CCSS are “Valuable and Necessary”

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

New Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dale A.R. Erquiaga, shares his support for the Common Core in a letter to Nevadans here. The letter explains why the Nevada State Board of Education adopted the standards in 2010 including the importance of districts, not the state or Federal Government, having control over curricular decisions. Full access to the letter and a document titled “Myth vs. Fact” can be found here and here.

Posted in Common Core State Standards | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Smartest Kids in the World

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

In a video presentation posted by Pop! Tech Amandy Ripley describes her effort to solve a mystery. The mystery? Why are US educational outcomes mediocre relative to other countries. To make her point, she posts the map below.

Map PISARipley does take the time to control for poverty and ethnicity and even when you isolate children, coming from homes of the top 25% of wage earners, no US “purple” state emerges—a state that would measure up to the top performing countries.  Ripley attributes a lot of this to the challenge and the level of effort required of many US classrooms.

RelianceHer points are compelling and to her credit, she’s allowed her presentation to be posted so we can all hear what she has to say. She notes that Common Core is a chance to match the rigor of what our students do in school to that of the highest performing countries.

Posted in Common Core State Standards | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parent University, Common Core: An Introduction

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

Parents are being introduced to the ELA/Literacy Common Core through a class provided by Washoe’s Parent University. The class describes the context for the adoption of the Common Core, the instructional shifts, informative videos content, work with College and Career Ready outcomes, and specific things parents can do to reinforce the efforts of classroom teachers. The PowerPoint is here and the Parent Roadmaps, in Spanish and English, are located here.

Posted in Parent University | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

David Liben in Washoe September 6, 2013

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

David Liben, from Student Achievement Partners, will be visiting Reno this Friday and will conduct a Q&A with instructional leaders and classroom teachers. If you have a burning question, please share in the comment section and we’ll have David answer them. We’ll be filming the event and posting the content online.

If you are unfamiliar with David’s previous visits, you can access the video from February 2012 here and August 2012 here.

Posted in Student Achievement Partners | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Interactive CCSS Tool for Parents

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

There have been several strong attempts at keeping parents informed about the Common Core including resources from the PTA (here) and the Council of Great City Schools (here). Stand for Children, an organization dedicated to promoting educational outcomes for K-12 students, has created a new resource to help parents better understand the CCSS.

By visiting http://get2core.org/ and clicking on “Common Core in Your State” visitors can learn more about implementation and impetus for adoption in the state they live. In addition, parents can learn about specific grade level outcomes, in parent friendly language, by following additional prompts.  The interactive tool is free and allows you to navigate through the site without giving away any personal information.

Posted in Parent University | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Core Action 1: A High Quality Text

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

Implementation Specialists and instructional coaches reviewed content to be shared on September 4th. The focus for the first site-based PLC is on Core Action 1 from the Instructional Practice Guides. In addition, “Growth Mindset,” which will be part of future K-6 ELA/Literacy trainings, was introduced through a TEDx presentation by Eduardo Briceno, CEO of Mindset Works.  You can retrieve the PowerPoint and handouts for September 4th in the links below.

PowerPoint for August 30th and September 4th

Content Notetaker

Facilitators Guide for Core Action 1 September 4

Literacy Appendix A

NPR Story on Text Complexity Audio File

NPR Transcript

Posted in Professional Development | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Parent University: Promoting Literacy in the Home

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The Parent University course, “Promoting Literacy in the Home,” was finished and shared this week. The class introduces key parts of reading to parents with specific steps they can take to promote these outcomes. The PowerPoint links to video content modeling specific reading/learning strategies as well as links to parent friendly resources.

Facilitators Guide for Presenters

Promoting Literacy PowerPoint

Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Parent University | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CTiP Year 2 Begins with a Close Look at Core Action 1

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

Elementary schools, that finished the first year of the Core Task implementation Project, started year 2 of this professional learning experience. The focus, of the first of four sessions, was on Core Action 1 from the Instructional Practice Guides. Educators from this cohort will deliver content on “Pink Wednesdays” with time allotted to work through the Teaching and Learning Framework (Plan-Do-Study-Act).

2013-14 CCSS Professional Learning Overview: K-6 ELA

CTiP2 Day 1 PowerPoint

Text Complexity Qualitative Measure Rubric

Facilitators Guide for September 4—Pink Wednesday

September 4 PowerPoint

Posted in Core Task Project, CTiP, Professional Development | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Free Instructional Videos Matched to CCSS

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

America Achieves, which visited Reno last October, has posted new videos and lesson plans matched to the Common Core State Standards. All of the resources are free and highlight instruction in ELA/literacy and math that demonstrate close reading, deeper learning, and critical thinking. You can access the website here.

You can filter your search efforts by content area and grade band. Once you have selected a video, instruction is tagged with the instructional shifts and teachers annotate their own efforts giving the viewer a strong understanding of how their instruction connects to the CCSS.  Washoe educator video includes Michelle Herschbach at Hunsberger Elementary and Chris Hayes at Jessie Beck Elementary.

Posted in Professional Development | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Shift 6 Focus: Direct and Indirect Vocabulary Instruction

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

“Students who have a high vocabulary, tend to be very good comprehenders” begins a video on the value of vocabulary instruction by Dr. Nell Duke.  In the six-minute clip, several important strategies are suggested with evidence to support. They include volume of reading (minute 1:05); direct instruction of the most important words (1:40); exposing students to complex text (2:08); teaching words in networks (2:40); teaching morphology (3:40); and using context clues (4:15). The video can be found here.

Posted in Academic Vocabulary, Instructional Shifts | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment