Foundational Overview of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Facilitator Handbook
Foundational Overview of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Day 1
Professional Development
Facilitator Handbook
— SAMPLER —
Pearson School Achievement Services
Foundational Overview of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Facilitator Handbook
Published by Pearson School Achievement Services, a division of Pearson, Inc.
1900 E. Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60025
© 2011 Pearson, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 115443
Facilitator Agenda
Foundational Overview of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Section / Time / Agenda ItemsIntroduction / 5 minutes / Slides 1–3
Introduction and Welcome
Outcomes
Agenda
1: Getting to Know the CCSS for ELA / 90 minutes / Slides 4–16
Section 1 Big Questions
Activating Background Knowledge
Activity: Activating Background Knowledge
College and Career Readiness
Activity: College and Career Readiness
International Benchmarking
How do the CCSS for ELA address college and career readiness?
Activity: How do the CCSS for ELA address college and career readiness?
Terms from the CCSS for ELA
Activity: Terms from the CCSS for ELA
Goals of the CCSS for ELA
Standards Organization
Activity: Standards Organization
Revisit the Section 1 Big Questions
Break / 15 minutes
2: A Closer Look at the ELA Standards / 90 minutes / Slides 17–23
Section 2 Big Questions
How will the CCSS for ELA change instruction?
Activity: How will the Common Core change instruction for teachers?
Relationships Between the Standards
Activity: Common Threads
Activity: Relationships between the CCR Standards
Activity: Reading and Writing Genres
Activity: Literacy Development across Grade Levels
and the ELA Standards
Revisit the Section 2 Big Questions
Lunch / 30 minutes
3: Learning Tasks and Assessments / 50 minutes / Slides 24–37
Section 3 Big Questions
Content or Performance Standards
Defining Rigor
Activity: Defining Rigor
Performance Tasks
Activity: Performance Tasks Activity
Activity: Modifying and Creating Performance Tasks
Revisit the Section 3 Big Questions
Break / 15 minutes
4: Planning for Implementation / 45 minutes / Slides 38–43
Section 4 Big Questions
How will the CCSS for ELA change expectations?
Activity: How will the CCSS for ELA change expectations?
Preparing for Implementation
Activity: Preparing for Implementation
Changes for Students
Activity: Changes for Students
Creating a Plan
Activity: Creating a Plan
Revisit the Section 4 Big Questions
5: Review and Closing / 20 minutes / Slides 44–50
Section 5 Big Question
Review
Activity: Review Questions
Outcomes Review
Total / 6 hours
Content Information
On June 2, 2010, the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects were released. They were developed as a state initiative by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA), and build on an earlier effort to define College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards.
These standards were developed for three reasons. One is to provide consistency across states. A set of common standards allows for consistent and quality education across all 50 states. Secondly, they align with International Standards. In order to compete in global markets, students in the United States cannot lag behind their peers in other countries. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are benchmarked against international standards so that students can compete in a global economy. Lastly, the standards help prepare students for college and work. Colleges and universities expect students to read complex texts independently and employers look for workers who have the skill set to solve problems and the ability to integrate new knowledge. Elementary and secondary education needs to prepare students to be ready for these challenges.
The CCSS focuses on text complexity and independent reading. This is due to the gap between high school and college. There is a 250–350 Lexile gap between the average twelfth-grade material and first-year college material. High school students also received a lot of scaffolding in their reading texts yet college students are expected to read a large amount of difficult texts independently (Common Core State Standards Initiative 2010a). In addition, an ACT report (Reading between the Lines 2006) showed that out of all the students who took the ACT college admissions test, only half were ready for the reading they would encounter in college. However, the students who met the benchmark in the reading sections of the ACT are the ones who can tackle complex texts (ACT 2011).
Common Core divides the English Language Arts standards into four strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language. Within each strand are grade-specific standards. These standards define what students should understand and be able to do as they develop skills for college and career readiness. Each reading standard falls under one of the following four categories: Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, and Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity. The Common Core focuses on three types of writing: arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives. Each writing standard falls under one of the following four categories: Text Types and Purposes, Production and Distribution of Writing, Research to Build and Present Knowledge, and Range of Writing. Many of the writing standards are further broken down into substandards. The Speaking and Listening standards emphasize student accountability in listening and speaking activities. Each standard falls under either Comprehension and Collaboration or Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas. Language is the last English Language Arts strand. Language standards fall into one of three categories: Conventions of Standard English, Knowledge of Language, or Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. To learn more visit: Particularly, look at the general and ELA-specific information within the tabs titled About the Standards, FAQ, and The Standards. You may also want to visit Pearson’s CCSS Web site: Be sure to look at the FAQ videos.
SAMPLE SECTION
Section 2: A Closer Look at the ELA Standards (Slides 17–19)
Big Questions
- How do the CCSS for ELA develop across grade levels?
- How do your literacy program resources address the CCSS?
Training Objectives
- Describe the progression of the standards across grade levels.
- Identify the resources available in your literacy program to address the CCSS.
Materials per Section
- Participants’ copies of the Participant Workbook
- Participants’ copies of the CCSS for ELA
- Participants’ copies of the CCSS for ELA appendices
- Chart paper
- Bold marker
- Teacher’s Edition and or trade book (s)
Section 2 Big Questions /
- Display Section 2 Big Questions Slide #17.
- Explain to participants that in the second section of the workshop, they will discover the answers to the questions on this slide.
- How do the CCSS for ELA develop across grade levels?
- How do your literacy program resources address the CCSS?
PW: Page 13
How will the CCSS for ELA change instruction for teachers? / Display How will the CCSS for ELA change instruction for teachers? Slide #18.
- Show video clip “How will Common Core change instruction for teachers?”
PW: Page 13
Common Threads /
- Display Common Threads Slide #19.
- Reinforce that the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards that are the backbone for the CCSS and while they are written as separate standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language, there are common threads and terms that run through them.
- Model what you mean by pointing out that:
-Writing Standard 4 asks students to produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
-Speaking and Listening Standard 4 asks that students present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- Language Standard 3 asks that students apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
- While worded differently all four standards address the issue of text or language structure.
Common Thread / Standards
Text/Language Structure / CCR Reading Standard 5
CCR Writing Standard 4
CCR Speaking and Listening Standard 4
CCR Language Standard 3
Recognizing/using specific evidence / CCR Reading Standard 1
CCR Writing Standard 2
Figurative language / CCR Language Standard 5
CCR Reading Standard 4
Provide an example of your own:
- Following the discussion, have a representative from each group report out to the whole group. Record terms on a chart titled “Common Threads across the CCR Standards.” Add any important common terms to the word wall created earlier.
- Display Relationships between the CCR Anchor Standards for Reading Slide #20.
Note to Facilitator: Sample answers are provided, however, keep in mind that this activity is focusing on the Anchor Standards, not the grade-specific standards. In the next activity for this session, participants will have an opportunity to look at their grade-level specific standards
Which standard is central to comprehension?
Answer: Standard1
How might you use your program’s resources or materials to address this standard?
Answers will vary, but some possible answers might include:
Skill and strategy instruction provides students with the skills and strategies they need to use when reading closely and critically.
-Comprehension and critical thinking questions support students in reading closely. Opportunities that support student practice with these skills/strategies independently using leveled readers and response to reading activities
-Graphic organizers help students make sense of key ideas during reading.
Which standard sets the expectation for the level of complexity of proficient reading?
Answer: Standard 10 states the expectations for proficient reading of complex literary and informational text.
How might you use your program’s resources or materials to address this standard?
Answers will vary, but some possible answers might include:
-Many programs include a variety of text types.
-All students read and comprehend the on grade-level passages with scaffolded support.
-Selection contains many opportunities to read and reread the text independently, proficiently, and fluently.
-Literacy workstation activities or after-reading activities provide opportunities for students to practice these skills/strategies independently .
What do the remaining standards do?
Answer: Standards 1–10 are statements of the competencies that a reader who can comprehend complex tasks must develop.
How might you use your program resources or materials to address some of these standards?
Answers will vary, but some possible answers might include
Standard 2 – Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
-For each selection, students are asked to retell the selection using the assigned text.
-Identifying main topic or idea and supporting details is a key comprehension skill presented throughout the lessons.
Standard 3 – Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Lessons contain comprehension questions that focus on a variety of skills related to the selection content.
Students analyze text for the progression of ideas, author’s purpose, and so on.
Students follow the dialogue of characters and interpret a change of or progression of motive or traits.
Standard 4 – Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Robust vocabulary lessons as well as and writing in response to reading activities help students use context clues and other word-learning strategies to determine the meanings of unknown words and develop understanding.
Standard 5 – Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
-Teacher’s instructional resources and tools introduce a variety of genres and support instruction in the identification, analysis, and interpretation of each genre, as well as text structure.
-Students have multiple opportunities to read a variety of genres in the student anthology and leveled readers. They identify text structure and use this structure to help them understand the text they are reading.
-Standard 6 – Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Students progress from identifying the author and illustrator to identifying narrator and, in later grades, discussing purpose and point of view.
Standard 7 – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
-In early grades, students consult visuals and text in the selections to locate and interpret information about characters, events, and settings.
-In later grades, students discuss the information that can be obtained by photos and captions as compared to the text within a selection.
-Informational texts of varying formats and media are presented throughout the curriculum,
Standard 8 – Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. (only applicable to informational text)
Rigorous comprehension questions that require critical thinking ask students to identify what information is given and to locate the details that help support the point.
Standard 9 – Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Students build knowledge when they read and compare two or more texts that have comparable topics or themes but are different in other ways. /
PW: Page 14
CHART: Common Threads across the CCR Standards
PW: Page 15
© 2011 Pearson, Inc. All rights reserved. 1