how districts are starting to implement the standards. These percentages suggest many states are already actively engaged in preparing to implement the standards.
5 Things Every Teacher Should be Doing to Meet the Common Core State Standards {*style:<i>The following blog post was written by Eye On Education's Senior Editor, Lauren Davis. To read more newsworthy blog posts from Eye On Education, subscribe to our Insights eNewsletters . </i>*} At the NCTE convention in November, everyone was buzzing about the Common Core State Standards . To gather answers to those questions, I attended a variety of NCTE sessions, and I spoke to educators across the country. 1. Check out Eye On Education's other free whitepapers!