Listed below are the presentation materials shared in Educational Leadership 703 course at the University of Nevada, Reno. This was part of an effort to inform graduate students about the Common Core, the instructional shifts, and the implications for classroom practice and material development. You can download what was shared in the links below.
EL 703 PowerPoint
Instructional Shifts pdf
6=3 Shifts Crosswalk
Shifts Notetaker (Updated February 3, 2015)
We continue to add teacher created Core Knowledge materials to www.63000resources.com. Over the winter break we posted 50 documents from Monique Scott, Heather Hanifen, Emily Poertner, and DeAnna Parker ranging from graphic organizers, to flipcharts to vocabulary cards. Since break we’ve collected more from classroom teachers Ruby Burnley, Tavia Williams, Monique Scott (wow Monique), and Kelly Bruskotter. Finally, the Alice Smith kindergarten team shared their rubrics and vocabulary books. Thank you!
Admittedly, we have received so many items that the 3rd grade page is getting cluttered and finding specific documents, by domain, can be a challenge. We’ll be cleaning that up soon.
The 4th session of CTiP for Grades 3rd through 5th focused on syntax and a look at the Language Standards. The session was like the other January sessions but with a closer look at assessment items similar to those students will see on SBAC. Likewise, teachers reviewed a reading protocol and discussed if it would help students transfer literary dispositions to the new test.
PowerPoint for 3-5 can be found here
K-2/3 PowerPoint has been Updated
Teacher Reflection Form (new)
This is a belated post on the Mini Assessments (MA) we used in Session 3 or the Core Task implementation Project. The MA’s can be used to formatively gauge student growth on important literary dispositions including working with academic vocabulary; speaking, reading and writing using evidence; and attending to what a text says, how an author says it, and what it means. The MA’s were developed by Student Achievement Partners to “illustrate the shifts of the Common Core.”
3rd Grade Cactus Jam MA
3rd Grade Because of Winn Dixie MA
4th Grade Archaeology Paired Text MA
4th Grade Walk Two Moons MA
5th Grade Bubblology MA
5th Grade Marco Polo Paired Text MA
You can find more Mini Assessments here.
In a presentation titled, “What Not to do to Prepare for the Assessments,”Common Core Work Team Member Dr. Timothy Shanahan share some provocative insights into PARCC and SBAC. Among these is his claim that test preparation likely does not work. This assertion begins at minute 12:00 and continues with his contention that practicing question types (e.g. taking practice tests) has no effect on student achievement.
At minute 31:13, Shanahan addresses the focus on test preparation materials from publishers. Again, he shares the evidence that practicing question types, without a strong emphasis on the passage itself, does not boost scores.
So what does work? Jump to minute 36:39 to hear his answer. Not surprisingly, the explanation involves having students practicing reading with rich texts. This is consistent with what’s been shared by the authors of the Common Core and even one of its detractors. Shanahan is specific in also noting that you have to build stamina with longer passages (42:50) and that this can only be accomplished if its part of the instructional cycle (47:00)
Session 4 of the Core Task implementation Project (CTiP) focused on refining work with the Core Knowledge materials and a renewed effort to build understanding around syntax and the Common Core language standards. Teachers also brought student writing samples, based on implementation of the In Common resource and annotated for evidence that students were making claims, citing evidence, and when appropriate, adding reasoning.
The Core Task implementation Project includes 200 teachers from 21 elementary schools. You can read more about the effort here. You can review the session 4 materials in the links below.
Session 4 PowerPoint
Language Standards Notetaker Kindergarten
Language Standards Notetaker First
Language Standards Notetaker Second
Language Standards Notetaker Third
Language Standards Notetaker Fourth
Language Standards Notetaker Fifth
Teacher Reflection Updated (January, 2015)
In a video linked here (start at minute 38:46) Harvard Professor and Validation Team Member of the Common Core State Standards Dr. Catherine Snow makes the case that the vocabulary deficit that plagues highly impacted students is as much a content knowledge deficit. She goes on to assert that systems need to be strategic in remediating the issue by providing students access to a content rich curriculum (minute 39:59).
At minute 48:31 Dr. Snow describes the type of curricular supports teachers need to assist children with vocabulary acquisition. She is specific in noting that curriculum should be seen as a support instead of a constraint and that when curriculum is well designed, time is available to extend learning.
You can review the entire video here.
The Melton Elementary staff reviewed evidence describing why all students should be working with complex texts and rich nonfiction. This included looking at the MetaMetrics study on Lexiles and Dr. Tim Shanahan’s review of the ACT study, “Reading Between the Lines.” This was followed by an overview of Core Knowledge and how it connects to the aforementioned. You can see what was shared by downloading the PowerPoint (here) and clicking through some of the hyperlinks.
The Office of School Performance reviewed the current implementation of Core Knowledge. The 15-minute presentation focused on current supports and conditions for success. You can review the PowerPoint that was shared here.
Core Task Project 