- Laying a Common Foundation for Success
- Reading
- NEA Toolkit
- Common Core Crosswalk
- Pathways to the Common Core Book Summary
- Quick Guide
- Teaching like a Four Star Chef
- The Common Core ate my baby and other urban legends
- Common Core Writers Craft Curriculum
- The CCSS meet the 4W's of Writing
- NEA-Testing Changes Course
Monday, February 11, 2013
Articles to Read
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Welcome to the FRSD Common Core Blog! Post your comments about a specific article here. Specify the # you are referring to when commenting.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Number7..Makes sense..Common Core Standards are the ingredients...what we make with them is up to us..
ReplyDelete#7
ReplyDeleteThis quote really sums up how we should us Common Core.
They are ingredients for curriculum—better ingredients than many we've had in the past. But they are not dinner. They are contemporary building codes—better suited to the 21st century than many previous sets of building codes.
Instead of worrying about doing everything like everyone else, we can be our own chef and create however we feel is best for our students and class.
7. Teaching Like a Four Star Chef
ReplyDeleteThis article has many good points. In reflecting on PLC, how it works,and what it's supposed to look like in our classroom this article really hits home. I especially like the reference to food/ingredients. We as teachers all have the same ingredients and we often feel that we have to make the same meal. In reality we don't have to make the same meal we just have to make a meal our kids will eat. My kids taste buds are different than your kids' taste buds. However, we too often feel that we have to make the same meal in order to get them to eat and be nutritious. If we use the ingredients and use our own culinary skills, then in the end our students will be nurished and grow. The end goal is for all students to eat and grow so why not put our best foot forward and create a meal they will love!
#7 Teaching Like a Four Star Chef
ReplyDeleteI liked the analogy of understanding the difference between ingredients and dinner and that many different dishes can be made witht he same ingredients. I think, at times, we have gotten the worng message about being no the same page. We can still have academic freedom and deliver the curriculum with our own professional judgement and style.
Thank you for your insight Barb
Delete#7-we can each take the same ingredients and prepare them in different ways. The same recipe might not be right for each chef, and the same diet does not work for all learners
ReplyDelete# 7 I am excited for what the Common Core Standards are going to bring to our classrooms. We will have the freedom to "prepare" our lessons and activities to meet the needs of the students in our classrooms, but we will know that each teacher is working towards the same common goal. This freedom allows us to do what is best for our students. We may not always prepare the lessons the same way, but the outcome should be common among classrooms within our buildings, towns, states, countries, etc.
ReplyDeleteBMW
#7 Teaching Like a Four Star Chef
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I am inspired to make learning in my classroom meaningful, using the Common Core Standards as my "ingredients". Planning personal, enthusiastic, meaningful activities that provide thought provoking results, will in return make students think for themselves and make learning more meaningful.
#7 This is opening up a whole new world - all over again. I am excited about the potential for looking at the standards as "an ingredient for the curriculum".The art of teaching is the goal in order for students to "discover their own realities". Looking forward to the journey! LC
ReplyDelete#7: It is great to be reminded of and inspired by teachers like Mr. Levy and John Hunter, for it seems as though we have strayed from the "creative" in exchange for "the standards". High stakes testing has become the dictator of not only curriculum, but the vehicle for which that curriculum is delivered. To be encouraged to differentiate between standards and curriculum is rejuvinating! I feel excited to teach towards a common goal or standard using various methods of "ingredients".
ReplyDeleteL.K.
#7 Teaching Like a Four Start Chef-- The article focuses on 2 master teachers who connect real life to the common core standards. There is an analogy that many teachers teach content in isolation (ingredients for dinner) rather than intertwine many concepts together in real life situations, thus creating a dinner. I liked this comment of how one teacher works..."steering the enthusiasms of the students toward the shore of the required curriculum." I like that idea!!
ReplyDelete#7 Teaching Like a Four Star Chef
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about the Common Core standards - taking the mystery out of what the specific ingredients are so that now we can focus on developing the perfect "recipe" for instruction that can best address the specific needs of our children. At PLC meetings teachers can discuss the "art" of teaching - the specific instructional strategies that can help all of our students gain mastery.
#8-Because texts will be considerably harder, teachers will not only need to become more adeptat motivating students to read but also more adept at teaching students to handle therigors of demanding text without telling them what the texts say (Shanahan, Fisher, &Frey, 2012). There will need to be a greater emphasis on history and science texts inthe upper grades and on informational texts at all grade levels.In addition, writing instruction will need to focus more on writing about the ideas intexts and less on just putting personal thoughts into words. At the same time, readingwill involve more critical analysis and synthesis of information from multiple texts.Each one of these changes is considerable and will require better and moreappropriate professional development, instructional materials, and supervision.
ReplyDeleteImpact on reading and writing instruction in the primary grades?
#8 - I personally am happy that our "contstipating curriculum" (where lots of things were being added in and nothing was being taken out)is gone! The Common Core Standards will allow us to "dig deep" in our essential learning, instead of going a mile long with non-essentials. I believe these standards will not only help teachers focus their instruction, it will help students become independent "thinkers" and be ready to apply prior knowledge to new learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I don't think we share the same view enough of the others...many are struggling to "add it all in" to what they already do as an effort to change as little as possible.
Delete8. The Common Core ate my baby and other urban legends
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the old saying a "an inch wide and a mile deep", that's what common core brings to the table. If students are provided with good roots then they will be able to grow and sprout in many directions. It's important that each child is provided with a strong foundation that allows them to feel grounded and strong. A foundation that let's them stretch out and grow in any direction they choose.
I especially like the analogy to the runner in this article. " Students should have an array of reading experiences in the same way that a long-distance runner has a varied training schedule that intersperses different distances and speeds. These varied schedules enable the runner to build muscle,speed, and endurance." As teachers we should be providing a full body workout rather than just strengthening one muscle group.
Article 7:
ReplyDeleteThe dinner analogy to explain the art of our jobs works well to show that the ingredients can & have change(d) during our careers, but common core is an ingredient list that should finally cement the what of our dinner. How each teacher in each Core Core PLC team prepares that dinner will make each child's learning unique and wonderful but they will be able to take the same common assessment and hopefully all show mastery. Exciting times ahead, but the work to attain the end result is daunting none the less.
#8 The Common Core ate my baby and other urban legends
ReplyDeleteI thought that this article debunked some of the those common misconceptions and myths. I feel as though they do suggest a balanced approach. So many times I feel as though we swing to one philosophy or another and there needs to be a balance.
I was a little bit surprised when I read: According to international achievement tests, U.S. students do worse at reading informational text than they do at reading literary text (Mullis, Martin, Kennedy, & Foy, 2007). At the second grade level my students are much more engaged and interested and therefore do better on assessments when they read a non-fiction selection.
#8--
DeleteI think this couples nicely with the idea of relevance in teaching and learning. Right, wrong or indifferent, if what we are facilitating them to learn is not relevant, than they are much less likely to be motivated if, as a student profile, they are not teacher-pleasers. It should be a bit alarming that student do not well on informational texts, considering we eventually need them to be savvy, productive citizens who are able to make quality decisions with the information they have. this certainly sounds like a skill we should embrace a bit more. I think that teachers forget that students should not be learning to pass our tests, but rather to be able to function.
#11 Testing Changes Course-- I appreciate this article as it makes much mention about how scared educators are reagarding the testing of common core. We constantly hear about those people who are "Debbie Downers" regarding the common core and assessments. It was nice to read that common core folks are trying to put those fears at ease. I like that the assessments are going to be connected to several concepts and not just piecemeal. I am optimistic that it is going to be done right and allow for more teacher creativity. Does it make my job harder because they are even more held accountable for retention? Absolutely! But if I can figure out a way t do it with all the common core help out there, the winners will be those students!
ReplyDelete#10 - I like the idea of having students writing more and being more creative. I think there is a very high need for this, BUT how and when would be able to fit this in to Storytown when the writing piece is connected to the spelling and reading piece?
ReplyDelete#8 - The Common Core Ate My Baby and other Urban Legends
ReplyDeleteThis article brings up many important points for reading teachers of all grade levels with the adoption of the common core. It's important that starting at the primary grades, we are incorporating a wide variety of informational text into our reading instruction. Also instead of approaching text instruction as a single read, and spending significant amounts of time building background, making predictions, and accessing prior knowledge, providing our students with a reading scaffold and then allowing them time to read the text independently and then helping them fill in gaps through follow-up readings will be a valued instructional strategy.
#10-6+1 TRAITS OF WRITING: THE COMPLETE GUIDE, GRADES 3 AND UP; 6+1 TRAITS OF WRITING: THE COMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE PRIMARY GRADES
ReplyDeleteResource we have in place for primary writing, fits common core writing focus according to this author.
#7 I enjoyed reading this article. I like how it stated, "standards can be one ingredient in a powerful curriculum." It is good to know that teachers are able to add their own creativity to each lesson. Teachers creativity is what engages the students in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI miss the creativity and ingenuity that used to surround the teaching in the classroom. I feel we have recently been lead away from that primary focus. I understand the change and need for rapid and diverse data, but I miss the days I spent time planning and creating fantastic lessons. I feel hopeful that sometime soon this CC will allow us to spend the time revisiting our creative and whole child teaching and planning again. Using CC system should help us focus on what is needed to be taught...and then...our natural creative juices can begin to flow again:) I feel it will be the best of both worlds:) I am however...an eternal optimist!
Delete#11 Very interesting 45 states are on board...I wonder what effect it will have on the students.... what 5 states are not? and why??
ReplyDelete#6
ReplyDeleteThe Common Core State Standards are not “test prep” standards. They aim to teach students how to think and raise the bar on their level of comprehension and their ability to articulate their knowledge. I thought that this line says it best that these standards are going to maked students think.
Article #12 - great article about the pros and cons of CCSS and their impact on the future of standardized testing.
ReplyDelete#4 Common Core Crosswalk - This is a great reference to quickly look at the PA common Core Standards vs. Common Core State Standards vs. PA Academic Standards. This will be helpful when cross-reference what we currently are teaching and which direction we will need to move in.
ReplyDelete#10 Writing is definitely an area where the students struggle. I agree with the article about "working backwards from the big picture." We need to look at what we want our students to be able to complete and how we expect it to look. Then figure out how we are going to get our students to achieve that skill.
ReplyDelete#10 - Recommends "diverse & Multifaceted teaching" of writing using 4W's to enhance writing skills, including spelling in context of writing. Look @ big picture of what students should know & work backwards to zero in on skills; similiar to assessment planning.
ReplyDeleteArticle #11: Amazed that only 45 states have adopted CCSS!!! MN, NE, TX, AL, & VA have not. This is crazy. These standards have a chance to align the US to play ball with the big boys in the Asian countries that dominate us in math. The US is 25th worldwide in math!! How VA, MN, TX, AL, & NE can have their heads in the clouds and not understand what is at stake is amazing. Will it be hard? Yes!! Is it worth it? Our country and its future depends upon it. Only 4% of US graduates are engineers while 42% of China (much larger population to boot) graduates are going into engineering!! If we do not brings education supremacy back to the US, the new ideas that made us great will go elsewhere!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Chris. I am hopeful that this system will help lead discussions in the public sector. I am hopeful that now that we have a way to compare ourselves to the "big boys"....maybe the funds and thinking will shift to support education and the teachers to help us become one of the "big boys" again!
Delete#2 I like the way the article compared the Common Core to the old standards. This IRA article explains the use of more challenging texts for al Grades 2-12. However, in Grades K & 1, the texts should be decodable, with use of sightwords, and predicatable language for beginning readers. They should experience complex text but it should be read to them. Couldn't agree more! I like the way there is an intense focus on meaning in both narrrative and expository text and active thinking. LC
ReplyDelete#7 Teaching Like a Four Star Chef - While I whole heartily agree with the concept of this article, I continue to feel boxed in when it comes to the creativity of my teaching techniques and activities in the classroom. PLC has been a wonderful and powerful tool when it comes to team communication, student discussion and data sharing, and the sharing of "what works", but it also has forced us to be on the exact same textbook page, using the exact same materials, at the exact same time. it is difficult to find creativity when by-in of a creative activity (either because of individual teacher comfort levels or because of time constraints) is not done by all. This article is ideal and what we all want to be doing as teachers but other directives being given to teachers do not exactly allow this.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteArticle #1 -"But, college professors and employers expect young people to be able to marshal facts in support of a position, and so the standards expect all students to be able to draw on relevant evidence, to cite it appropriately, and to use it to make a case — and to write effectively and correctly while doing so."
This is a big change in the way that we will need to approach instruction.
I agree! I like the "mantra" they described for the Common Core Standards: Fewer, Higher, Clearer. That's where we need to get. The aspect I like most about the common core is that it will help us to "cut that fat" so to speak and get to the meat of what our kids HAVE to know and be able to do. The article talked about how most of our assessments before the CCSS focused on lower-level thinking skills because they are easier to assess. We have to begin to instruct and assess deeper critical thinking skills in order to help our students succeed after graduation. I feel like the shift in instruction is easy compared to the shift in assessing those skills. It is difficult to assess critical thinking skills on a bubble sheet! So on the one hand we are trying to streamline the work we are doing as teachers in grading and recording of grades so we have time to be better teachers, but on the other hand we are supposed to give more authenitic assessments (which take time and energy to grade and give feedback on). I am sure there is middle ground, but finding it is the challenge for me!
Delete#8 The Common Core Ate My Baby and other Urban Legends is a really great article that addresses the concerns that accompany the movement towards Common Core.
ReplyDelete#2--It is nice to hear that the CC will continue to focus on the importance of explicit phonics instruction as the building blocks of literacy acquisition. It is always a challenge though to make that explicit instruction exciting and creative! Also, interesting to see the shift in writing about what you know vs. writing about information that you find in text. Lots of processing and organizing of information is involved when writing "research" based forms.
ReplyDelete#8 - interesting to see what some of the myths are out there concerning the Common Core standards
ReplyDelete#7 "...Four Star Chef"
ReplyDeleteAs it currently stands, I believe that teachers are struggling to whole-heartedly commit to the Common Core because they are-again in my opinion- are not thinking about the educational changes in the best way. For example, in Tomlinson's article, she states, "It is quite possible for us teachers to simply "cover" the Common core standards as they were the curriculum." What I think is happening is that teachers find it difficult to "add" the common core standards because they haven't considered changing the focus in their classroom. They are, in fact, looking at the Common Core as an add on, rather than a new design. Functioning as it stands, teachers will need assistance letting go of what they love "to cover" and embrace the skills that need to be incorporated into the curriculum.
#10 - I think we need to step back from Storytown in the writing department and put our heads together across the district to develop a solid writing instruction plan for these kiddos. I feel that I spend more time helping them respond to very structured prompts than giving them in-depth instruction on writing traits. The two main problems I see are time and student motivation. It seems so difficult to fit excellent writing instruction in because it takes so much time. The other issue is that some students struggle to write simple sentences because of spelling and motor skill issues, and writing even short paragraphs seems like a mountain to climb, which affects their motivation. I think we need to work together to carve out adequate time and meaningful assignments for students to engage in; however, I think we have tended to focus on math and reading (at least at the elementary level) and writing has fallen by the wayside. This is a tricky issue but one I really think we need to address!
ReplyDeleteI feel our quick paced instruction with Storytown has diminished my ability to spend quality time teaching the writing traits and process. Our students need and deserve more opportunities to write and feel good about trying. The lack of motiviation is something I see every day. My kids don't even want to try....because...they know they "can't".....I am hopeful that CC will create a place for our district to truly look into a solid and deliberate writing curriculum. I know it is imperative that we have every student ready, confident and excited to write:)
Delete#10 I liked how Ruth Culham said that the standards spell out what we should be able to do and the 4Ws (writing purpose, traits, modes, workshop) are how we move toward meeting them. Quick writes, short essays, journal entries, and response to literature are some of the writing forms described. Culham says diverse multi-faceted teaching is upmost important. LC
ReplyDelete#7 its refreshing to read something that encourages teachers to not lose their individuality and personal touch for teaching the material that they have a passion about
ReplyDeleteThe 4 Star Chef
ReplyDeleteIt is encouraging to see that creativity in lessons is on the rebound. There are many interesting and engaging resources to teach the same skills. As educators we have varied gifts and letting us use the gifts to motivate students is a key factor. Pasta provides a little nutrition, but add some garlic and it is a delicious dish!!
#8
ReplyDeleteI think that the frustration level helps students become better thinkers and readers. I also agree that the students need to be exposed to different levels of reading and genres.
STR - #7 - Standards address skills, but I'm having trouble keeping the magic that comes so naturally with the texts I love to teach. I'm working on it, but one of our chiefs has trouble with same skill/different medium teaching. It's a process and I'm confident it will pay off eventually.
ReplyDelete#2 The Common Core in literacy will allow for further understanding of the fundamentals in reading and allow for the cross curriculuar component to be integrated through all subjects allowing for a deeper focus in comprehension, vocabulary and early literacy. This way literacy is not just a timeframe within a student schedule but found throughout all content areas.
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