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Weekend Round Up February 16

February 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Monday

Text Complexity

This post compiles the posts we have written pertaining to text complexity and the Common Core standards.

Tuesday

Close Reading

This post compiles our many posts on the topic of close reading.

Wednesday

Writing (Blog Digest)

This post compiles our many posts on the topic of teaching writing in the Common Core era.

Thursday

Food for Thought (Blog Digest)

This post compiles a potpourri of posts that reflect our musings about the Common Core Standards and thoughts about teaching literacy in general.

Friday

Practical Stuff (Blog Digest)

This posts collects the practical ideas we have entertained for implementing the Common Core Standards.

Filed Under: balance, Common Core State Standards, Complete Literacy, complex text, Comprehension Strategies, Gradual Release of Responsibility, Implementation, Instruction, Interpreting the Standards, Musings, Planning for Instruction, Reading, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Teaching Perspective

November 7, 2012 By 1 Comment
Screen shot 2012-11-06 at 1.02.08 PM

 

This scene from the Dead Poet’s Society begins with  Mr. Keating standing upon his desk asking his students the question, “Why do I stand up here?” One student suggests that he wants to feel taller, but Mr. Keating quickly squashes that notion and says, “I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”

Last week, the East coast was ravaged by hurricane Sandy.  Kim is still without power and people in her hometown are sitting in long lines waiting to purchase gasoline. They are becoming irritable, wondering when they will be able to return to the comforts of their pre-hurricane lives.  While being temporarily displaced feels like the end of the world, compared to her neighbors living along the coast a few miles to the west, it is really a mere inconvenience. Kim’s neighborhood lost power.  In a few days, she will be able to return home and life will be just as it was before. Her neighbors in communities like Long Beach and Breezy Point, however,  won’t be going home in a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months.  They need to create new homes because they lost everything. Life as they knew it, will never be the same.  When put this way, we receive a shocking jolt of perspective and realize how easy it is to perseverate on the unimportant unless we remind ourselves “that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”

We are currently steeped in year two of Common Core implementation.   As we become mired in conversations about what standards RL.3.4 and W.3.7 look like instructionally, it is easy to lose sight of the state’s larger Common Core goals and objectives, which are spelled out on page seven of the document.  

Rereading this page helps to ground our understanding of the work we are doing and reminds us once again that the standards are not simply about ticking off items on a checklist, but rather, they are about working toward the loftier goals of helping children become more communicative, collaborative, and thoughtful about their world. Interestingly, the last point on this page addresses perspective directly and the  Common Core states, “Through reading great classic and contemporary works of literature representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews, students can vicariously inhabit worlds and have experiences much different than their own.”

Imagine a world where children have opportunities to see past their most immediate existence.  Add to that teachers like Mr. Keating, who nudge students with admonitions, such as  “Now when you read, don’t just consider what the author thinks, consider what you think.”  Children can begin to value other people differently. They can begin to see problems differently.  Assuming other perspectives opens us up to “dare to strike out and find new ground.” Imagine what the world could be!

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Educational Reform, Growth Mindset, Implementation, Instruction, Planning for Instruction, Reflections, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

The Core of the Common Core, Part 2: The Anchor Standards for Writing

October 10, 2012 By 5 Comments

Once again, we tackle the job of synthesizing the standards to increase our fluency as we think and talk about them. Today we try to label the core of the anchor standards for writing. Again, while distilling the standards down to a few words is an interesting exercise, we don’t intend these standards “lite” to replace the work of reading the complete standards closely.

Text Types and Purposes
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
The “Support Claims” Standard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
The “Convey Complex Ideas” Standard

 

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
The “Tell Good Stories” Standard

 

Production and distribution of Writing

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
The “Clear and Coherent” Standard

 

5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
The “Writing Process” Standard

 

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
The “21st Century Writing” Standard

 

7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
The “Research to Understand” Standard

 

8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
The “Information” Standard

 

9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
The “Draw Evidence” Standard

 

Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
The “Write Routinely” Standard

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post that will summarize the speaking and listening standards.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Implementation, Instruction, Planning for Instruction, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Weekend Round-Up July 28

July 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Monday

Pay It Forward (Part 2): Writing Essentials

This post offers a checklist of instructional strategies for teaching writing in grades K-2.

Tuesday

Pay It Forward (Part 3): Reading Essentials

A checklist of important elements of elementary reading instruction, including reflective questions for each element.

Wednesday

Yoga, Piano Lessons, and Culinary Skills

This blog looks at the importance of actual reading and writing practice in classrooms, as opposed to teacher-focused lessons.

 Thursday

How Does the Common Core Honor Practice? (Part 1)

We continue our exploration of the importance of practice by looking at the emphasis the author’s of the Common Core placed on practice in the writing anchor standards.

Friday

Friday Favorites: Revisiting “Matters of Consequence” 

What are the “matters of consequence” that drive your instructional decision making?

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Complete Literacy, Implementation, Instruction, Reading, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How Does the Common Core Honor Practice? (Part 1)

July 26, 2012 By 5 Comments

In his popular book Outliers (Amazon affiliate link), Malcom Gladwell writes about the 10,000 hour rule pointing out that contrary to the popular belief that talent defines greatness, the key to success in any field is usually practice. Threads of this notion can be found in yesterday’s post Yoga, Piano Lessons, and Culinary Skills, where we reiterated the need for practice and implored educators to always evaluate how much time students spend actually reading and writing during the times set aside for these activities. Getting better at anything, whether yoga, piano, cooking, reading, or writing requires not only that we think about, listen to, and read about the thing we aim to improve, it requires we dedicate significant amounts of time to “getting our hands dirty” so that we can work to refine our practice through experience.

Because we recognize and value the importance of practice in improving proficiency in all aspects of literacy, we began to wonder if the Common Core shares our sense of urgency about practice. Is there evidence that the authors value practice in the same ways we do?

How do the Common Core writing standards value practice? 
Of the four arms of Language Arts presented by the Common Core, only the writing anchor standards include a standard that explicitly addresses the need for practice.  Anchor standard number ten reads, “Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.” This standard, accompanied by the language included in the sidebar that says, “students must devote significant time and effort to writing,” indicate that when it comes to writing, the authors of the Common Core value the importance of practice and see it as an essential ingredient for improving the skills needed for becoming proficient.

That said, however, when you look at writing anchor standard ten across the grade levels, expectations for writing volume and practice do not begin until third grade. It is our opinion that we should have higher expectations for primary writers and that the time that children in K-2 spend holding pencils, writing words, and composing in general will pay huge dividends in writing fluency, organization, and general writing skills by the time students reach third grade. But we give credit where credit is due and the Common Core recognized the need for practice in writing. Anchor standard ten is a means to an end.  The ONLY way the expectations of the remaining nine standards can be met  is if educators design instruction that honors the call for practice.

On Monday, we will continue our exploration of how the Common Core standards either do or do not honor the importance of practice as a means for becoming an increasingly literate citizen.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pay It Forward (Part 2): Writing Essentials

July 23, 2012 By 5 Comments

Today we offer you a checklist of instructional strategies for teaching writing in preK-2. Obviously, these will vary based on grade-level, but as core writing instruction (no pun intended) they should form a consistent thread throughout elementary writing instruction. THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST, but rather a place to start. We have not addressed student choice, writing across days, writing on demand, revision, editing, conferencing, etc. Let these six essentials offer you a place to start, especially in preK and kindergarten, grades which are often left out of conversations about standards.

1. How much are you letting students write?

Students need to write every day. Even in preschool and kindergarten, students need daily time to put something on paper. This builds stamina and fluency and encourages students to think about their writing outside of formal instruction. Writing daily is the single-most important aspect of writing instruction. We are not referring to answering comprehension questions, but rather to composing and crafting.

2. How are you developing student independence as writers?

Beginning writers need to write by themselves as much as possible, even if their writing is mostly approximations in letter formation and spelling. We find that anchor charts and familiar, co-authored messages posted around a classroom are a better scaffold for students than teachers taking dictation. Students dictating while teachers write is a practice that builds dependence and communicates that we should only write when we know how to do it the “right” way. Any writing for students as they dictate should be interactive, sharing the pencil with the students as much as possible nudging them to take risks and responsibility. Basically, “dictation” should be an individualized interactive writing session.

3. How are you showing students how to write?

Students need to participate in interactive writing for 10-20 minutes 3-5 times per week. There is no more efficient and authentic way to teach children the letter names and sounds. It is critical that all the products of these interactive writing sessions hang in the classroom so that students can refer to them when they write independently.

4. How are you helping students develop voice and a sense of audience?

Young writers need regular opportunities to share their writing with an audience, whether reading it to a partner, sharing with a group, or recording on a webcam to send home. Audience response is one of the best ways to encourage students to write more.

5. How are you teaching young writers how to form the letters?

While there is dissent in the field about handwriting and its relevance in the technological age, for us handwriting is a vehicle for writing fluency. While obvious developmental limitations apply to four-year-olds, even they can engage in large motor practice of the shape of the letters, such as drawing them in shaving cream or running their fingers over sand letters. Children who learn how to make the letters without thinking about their formation will have more attention to give to what they are writing. Children who write fluently tend to write more words more often. Of course, we are not espousing reams of handwriting worksheets. We are suggesting, however, small doses of practicing handwriting for its own sake can lead to better writing products during writing workshop and make such authentic writing practice more meaningful.

6. How are you exposing students to quality writing models?

Students need to hear great writing read aloud daily. Whether in read aloud, writer’s workshop, or shared reading, you can explicitly point out the author’s craft as you share great books. The more you show students options for their writing, the more you will see these tools organically translate into the pieces they develop.

These are our six, “pay-it-forward” essentials for writing, but they are not all you need to teach writing in preK-2. Most importantly, for third-graders to meet the demands of the Common Core writing standards, we must begin early, even though the standards don’t explicitly include the youngest writers in some of their most important expectations.

Tomorrow, we will share our “pay-it-forward” essentials for reading instruction.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Implementation, Instruction, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Weekend Round Up July 21

July 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Monday

A Close Look at The Common Core Expectations for Primary Writers

In looking across the grade levels of the Common Core Writing Standards, standards 4, 9, and 10 are seen as “not applicable” to students in grades K-2.  This post launches an investigation of whether or not the Common Core has high expectations for primary writers.

Tuesday

Writing Clearly and Coherently: Primary Writers CAN and SHOULD

This post looks at writing anchor standard four as it applies (or doesn’t apply, as the case may be) to kindergarten through second grade writers.  Did the authors of the Common Core set the bar too low?

Wednesday

Using Evidence from Literary and Informational Text: Once Again, Primary Writers CAN and SHOULD

In this post, we examine writing anchor standard nine and the Common Core’s expectation that children should not start doing this until fourth grade.  Once again, we find that the authors of the Common Core set the bar a bit too low.

Thursday

Paying It Forward: Six PreK-2 Writing Essentials for Meeting the Common Core Expectations in 3-12

Good teachers know that the foundation for good writing begin long before third grade.  In this post, we discuss the “pay it forward” philosophy that applies to starting intentional teaching of reading and writing as early as preschool.

Friday

Friday Favorites

Buried in our archives are a wealth of topics that are still timely and relevant.  Starting today, on Fridays, we will direct our readers back to old posts that speak to ideas and important thinking about the Common Core and literacy.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

Paying it Forward: Six PreK-2 Writing Essentials for Meeting the Common Core Expectations in 3-12

July 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

Current accountability measures focus on the immediacy of results, typically holding each year’s teacher responsible for the outcomes of the current year. We assert, however, that much of what is important for students to learn as readers and writers happens in the years that are typically not considered heavily (or at all) in accountability measures. Educational accountability needs to function as a pay-it-forward system. That is, some of the work that teachers on a particular grade-level do is on behalf of the teachers who will be accountable for our students in upcoming years. This is equally true in reading and writing.

Even though the standardized testing associated with the Common Core is likely to begin in third-grade, which continues the NCLB trend established in many states, we encourage schools to resist the urge to throw all their energies into third-grade. While third-grade and beyond warrant considerable attention, meeting the lofty expectations of the Common Core is an impossibility if we don’t offer our youngest readers and writers at least as much support.

This means we start intentionally teaching literacy in preschool.  We need to engage four-year-olds in age appropriate practices that teach them letter names and letter sounds, that develop their vocabulary, and that establish efficient reading and writing habits from the onset. This early action is the only way we can ensure that the majority of children graduating from second grade are ready to meet the Common Core challenges they will encounter in third-grade and beyond. Don’t be fooled! It is possible to teach four- and five-year-olds to read and write while holding inviolate critical principles of developmental appropriateness.

On Monday and Tuesday of next week we will share a checklist of our essentials for teaching preK-2 students reading and writing. We hope you will let the list of questions help you consider the ways your instruction in preK-2 is preparing students for the Common Core demands of upper elementary, middle, and high school.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Implementation, Instruction, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Using Evidence from Literary or Informational Text: Once Again, Primary Writers CAN and SHOULD

July 18, 2012 By 2 Comments
exemplar example from Appendix C of common core grade 2 argument

Writing anchor standard nine states that students need to, “Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.”

When you look at how this applies to children in grades kindergarten, first, and second, and in this case, third, the authors of the Common Core decided to wait to establish clear guidelines for this standard until fourth grade.

writing anchor standard 9-10 Common Core K-2

When children begin applying this standard in fourth and fifth grades, the expectation is that students will “Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.” The Common Core authors recommend that students apply grade level reading standards such as “describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text” and “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which points”  to literary and informational texts.

In looking at this standard, we are particularly drawn to the language “Apply grade 4 (5) reading standards.”  If this writing standard is driven by the reading standards, what are the reading standards asking of students and can writing help support primary students as they work to achieve the reading standards?

In order to answer this question, we again turn to the writing exemplars provided by the authors of the Common Core in Appendix C.  Take a moment to read this reflection of Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon written by a second grader.

exemplar example from Appendix C of common core grade 2 argument

The opening line of this text, “When you go owling you don’t need words, or worm (warm), or anything, but hope” is a quote taken directly from Owl Moon. This writer seems to have decided to include this quote as a way of developing and supporting his/her argument that the character in the story feels happy. In this example, this second grade writer has drawn evidence from a literary text to support analysis and reflection because this student goes on to include that “happy kids make me happy.” In addition, it directly supports second grade reading standard seven that expects children to, “use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.”  It seems to us that this exemplar of second grade writing, selected by the authors of the Common Core, meets the expectations of writing anchor standard nine and supports efforts to meet grade level reading standards. This writing sample makes us wonder out loud why writing standard nine has no guidelines for children until fourth grade?

Once again, not only CAN children practice these skills with support in the primary grades, they SHOULD.  Waiting until fourth grade to EXPECT students to “Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research” is short-sighted and could be creating the conditions for students to fail to meet this grade level requirement when it is finally expected of them.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Implementation, Instruction, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Writing Clearly and Coherently: Primary Students Can and Should

July 17, 2012 By 3 Comments
Sample writing exemplar from Appendix C of Common Core

CCSS writing anchor standard four states that students need to, “Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.”

This standard does not apply to children in kindergarten, first-, or second-grades. The authors of the Common Core decided that this was an expectation for which establishing clear guidelines for was not necessary until third grade.

Writing anchor standard 4 Common Core K-2

In third grade, the Common Core recommends that students, “With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.” In fourth and fifth grade, the expectation changes only in that children should “produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose” without “guidance and support from adults.”

Why the exclusion on K-2 in the writing expectations for clarity and cohesion? With “guidance and support from adults” is it not possible for children in grades kindergarten, first, and second to write clearly and coherently?

In order to answer this question, we turn to Appendix C which offers writing samples from every grade level, providing educators a context for thinking about the implications of teaching writing in the Common Core era. Let’s begin by looking at an informative report produced by a first grade writer.

Sample writing exemplar from Appendix C of Common Core

Part of clear and coherent writing is topic focus and development.  In this example, this writer chose a topic (Spain) and proceeded to report a series of facts and informative tidbits about the country as alluded to in the title “My Big Book About Spain.” This writer’s inclusion of details such as “Spain has a lot of fiestas” and “Spain has bull fights” and “Spain’s neighbors are France, Andorra, Algeria, Portugal, and Morocco” seem quite “appropriate to the task” which appears to be to write an all about book about a country.

Clear and coherent writing could be further defined by the way in which a writer organizes information in an effort to communicate with readers.  In this example, this writer begins with the sentence, “Spain is in Europe.” Given that this is an “all about” book, this sentence introduces the reader to the topic and then proceeds to round out the topic development with a multitude of relevant facts and figures to feed a curious reader wanting to know more about Spain. The writer clearly indicates that (s)he is done writing by including the sentence “One day when I am a researcher, I am going to Spain and write about it.” In this example, there is a clear beginning, middle, and end to the text, even though the format is decidedly non-narrative.

We began this post by asking the question: With “guidance and support from adults” is it not possible for children in grades kindergarten, first, and second to write clearly and coherently?

This example and most of the examplars for kindergarten through second grade in Appendix C reflect the qualities of clarity and coherence. These exemplars communicate the high expectations which primary writers CAN and SHOULD meet, but yet, these expectations are not communicated by the Common Core itself.  While there is no way of knowing how much support this writer received in composing this text, it is most definitely clear and coherent, making us wonder why the authors of the Common Core postponed this expectation until third grade. As far as we can see, this is one place where they set the bar too low.

Filed Under: Common Core State Standards, Implementation, Instruction, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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