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Common Core Reading: Difficult, Dahl, Repeat
The last in our four-part series on reading in the Common Core era.
All week we've been reporting on big changes in reading instruction brought on by the Common Core State Standards: a doubling-down on evidence-based reading, writing and speaking; increased use of nonfiction; and a big push to get kids reading more "complex texts."
Whatever you think of these shifts, they're meaningless ideas without a classroom and kids to make sense of them. That's today's story, as we round out our series on reading in the Core era. -
Common Core Reading: The Struggle Over Struggle
The third in our four-part series on reading in the Common Core era.
Every set of academic standards has a soul.
Yes, a soul. It's made of varied stuff: part research, part practice, part conviction of its authors.
To find the soul, follow the words that turn up again and again in the winding backwaters and byways of the standards themselves.
A search of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards turns up one remarkable word 105 times. It is "complex" (or "complexity"). -
Common Core Reading: The High Achievers
Part 2 in a four-part series on reading in the Common Core era.
Linnea Wolters was prepared to hate the Common Core State Standards.
She taught fifth grade at a low-income school in Reno, Nev., where, she says, there was always some new plan to improve things. And none of it added up to good education. But, after leading her class through a Core-aligned lesson — a close reading of Emma Lazarus' sonnet "The New Colossus" — she was intrigued, especially by the way different students reacted to the process. -
Common Core Reading: 'The New Colossus'
Part 1 in a four-part series on reading in the Common Core era.
The Common Core State Standards are changing what many kids read in school. They're standards, sure — not curriculum. Teachers and districts still have great latitude when it comes to the "how" of reading instruction, but... -
Banned Books Week: the 10 most challenged books every year since 2000
You might not think a best-selling book for kids called “Captain Underpants” would be terribly objectionable, but, as it turns out, it tops the 2013 list of books most challenged in schools and libraries in 2013. Why? Reasons cited by challengers: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence.
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Federal Bureaucrats Declare 'Hunger Games' More Complex Than 'The Grapes of Wrath'
This article explains why lexile scores might not be the best way to determine the appropriateness of the material students are reading in English class.
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Teacher Ken Sider’s not-to-miss perspective on classroom modules
If you attended open house, you may have heard me talk about the modules that we are teaching from this year. These are paid for by NYS and are a created by an education company called Expeditionary Learning. While there are some great materials and resources embedded in the modules, some of the material can be very difficult and ver taxing on the students and the classroom teacher. This is one teacher's take on what is happening to kids in a 3rd grade class.
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About Those New State Exams; Question for a Testing Expert
Daniel Koretz served on a technical committee advising New York State on its new exams. He is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education (Tom Kates/Harvard Graduate School of Education). This is his reaction to the issues people have brought up with the new Common Core State Assessments.
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New York Legislature to Reconsider Testing, Common Core
This article, out of The Heartland, explains some of the issues people are having with the Common Core State Standards, Student Privacy, and other educational initiatives.
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Why Finland's Public Schools Are So Successful
An Audio Story on why Finland's Public School System and why their students are thriving.
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Six Ways the Arts Help to Prepare Kids to Succeed in Life
This article outlines how the arts; reading, music, theater, dance, etc, help kids to get ready for the challenges life has waiting for them post-high school.
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High Marks for Standardized Tests
This article claims that standardized tests are good measures of student success in school, and a good indicator of what type of college student and employee they will be. You be the judge!
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What Big Drop in New Standardized Test Scores Really Means
This article out of the Washington Post, by Valerie Strauss - with information by Carol Burris, highlights a few conflicting ideas about the release of student scores and the student's progress in their education.
