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

Literacy Unit Project Begins

Third through 5th grade teachers, from throughout Washoe County, gathered to begin work on developing Literacy Units for their respective grades. Session 1 focused on building a strong understanding on the research governing the Common Core Reading Standards and models … Continue reading

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Assessment and the Common Core

In the video linked here, David Pearson, former dean of the Graduate School of Education at University California, Berkeley, moves viewers through the coming PARCC and SBAC assessments and the implications for instruction. At minute 5:47, he begins an overview … Continue reading

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Video Lesson Demonstrations

The San Bernardino School District has uploaded several lesson demonstrations that can be accessed through Vimeo. The videos include the resources and lesson guides that are featured in the segments as well as comments and annotations from the featured teachers. … Continue reading

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#Edchat Resource Guide—Downloadable and Free

USC Rossier School of Education has created the following #Edchat Resource Guide (here) to help educators connect and communicate around educational topics. #Edchat meets weekly and anyone can participate by simply using the hashtag. In addition to #Edchat, you will … Continue reading

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Washoe Gets some Press

The Core Task Project and the efforts of classroom teachers in Washoe have received a great attention over the last two weeks. Emily Hanford, of American Radio Works, produced an hour-long documentary (here) on Common Core, the first half of … Continue reading

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Building a Better Teacher

Fordham recently hosted an event titled Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone) in which Robert Pondiscio interviews Elizabeth Green about the topic. The section, beginning at minute 12:25 on being a “general … Continue reading

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Core Task Implementation Project Session 1 Materials

The 2014-2015 Core Task implementation Project (CTiP) began today with a renewed focus on the Instructional Practice Guides and materials and professional learning matched to a highly core aligned classroom. This year participants will be working with the Speaking & … Continue reading

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46 New Read Aloud Lessons Added

Forty-six new Read Aloud Project (RAP) lessons have been added to http://www.63000resources.com. They are divided into different subjects based on the Next Generation Science Standards and popular state social studies standards. You can find well-vetted lessons on Animals, Insects & … Continue reading

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Document Based Questions—Support and Materials

Many of you may already be using Document Based Questions in your 6th grade classroom but if you are not, it is an excellent resource to consider. DBQs reinforce important Common Core outcomes including building content knowledge with rich non-fiction; … Continue reading

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BAP Essential Understanding–Planning Tool

Kristen Campbell, the K-12 Professional Learning Facilitator with the Northwest RPDP, and Cathy Schmidt, the Striving Readers Elementary Training Coordinator, have synthesized key information from the BAP into a nice planning tool. They pulled the Big Ideas, Key Understandings, and … Continue reading

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