Changes to Nevada Education

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The Las Vegas Sun has written an article describing the changes to state law, now that the current legislative session has ended, that will impact what we do in our classrooms. This includes new graduation requirements, new class size ratios, new programs for English Language Learners, and more full-day kindergarten. You can access the entire article here.

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Videos to help Transition to the CCSS

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

Oregon’s Salem-Keizer Public Schools has produced four very short videos to help practitioners transition to the Common Core. If you are still wrestling with any of the topics below, it likely worth the two or three minutes it will cost you to watch one of the videos in full.

Overview of the Common Core State Standards

The Standards: How the Standards are Organized in ELA

Common Core “Shifts” in ELA & Literacy

 

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New Link to Social Studies Close Reading Examples

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

If you were having any trouble accessing the Social Studies Close Reading Examples, use the new link here. There are over 30 well-vetted close reading lessons that promote CCSS literacy outcomes while simultaneously teaching content. You can read more about this resource here.

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Video Explanation of Reading the CCSS

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The California State Board of Education has produced a video to assist educators in reading the Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. The five-minute video moves viewers through the basic organization of the standards describing the strands, anchor standards, and the grade level expectations. Other helpful pieces include definitions, progressions and abbreviations. You can view the video here.

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Resources to Support Fidgety Philip CAR

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

Moss Elementary Resource teacher Mari Riggs created a notetaker and answer sheet for the Fidgety Philip Close Reading Exemplar. These are helpful tools and a great scaffold as educators move through the exemplar to get to the culminating writing activity.

Fidgety Philip Notetaker

Fidgety Philip Final Answer Sheet

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Common Core Practice Test Released

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has released practiced tests for the Common Core State Standards. There are practice tests for grades 3rd through 8th and 11th grade in math and ELA. Each test has 50 problems and there is also a performance task you can take advantage of. You can access the test here and read the press release describing the materials here.

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Teaching Nonfiction Reading Skills

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

At the Center for Teaching Quality, Bill Ferriter describes strategies for teaching nonfiction skills (here).  Each strategy also comes with a handout to assist students with using the skill. The skills include becoming active readers; determining how quotes effect a reader’s thinking; how statistics and graphs are used to persuade; and learning to read nonfiction skeptically. 

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Advancing Literacy Practice with the Common Core

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The original post with these materials became corrupted and the links would not open. Thanks for your patience as we rebuilt the links.

On May 20th and 21st, educators moved through a new course offering—Advancing Literacy Practice with the Common Core. The course highlights myriad new content working backwards from the instructional shifts and the Evidence Guides. Participants worked through activities, explored research, and reviewed materials matched to the CCSS.  You can find the PowerPoint and all of the handouts below. (The video shared in the session is linked in the PowerPoint.)

The class will be offered several more times over the course of the summer. You can sign-up for sessions on June 17th and 18th, July 8th and 9th, and July 22nd and 23rd through the WCSD Professional Learning Café Menu (here).

Advancing Literacy Practice with the Common Core PowerPoint

6 ELA “instructional shifts” PDF

ALP Participant Notetaker Day 1

ALP Participant Notetaker Day 2

Continue reading →

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Are Your Materials Aligned to CCSS?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

A popular question is, “How do I know if the resources I am using are aligned to the Common Core?” One way to assist with finding this answer is to use the EQuIP Rubric for Lessons and Units (3rd through 5th and 6th through 12th here and K-2 here).  The rubric gives you key areas to look at including Alignment to the Depth of CCSS; Key Shifts in CCSS; Instructional Supports; and Assessment. You can watch a video overviewing the rubric here.

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May 23, 2013 CTP Session Resources

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Aaron Grossman

The last session of Core Task Project, for the 2012-2013 was completed with teachers working through the resources listed below. The CTP will continue to be offered next year with sessions scheduled for September 12th 2013, November 7th 2013, and February 13th 2014. You can sign up for these inservices classes here.

May 23rd CTP Day 2 PowerPoint

Brief Guide to Writing Text-Dependent Questions

Reflection Notetaker

Shanahan Text Complexity Notetaker

Text Complexity Qualitative Measure Rubric

Whatif Close Reading Exemplar

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