As we begin our learning journey, I will post the information and agenda on this page. Resources and links will be listed to the side.
Session 1 -
  • The PPT presentation from Session 1 can be downloaded here. CCSS - ELA
  • We shared what we knew about the CCSS for ELA, what we hoped to learn, and questions we had. Information was shared on the overall design and organization of the standards, video on how they were developed, and assessment information.  Homework - read the introduction to the standards.
Session 2 - Click to download these notes
  • CCSS ELA Anticipation guide
  • Scavenger Hunt
  • Did You Know video - this is an older version. What would students need to know and be able to do when they graduate?
  • College and Career Readiness - Summarize each set of anchor standards
  • How may these standards affect curriculum, instruction, and assessment in our district?
  • Video - Key evidence and major shifts
Homework -
  1. Read pages 32-35 of Appendix A.  
  2. Post on the blog your leaning about the CCR Anchor Standards and questions  you may have.
  3. You may also want to view some of the Videos from the Experts - Sally Hampton videos listed to the right.
Session 3 - Click to download the vocabulary notes
  • Shared the learning and questions from vocabulary reading in Appendix A
  • Worked on the task cards for the Reading Standards
  • We will continue this work March 12.
Homework
  1. Read the text complexity section of Appendix A, pages 2-16.
  2. Post on the blog - "What are your initial reactions to the section on decline of text complexity? Explain some ideas on meeting the demands of text complexity?"


Session 4 & 5 March 26, 2012

Review – the past two sessions we have been working on the task cards for each standard section.  Each group developed a graphic organizer that summarizes the key ideas and themes that students would be expected to do or know. We analyzed these charts to see what student expectations were similar or different from now.  Implications for teaching pointed to higher order thinking and performance tasks that have students showing their knowledge and skills.

Text Complexity – What were strategies we used in reading the information
  • Stop and review at the end of each section
  • Slow and steady
  • Read it out loud
  • Repeated reading – multiple times
  • Looked up words
  • Highlighted key words – annotated
  • Took notes on another sheet of paper – put in own words
  • Making connections – think about programs we use now.  Comparing this to our own programs and what we currently do. Is there a gap somewhere
  • Asking yourself questions

Summary – text complexity includes 3 measure – quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task considerations. The Lexile levels have been adjusted to increase the reading grade band levels.  Student expectations have risen. Cathy will post tools used by Kansas State Dept. of Ed that they are using.

Vocabulary Sharing – Karen - Bringing Words to Life – Margaret McKeown
  • Huge gap with students, vocabulary stagnates.
  • Have all the slides from the PPT
  • Something we can use in the classroom
  • Suggested – use some of the trade books that would be helpful
  • Corduroy example – Lisa was reluctant – incorporate into things we do. 
  • Student friendly dictionaries.  Longman dictionary. Student share using the Longman dictionary.
  • Come up with student friendly definitions – games and activities.
  • Build scaffolding about a word – vacation – lots of questions to build schema in the brain.  Students lack this scaffolding. 
  • Build connections with the scaffolding activities.
  • Could be a bell work activity.  Tell me something you are reluctant to do. . .
  • Kinesthetic strategies – show us how you would look if . . . – have students show and talk about the words.  They can write about it.  Translate it into words.
  • Suggested continuums – pick least happy and most happy. Write about it.
  • Making sentences – students make sentences that don’t show meaning.  Coming up with sentence stems.  My cat looks so cozy when . . . For partner or group work - one comes up with the beginning stem and one comes up with the end stem.

Video – Tim Shanahan about Text Complexity
  • Agreed that we do not provide opportunities for students to struggle with complex text
  • Looking at Appendix B – compared some of the texts listed with our own knowledge of the reading. 
  • Some teachers felt this reading was much higher than the texts currently used.
  • Reinforced that the reading includes what would be done to teach social studies, science, etc.  This is not just in “reading” class.

Assignment –
  1. Finish reading appendix A
  2. Choose a video to view from the website– share thoughts and questions on the blog – make sure to have the title and author of the video.  On this page on the right frame, click on Additional Videos by David Coleman and Susan Pimentel. The page will include math videos also, but choose one about the CCSS-ELA. 
  3. Next meeting is April 2
  4. Next time – Andy will share; Dick will share the link sent. Robin to share; work on performance tasks






The original documents for the CCSS ELA standards can be downloaded from http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards.

Individual links to all ELA documents


Videos from the Experts
http://commoncore.pearsoned.com/index.cfm?locator=PS11Ye
Sally Hampton, Chair for ELA, provides short video clips to answer these specific questions.
  • How will the Common Core change instruction?
  • How will the Common Core change student expectations?
  • What are the goals of the ELA Standards?
  • How do you define rigor in ELA?
  • What would the Common Core Standards look like?
  • What are the implications of the standards in our classroom?
Additional videos from David Coleman and Susan Pimpentel.