An Introduction to the Common Core Standards

Six Instructional Shifts in ELA the New Standards Require

Why New Standards?

• Students are not reading at levels sufficient for college and career readiness in the content areas.

• Only slightly more than half (53%) of the 2009 high school graduating class were ready for college-level and workplace training-level reading.

What Is “College Readiness”?

• The level of preparation a student needs to be able to enroll and succeed without remediation in an entry-level, credit-bearing course (in each content area) at a two-year or four-year institution, trade school, or technical school.

“COLLEGE READINESS IS FOR EVERYONE.”

Where Did the Standards Come From?

• The standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts to provide a clear and consistent framework for preparing our children for college and the workforce.

• The standards have been adopted by 44 states and the District of Columbia.

What the Common Core DOES and DOES NOT Do…

• The common core provides an outline for the most important essential skills and knowledge every student must master to succeed in college and careers.

• It is NOT a complete scope and sequence or a course outline.

• It does not provide all the essential skills and knowledge a student could have.

Six Shifts in ELA from the GLE’s to the CC

Increase in Nonfiction Texts

• Currently, students in elementary school read 70-80% fiction and 20-30% nonfiction. This changes to 50% fiction and 50% nonfiction for 4th grade, 45% fiction and 55% nonfiction by 8th grade and 30% fiction and 70% nonfiction by 12th grade. This shift will prepare students to be able to deal with real world data in the work force.

Content Area Literacy

• Grades 6–12 have additional standards directed toward the subject areas science, history/social studies, and technical subjects. They must directly deal with texts, including primary sources. For example, they may read speeches by Presidents, not just read about their presidency; they may read scientific papers and not just read about the scope and effects of research.

Increase Complexity of Texts

• K–12 reading emphasizes text complexity as the most important factor in developing skilled readers. Increasing complexity forces students to respond and think to complex ideas that they will need in college and in careers.

Focus on Text-Based Questions

• CCSS places little faith in personal opinions, experiences or connections with a text. Instead, questions should focus on what the text actually says or doesn’t say. Especially important is the ability to cite portions of a text to support an answer. Can students find the important information in the text?

“LET THE TEXT TEACH ITS CONTENT!”

Focus on Writing Arguments

• The primary focus in writing is on forming arguments and supporting them with text-based evidence as opposed to creative writing, personal stories, and memoirs. Students write mostly to describe, to inform or to argue. It’s a subtle difference, but students don’t write for the purpose of persuading; instead, they should present facts and text-based evidence to support an argument. Notice that they never write to entertain. Humor? Totally absent.

Academic Vocabulary

• For vocabulary, the shift is to focus on academic vocabulary. This vocabulary crosses content areas and is found over and over in nonfiction and fiction, including vocabulary seen on SAT tests.

TRANSFERENCE IS KEY!

Structure of the Standards• Anchor Standards: provide general expectations

that must be met to ensure students enter college and workforce training programs ready to succeed.

• Strand: a broad idea that describes an area of focus for an ELA standard.

• Organizing Elements: categorize ideas and elements within the strand.

• Grade-Specific Standards: define end of year expectations and progressions designed to enable students to meet college and career readiness no later than the end of high school.

Key Grade Band Features

• K-5 Foundational Skills (Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition, and Fluency)

• Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

SHIFTS RESPONSIBILTY FOR TEACHING TEXT TO ALL TEACHERS.

Grade Specific Standards

• Outline what students should MASTER by the end of each grade.

• Students are expected to retain and further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.

Until next time…

• Please take a copy of the Common Core on your way out. Start to look through it, noticing its degree of specificity as well its vertical scaffolding.

• Where does what you teach fit in the larger picture of a child’s education?

• How will we scaffold all of learners toward text complexity requirements? (RI 10 and RL 10)