6-8 Common Core Training Reading/Language Arts September 27, 2011

1. 6-8 Common Core Training Reading/Language Arts September 27, 2011

2. 12 9 3 6 Take turns discussing the topic. Write your partner’s name on the line. Clock Appointments What would you do if you won the lottery? Why? If you could go on your dream vacation, where would you go and why? Compare today’s cartoons to those you watched as a kid. Do any have value? Justify your response. 1. Mingle and stop with signal. Would you rather read the book of an upcoming movie FIRST or wait for the movie and then read the book? Why? 3. Repeat. Keep your clock!

3. Look at your RLA standards document. What standards did the clock appointments address? Can you adapt the activity for your grade level? How can you make it more “academic”? How does this activity ensure “equal participation” from all students, not just a few?

4. Mission Statement for the Common Core State Standards The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy. – (found on www.corestandards.org)

5. Common Core State Standards TrainingReading/Language Arts • Today’s Agenda: • Understand the purpose of the adoption of the Common Core State Standards. • Get to know your documents. • Begin discussions on how to adapt classrooms to address the Speaking/Listening and Writing standards, prior to implementation of core standards.

6. Why Were Common Core Standards Developed? • Currently, eachstate has its own set of academic standards, and states are defining proficiency in their own ways. All proficient students don’t have the same skill-sets. All students exiting our high schools are not college and career ready. • All students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students from around the world. We are losing jobs in the US and most students do not have the critical thinking and problems solving skills to compete globally.

7. English/Language Arts Common Core State Standards Purpose (P.3) • To create the next generation of K-12 standards in order to ensure that all students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school. As specified by CCSSO & NGA, standards are (P.3): • Research and evidence-based • Aligned with college and work expectations • Rigorous • Internationally benchmarked ** (P. 3)The Standards are intended to be a living work: as new and better evidence emerges, the Standards will be revised accordingly. **There are no history or science standards, but it is implied that we adopt our state history and science standards into our content area literacy standards (English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects).

8. English/Language ArtsCommon Core State Standards A literate student is defined as (P. 3): • A student who readily undertakes the close, attentive reading to enjoy complex literature. • A student who habitually performs the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of the print and digital information we have today. • A student who actively seeks the wide, deep, thoughtful engagement with high quality literary and informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens worldviews. • A student who reflexively demonstrates the reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a democratic republic.

9. Design and Organization (P.4) RLA has 4 Strands: Reading (including Reading Foundational Skills) Writing Speaking and Listening Language *Students are expected to meet the grade-specific standards, retain or further develop skills mastered in preceding grades, and work steadily toward meeting the more general expectation defined by CCR standards. RLA ‘s Key Design Considerations Include: *A focus on results rather than means * An integrated model of literacy *Research and media skills blended into the standards as a whole *Shared responsibility for students’ literacy development

10. Key Advances Reading • Balance of literature and informational texts (50% each) beginning at grade 4, then progressing to 70% informational and 30% literature for college and career readiness. • Text complexity, Text complexity, Text complexity.  • Teach students what they need to learn to read, not what they already know.  Writing • Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing – not just responding to prompts. • Write to communicate clearly to an unfamiliar audience. • Allow students to write often and produce numerous pieces over short and extended time frames throughout the year.  Speaking and Listening • Focus on comprehension and presentation. • Respond to what others have said – compare/contrast or build on it. • Provide opportunities for equal participation and maximum use of time for sharing/responding.  Language • Inseparable from all other contexts of the Common Core. 

11. Intentional Design Limitations The Standards do NOT define: How teachers should teach All that can or should be taught (Differentiated Instruction to grow All Learners) The nature of advanced work beyond the core (Growing Even Our Top Students) The interventions needed for students well below grade level (RtI/Tiered Instruction) The full range of support for English Language Learners and students with special needs (ELL/IEP Students) Everything needed to be college and career ready

12. Text Complexity Why Text Complexity Matters • One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. • The clearest differentiator was students’ ability to answer questions associated with complex texts. • These findings held true for male and female students, students from all racial/ethnic groups, and students from families with widely varying incomes.

13. Defining Text Complexity – P. 31, P. 32, P. 33 • Word Length • Sentence Length • Text Cohesion • Purpose • Structure • Language • Purpose of task • Complexity of task • Questions posed • Motivation • Knowledge • Experiences Appendix A

14. Text Complexity

15. Let’s Get To Know Our Documents • Reading Standards for Literature = RL • Reading Standards for Informational Text = RI • Reading Standards: Foundational Skills = RF – Do you have these? • Writing Standards = W • Speaking & Listening Standards = SL • Language Standards = L

16. How do we reference the standards in lesson plans? • Grade Level. Standard Abbreviation. Standard # OR • Standard Abbreviation. Grade Level. Standard # Let’s Practice!  3.RL.3 5.SL.3 5.RL.4 4.L.5 RL.4.5 W.3.2

17. Scavenger Hunt Appendix A ** What are the standards’ 3 text types? ** How do the “Language Progressions” help you understand the standards better? **Why does the research point out the 3 tiers of vocabulary?

18. Walking Through Appendix B • Contains sample texts to serve as models for text complexity – “text exemplars” – Do you currently use any of the suggested selections? • Organized into K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 texts • Samples include stories, poetry, and informational texts – as well as read alouds (stories and informational text) for K-3 • *****Followed by sample performance tasks • *****Not intended to be a comprehensive list, but a “springboard”

19. Appendix C Take a look at the writing samples for yourgrade… What do you think?

20. So why is K-2 implementation urgent? and Why are we studying these today if we aren’t implementing them until next year?

21. Let’s Take A Look… • Reading Standards for Literature • Reading Standards for Informational Text • Writing • Speaking & Listening • Language

22. How do I know what to do?Step One: Analyze the Standard --“Unwrap” It or “Unpack” It • Circle verbs and focus on their meaning. Underline nouns/noun phrases (content). Look at the vertical progression (grade above and below) to get the full meaning and analyze the depth of RLA Standards. RL. 1

23. Step Two: Look at other standards you can “hook on” and teach together. • CCSS are not intended to be taught in isolation, nor are they intended to be taught one time in the classroom– Approach them as we did our state objectives and cluster them when related and logical. Provide multiple exposures using different genres and new experiences. If students cannot apply the standard to a new experience, assume it is not mastered.

24. When you begin planning… • Consider Steps 3 & 4… • MCSD first steps will be to know documents, then learn to unpack the standards. • Some may want to work ahead! 

25. Step Three: Ask yourself, “How can I make this rigorous and relevant? What are appropriate performance tasks?”

26. Step Four: Put It Together –How do I get students there? • Plan your student activities, keeping in mind that we should not “spoon feed” students any more – Students should have to think to learn our “tricks” on their own, not be instructed using the “trick” so that answers are correct and processes/thinking are not understood.

27. 9:00 Discussion What can we do in our classrooms NOW to make core implementation easier?

28. Final Thoughts on CCSS -- RLA • Literature and Informational Text are equally important. Science and Social Studies aren’t separate subjects anymore! Reading teachers aren’t the only teachers of reading!  • Speaking & Listening AND Writing Standards lead to the depth we need in Core standards. Students must share knowledge learned, explain their thinking and understanding, and justify their thoughts.  • Small group instruction will be necessary for the SL and W standards to occur…otherwise you will be overwhelmed with grading and never reaching the depth intended…nor will you expose all students to the text complexity desired AND instruct struggling readers at their level. Small groups will need to be “flexible” to reach the intended performance task. • More heads are better than one! No one is an expert with instruction for core standards and it will take lots of interaction, discussion, and sharing to get there. You are not alone! 

29. Grade Level Plans October – Know your documents and unpack your standards. November – Discuss Speaking/Listening and Writing standards and plan for those in classrooms NOW. January – 2nd Semester “Train the Trainers”