Author Archives: Aaron Grossman

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About Aaron Grossman

I am a 5th grade teacher at Roy Gomm Elementary in Reno, Nevada. I started working with elementary students as part of the Montana Reads program and AmeriCorps. In 2001, after graduating from the University of Montana and moving to Reno, Nevada, I student taught at Rita Cannan Elementary before receiving a 6th grade position at Veterans Elementary. I moved out of the classroom to be a Literacy Coordinator, then an Instructional Coach, and finally a School Improvement Program Coordinator. In 2011, I began working on the Nevada Academic Content Standards in the district’s Curriculum & Instruction Department. I returned to the classroom for the 2015-2016 school year to teach 4th grade at Huffaker Elementary. Before returning to the classroom, I helped develop the Core Task Project that has been featured by National Public Radio, the Gates Foundation, American Radio Works, Eduwonk, the Fordham Institute, Vox, and the Center for American Progress. In 2014, I received the Leader to Learn From Award for my teacher-centered initiative and work to bring college, career, and civics ready outcomes into Northern Nevada classrooms (here). In 2015, I was appointed by Governor Sandoval serve on the Statewide RPDP Council. The same year, Nevada’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero placed me on the state’s State Improvement Team. This year I will be part of the National Council on Teacher Quality’s Teacher Advisory Group. I am Google Certified Educator and a Nevada Teacher Ambassador. I believe strongly that teaching content is teaching reading and I make sure my students have ample opportunities to work with social studies, history, science and art outcomes. I do what I can to blend the learning for my students and this blog is part of that effort. You can contact me at coretaskproject@gmail.com

Classroom Discussions around Text

In the video linked here, Dr. David Pearson describes the value of strong classroom discussions around text. He posits that there are three elements of strong classroom discourse which include 1) Selecting texts worth discussing 2) Planning discussion questions and … Continue reading

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In 77 Seconds: Accessible vs. Dumbed-Down Text

Dr. Freddy Hiebert takes literally 77 seconds to compare accessible and dumbed-down text. She notes that dumbed-down text relies on short sentences, bizarre topics , and phonetically regular words. This is contrasted with assessable text that Hiebert defines as complex … Continue reading

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NASBE Shares ‘Toolkit’ for CCSS Implementation

The National Association of State Boards of Education has released a toolkit for implementing the Common Core State Standards (here).  The toolkit includes an overview of the standards and context for why they were written. The document also outlines the … Continue reading

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Accessing the CTP on Twitter

The CTP does not get many emails. In fact, there have never been any emails… until now! A visitor to the blog asked if the CTP has a Twitter account. The answer, Yes. You can access the Tweets by clicking … Continue reading

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Exemplar Tab Added

In an effort to make it easier for visitors to find the close reading exemplars we’ve been using, you can now find them in the page’s frame. Simply click on exemplar (here) or in the frame above to see what … Continue reading

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Charlotte Danielson and the CCSS

In an interview with EdWeek, Charlotte Danielson shares her thoughts on the Common Core State Standards. She emphasize that teachers will need time to collaborate and the flexibility to experiment. Danielson notes, “I think the common core rests on a … Continue reading

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Close Reading Exemplar Shared by Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute posted a close reading exemplar of Russell Freedman’s The Voice that Challenged a Nation here. The format is quite similar to what Student Achievement Partners has shared as well as the exemplars we’ve posted on this site.

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New “Link” for Washoe’s 6th Grade BAP

In order to access the Washoe’s 6th grade Basal Alignment Project resources on Edmodo, you will have to use this link. If you are already a member, you should have no trouble accessing the resources. The link is for new … Continue reading

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Close Reading Exemplar “Whatif”

Linked here is a draft of a close reading exemplar of Shel Silverstein’s poem “Whatif.” This is likely a 3rd grade exemplar although we are hoping that readers of this blog will pilot the exemplar and let us know where … Continue reading

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Video Tutorial: Accessing the SBAC Training Test

Last week I posted a link to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s training test (here). If you are having any trouble accessing the test, you can watch this 90-second tutorial, uploaded by Jeff Gerlach, demonstrating how to get started

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