Understanding the
Common Core State Standards Teachers: this is nothing new. You have done this all along! The Common Core State standards are K-12 grade specific standards that define end of the year expectations and the cumulative progression of knowledge that will enable students to be prepared or college and career. CCSS defines the expectations of what students should know by the time they are ready to graduate high school. They are NOT meant to define how teachers should teach.
Whatever the theme or topic, the bottom line is this: Students need to read and prove that they understand what they are reading. We need to find books kids WANT to read on content they can apply to what they are learning about in school. Children need to make text connections to their worlds!
The Common Core State Standards expectations were created to ensure that all children become literate individuals. Students need to read a variety of texts in many subject areas.
Based on what we know about the Common Core State Standards, how do teachers choose appropriate materials for the classroom? The Common Core State Standards state that:
• Demonstrating independence - Students read and understand texts, ask relevant questions about texts, construct arguments, and use a wide range of vocabulary. They become self-directed learners and gain information from a variety of resources. • Building strong content knowledge - Students set purpose for reading. They listen attentively and share information. They become proficient in new areas through research and study. • Responding to varying demands of audience, task, purpose and discipline - Students understand that they need to use different tones in conveying messages for different audiences in their writing and in speaking, and that there are different ways of proving evidence depending on the subject. For example, in science we use experimental evidence, documentary for social studies. • Comprehending and critiquing - students are open minded, question, assess and reason. They work diligently to assess what the author is saying. • Valuing evidence - Students provide evidence that supports their own viewpoints making the reasoning clear to the audience. • Using technology strategically - Students use technology to enhance reading, writing, speaking and listening and integrate what they learn online with what they learn about through books and life. (research). • Understanding and respecting other perspectives and cultures - Students evaluate other points of view critically and constructively through reading classic and contemporary works of literature representing a variety of periods, cultures and worldviews.
All students, beginning in kindergarten, need to gain exposure to a wide range of texts and tasks as they read increasingly more complex texts through the grades. At a curricular or instructional level, texts within, and across grade levels need to be selected around topics or themes that systematically develop the knowledge base of students.
Provide your students with rich classroom libraries that contain a variety of high quality literature and informational texts at different reading levels. Meet the needs of all students as they develop literacy skills and become more proficient readers, writers, speakers and listeners! Anchor standards K-5: Reading Literature and Informational Texts Key ideas and details • Determine the meaning of specific text and find evidence within the text to support conclusions. • Determine central ideas and themes. Summarize details and main idea. • Analyze how and why individuals, events and ideas develop throughout the book. Craft and structure • Interpret words and phrases in text and analyze how word choices shape meaning. OVER
• Analyze text structure including sentences, paragraphs, stanzas, chapters and scenes and how they relate to each other. • Assess how point of view and author's purpose shape the content and style of text. Integration of knowledge and ideas • Integrate and evaluate content presented in many different medias and formats as well as in words. • Evaluate the argument and specific claims in text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance of the evidence. • Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes and topics. Compare the author’s take. Range of reading and level of text complexity • Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
There are books for every topic and theme on many different levels of difficulty. If you are overwhelmed and do not know where to begin, the Classroom Library Company will make it easy! The NGA center and CCSSO state: Within a grade level, there should be an adequate number of titles on a single topic that would allow children to study that
topic for a sustained period. The knowledge children have learned about particular topics in early grade levels should then be expanded and developed in subsequent grade levels to ensure an increasingly deeper understanding of these topics. Children in the upper elementary grades will generally be expected to read these texts independently and reflect on them in writing. However, children in the early grades (particularly K- 2) should participate in rich, structured conversations with an adult in response to the written texts that are read aloud, orally comparing and contrasting as well as analyzing and synthesizing, in the manner called for by the Standards.
Based on the Common Core Curriculum Standards, teachers need to find exemplary books with a wide range of text types including literature, stories, drama, poetry, literary nonfiction, historical, scientific and technical texts. Through extensive reading, students will gain familiarity with various text structures and elements, becoming well rounded thinkers and learners. The curriculum may vary from grade to grade and school district to school district, however, one thing remains constant: Students and teachers are getting information from books.
Classroom libraries are a vital part of the learning process. They are the foundation and building blocks of every subject learned in school. It is important for schools to have an organized, cohesive, cost-effective way to purchase materials and share texts from grade to grade.
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