Welcome to the second installment of wrapping our heads around the Common Core State Standards. I'm going to aim binoculars at the English Language Arts - ELA- standards this week.
Below are the 6 ELA standard strands and a few examples of what fall under each. A key factor in Common Core State Standards is added academic rigor for the students. Please know, my scant examples do not do the complexity of each strand justice.
If you are itching for more detail - you can go to your state's Department of Education website and they will have a Common Core Standards link with a plethora of information.
And now - English Language Arts...
Reading Literature
Structure of literary forms (fiction, drama, poetry), figurative language, themes, tone, author's purpose, comprehension, inferencing, quoting accurately from a source
Reading Informational Text
Structure of non-fiction texts, comparing sources across media for relevancy, extracting information, judging with criteria, proving with evidence, comprehension, drawing conclusions, citation of resources
Speaking and Listening
Oral presentations, cooperative group strategies such as negotiation and task completion, academic conversations (I will be focusing on these in a future post)
Writing
Application of learning from both Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text standards, purposes for writing, writing across forms such as narrative/informational/opinion pieces, use of multi-media to express ideas and information
Language
Conventions of language, grammar, punctuation, parts of speech, etc.
Reading Foundational Skills
Phonics, decoding, syllabication, morphology
BUT WHERE ARE SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND TECHNOLOGY?
In grade K-5, they are embedded within the ELA strands.
This weeks video is a quick overview of the purpose and benefits of national standards. And the doodler in me loves the graphic style of the presentation.
Common Core Link of the Week: Engage NY - Shifts for Students and Parents
This is the link I share with the parents in my class. Don't be put off by the length of the PDF. Each slide is a mini-poster of info. not a barrage of headache-inducing verbiage.
Question from last week:
Are standardized tests going away?
The style of the test is changing. It will be online and include both individual and group tasks/assessments. I will focus on this topic in a future post.
Next week: Common Core Math Standards and Practices
