The Common Core State Standards: Coming to a Shared Understanding

and a Coherent Message

Wednesday, October 19

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Welcome!

• Quick write: What work have you already been doing around the Common Core/what do you already know about the Common Core? What would you like to learn more about?How does the CCSS impact your work?5 minutes

• Give One, Get One• Share Out

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Strategic Plan – Year 1

AWARENESS 2011 – 2012

Our work is to:•Develop aligned assessments•Design and deliver PD on new standards•Develop literacy framework•Develop core curriculum components•Select and adopt aligned instructional materials to include classroom libraries representative of student diversity.

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Common Core State Standards: Background

• National Set of expectations for student knowledge and skills that students need to master to succeed in college and career.

• Designed by Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association for Best Practices

• Adopted by CA SBE August 2, 2010

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Organization of Common Core ELA Standards

• 1- Guidelines for English Learners & Students with Disabilities

• 2- Table of Contents and Intro• 3- ELA and Literacy Foundation(k-5)• 4- ELA (6-12)• 5- Literacy in History, Science, Tech (6-12)• 6- Appendix (Text Complexity, Writing,

Speaking and Listening, Language)• 7- Text Exemplars and Sample Performance

Tasks

(Note: CA has chosen not to adopt the Anchor Standards and the Appendices.)

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Reading the CCSS Document Pg. 8• Three main SECTIONS: K-5, 6-12 ELA and 6-12

history/social studies, science and technical subjects.

• Each SECTION is divided into STRANDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language (note: 6-12 history/social studies, science and technical subjects focus on Reading and Writing).

• Each STRAND is headed by a STRAND specific set of COLLEGE AND CAREER ANCHOR STANDARDs (CCR ANCHOR STANDARD) that is identical across grade levels.

• Each CCR ANCHOR STANDARD has a corresponding GRADE-SPECIFIC STANDARD that translates the CCR into grade-appropriate end of year expectations.

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ELA Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

What are the key features and differences between the CA

State Content Standards and the Common Core State (CCSS)

Standards Spiral?

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The CA State Content Standards

• Literary Response & Analysis Standard 3.1 K: “Distinguish fantasy from realistic text.”

4: “Describe the structure differences of various imaginative forms of literature, including fantasies, fables, myths, legends, and fairy tales.”

9 & 10: “Articulate the relationship between the express purposes and the characteristics of different forms of dramatic literature (e.g., comedy, tragedy, drama, dramatic monologue).

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In Contrast: An Example of the CCSS Spiral

• Standards are reinforced and deepened from year to year.

• Reading Standard 3 for Literature K: “With prompting and support, identify

characters, settings, and major events in a story.”

4: “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions.”

9: “Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

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Key Feature: The Learning Progression1. Pick a STRAND (Reading, Writing, Speaking or

Language)2. Pick a COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS (CCR)

STANDARD (Example: Key Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge, or Range of Reading and Text Complexity for Reading STRAND)

3. Pick a GRADE-SPECIFIC STANDARD starting at K or 6th

4. Then:Review how the standard progresses across grade

levels to get a feel for the “spiral” learning progression.

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Key Feature: The Learning Progression

Now review the spiral document:Think, Pair, Share: What do you notice about the learning progression? How do you see students being prepared toward college readiness?

(10 min.)

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Key Feature – College & Career AlignmentOne primary motivation for CCSS was to better align the ELA curriculum with college and work expectations.

The disconnect between K-12 education and college/career readiness can be traced to:

• Insufficient reading of complex texts• Colleges expect students to read w/o

teacher scaffolds• Insufficient volume of informational text in

K-12• Focus on narrative writing rather than

argumentation• Unclear common task/production guidelines

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Key Feature – College & Career Alignment

Differences between the CCSS and the CA State Standards are that CCSS:

• Focus on reading comprehension and increasing text complexity

• Standards are task-based and prioritize independence and increased complexity over time

• Mandate an increase in informational reading

• Writing tasks are explicit and focus more on research and media skills

• Shared responsibility for student literacy across content

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“Information is the new literature”

Barring future English majors, the movefrom literary texts to information correlateswith the demands students will meet incollege.

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Explicit Writing Tasks

• Decrease narrative and experiential writing and increase expository and argumentation as students move through the grades.

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What do we need to do to get “Common Core ready?”

Think, Write, Pair Share: From what you have learned so far and your perspective answer:

•What is the current reality in terms of standards implementation and college readiness?•Given the common core, how can we support teachers in preparation?

Think (2 min.)Write (3 min.)Pair Share (5 min.)

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Digging In: Collaborative Posters

In Pairs/Triads of Early/Middle/High:•Independently review a grade level that you support (10 min.)•Summarize “key ideas” as a group (10 min.)•Prepare a Collaborative Poster that represents your thinking (5 min.)•Present Collaborative Poster to group (3 min. each group)(Approximately 45 min.)

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CCSS – Reading Standards “Dig”• Read and react to your assigned Reading

standards across 6-12 independently with the purpose of identifying the key moves for students – What do students need to know and be able to do according to the standards? (15 min.)

• Choose a note-taker. Use Round Robin to share out “key moves” for students. (15 min.)

• Create a t-chart. On one side list your group’s “key moves” for students. (5 min.)

• Label the other side with “key moves” for teachers. Brainstorm and then list teacher “key moves.” (15 min.)

• Whole Group Share out. (10 min.)

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Completed & Ongoing Work of the Common Core

• Core Curriculum Taskforce• Descriptions for Grades 9 – 12• PD of app. 20 OUSD teachers around the ELA

Common Core• Principal PD Modules• CCSS Corridor Schools: Roosevelt, Garfield,

Manzanita Community• Learning about the Assessments• Aligning the PWA

• What can we add?