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

Achieve The Core Newsletter

Student Achievement Partners has started a newsletter to keep educators informed about CCSS implementation. You can view the most recent newsletter here which includes articles about the Common Core, updates on the Basal Alignment Project, and an interview with CCSSM … Continue reading

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CCSS en Español

The Common Core State Standards have been translated into Spanish. The effort to translate the CCSS was led by the Sand Diego County Office of Education with support from the Council of the Chief State School Officers. As reported by … Continue reading

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In 77 Seconds, ‘What are Good Books for Young Readers?’

What are good books for young readers? Dr. Elfrieda H. Hiebert answers this question in a 77 second Youtube clip here. Further, aside from answering the question, she directs viewers to free downloadable and printable resources here.

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PreK-2 Draft of “No, David!” Exemplar

Personnel in the Office of Academics have been working on a PreK-2 close reading exemplar for David Shannon’s picture book “No, David!” Linked here is a draft of the exemplar and we need your help in getting it to a … Continue reading

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Reading Volume and the Common Core

The Core Shift Blast addresses two important issues including a “Volume of Reading” and the “8 Elements of the Literacy Block.” Readers will get a preview of research University of Nevada, Reno professor Dr. Diane Barone is doing as well … Continue reading

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Using the Core to Empower Teachers and Students

In a piece for the Huffingtonpost, 2010 Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling addresses several key concerns about the CCSS (here). She asks, “does the Common Core demoralize teachers?” and continues, “ The answer: No, but our misguided or unilateral … Continue reading

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Scoop.it! for CCSS Implementation

If you are trying to stay current on CCSS implementation, from an instructional coach perspective, the following Scoop.it! site will prove helpful. Curator Catherine Schmidt is updating the site daily with content to smooth the transition to CCSS and keep … Continue reading

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5 Principles of CCSS

Teachingthecore has pulled out the 5 Principles of the Common Core from videos produced by the Hunt Institute. The principles are 1) College and Career Readiness 2) Based on best existing standards 3) Based on solid evidence 4) Clear focus … Continue reading

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Text Complexity and the Common Core

MetaMetrics recorded a webinar on Valentines describing the importance of text complexity and the Common Core. Specific topics that may interest readers have been marked below. Minute 6:45 The Crisis of Text Complexity High school textbooks have declined in all … Continue reading

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the CCSS

Teaching Tolerance Fellow Emily Chiariello describes her work around teaching the Common Core State Standards “with culturally responsive instruction” (full link here). She sees the CCSS and culturally responsive pedagogy as a strong fit citing teacher’s shared responsibility for teaching … Continue reading

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