The Spotlight Still Shines on the CCSS

Today's post is brought to you by Heather Zimmerman.

The Common Core State Standards are a hot topic.  They were when they were introduced.  Then resources starting flooding the market with ideas and lessons tied to the CCSS.  Now they are are in the  spotlight because of the debate if these standards should be used.

In my district, teachers have spent a lot of time diving into the standards.  I have been apart of teams with the literacy teachers in my district, and we have spent quite a bit of time unpacking the standards to explore and understand them.  These learning goals have a focus in all areas of literacy that encourage teachers to plan for different aspects than just the reading and writing component. 

The standards are a bar to reach for, and teachers should not only reach for the bar, but continue to raise that bar.  

Here are some resources teachers have shared with me that they turn to:

• Checklist for standards-  Teachers shared they enjoyed this site as they started to use the Common Core State Standards.  Then they could check off the standards as they use them throughout the year to ensure they were giving enough time to each standard. http://www.englishteachersfriend.com/common-core.html

• Curriculum ideas by standard-  This gives lesson plan ideas for each standard. http://curriculum.psd.ms/curriculum/6/reading-language/teachers/RSIT.html. For all grade levels start here- http://curriculum.psd.ms/curriculum/

• Informational articles- This provides article options, in addition to Gallagher’s articles of the week.  These articles are in a close reading format. 
• http://vms.vale.k12.or.us/articles-week
• http://kellygallagher.org/resources/articles.html (Just in case you have not been to Gallagher’s site.)

The discussions that happen with the learning process in understanding the Common Core State standards highlights different interesting topics.  I just had a conversation with a few coaches and a teacher analyzing RI.7 and the progression sixth to eighth grade.  There was a debate at the seventh grade level if the text had to the be exact same as the medium portrayal.  This discussions about analyzing different mediums and how that can be done was intriguing.  

I also recently was reading a section in Notice and Note by Kyleene Beers and Robert E. Probst.  I really enjoyed the discussion about text-based questions.  Beers and Probst point out that the standards are focused on this form of question.  They shared a bit of history regarding this area in education and highlighted the importance of focusing not only on the text, but the reader too.  

The spotlight will continue to shine on these standards for awhile.  I think it is is important to keep in my mind these standards are goals.  With all goals, the process can be messy sometimes.  But learning is always messy.  You keep the goal in mind though and always aim for the bar.  And once you hit the bar, you can raise the bar.