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

Diagnosing Breakdowns in Comprehension

It a video discussion for Reading Rockets, panelists Isabel Beck, Nanci Bell, and Sharon Walpole discuss the components for reading comprehension and share strategies to promote student learning with this outcome. At minute 3:27, Dr. Walpole explains where breakdowns in … Continue reading

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Session 3 of Core Task implementation Project

Session 3 of the Core Task implementation Project continued to take well-vetted instructional materials through the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. The session allowed for opportunities to reflect with peers, share ideas and resources, and have conversations around “focus” students. Teachers reviewed the … Continue reading

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110 Core Knowledge Teacher Created Supplements Added to 63000resources.com

If you are implementing Core Knowledge, consider visiting the Core Knowledge section, from the ELA tab, at http://www.63000resources.com. These are the resources currently in the Edmodo group but feedback, from Core Task implementation Project sessions, consistently included a request to … Continue reading

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10 Websites, with Free resources, to Assist with CCSS Implementation

If you are looking for help with the implementation of Common Core, the websites listed below will help. Most include free curricular resources, well matched to the CCSS, that any educator can opt into and/or they can be used to … Continue reading

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Literacy Unit Project, Session 3

Third through fifth grade teachers continued to make progress on developing literacy units, mapped to essential understandings, that stretch across all three grades. Those EUs have been finalized and include: How does conflict and compromise shape culture? How does setting … Continue reading

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‘How and How Not to Prepare Students for the New Tests’

A popular question, since Nevada officially adopted the SBAC Test for the 2014-2015, is how to best prepare students for the coming assessments. I certainly have an opinion and have consistently noted that if you take full advantage of well-vetted … Continue reading

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Session 3 Materials from DC CTP

Educators in Washington, D.C. gathered for the third session of the DC Core Task Project. Session three focused on text complexity, text-dependent questions, and crafting questions to the Malcolm Xs speech, Message to the Grass Roots You can access all of the … Continue reading

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Dr. P. David Pearson: Implementing the CCSS: Comprehension, Close Reading, and the Common Core

Although Pearson acknowledges he’s had reservations about the implementation of the CCSS, he takes the time to outline specifically what he likes about the standards. You can see the list in the image below and by viewing the video presentation … Continue reading

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November 4th Presentation Materials–with Pondiscio Video Links

As part of the November 4th Professional Learning Day, K-3 educators from 18 different sites gathered for a Core Knowledge Rendezvous. The day focused on a taped presentation by Robert Pondiscio (part 1 here and part 2 here) followed by … Continue reading

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Every Child Reading–Dr. Margie Gillis Presentation

In case you missed it, you can access an October 28th presentation by Dr. Margie B. Gillis on helping Kindergarten through 3rd grade students with reading. Dr. Gillis is the president of Literacy How, Inc. and research affiliate, Haskins Laboratories … Continue reading

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