Common Core ELA
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Teaching 7th and 8th Graders to Paraphrase - Step 1 | Running on Fumes

Teaching 7th and 8th Graders to Paraphrase - Step 1 | Running on Fumes | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
The first step in teaching your junior high / middle school students to paraphrase text is to learn what is plagiarism and what is paraphrasing.

Via TeachingEnglish, Jim Lerman
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

The highlighters make the point! 

Catalina Oyarzún Albarracín's comment, July 23, 2013 1:51 PM
excellent,thank you.
Hands on information, lessons plans, creative ideas for implementing CCSS/ELA.
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10 Ways to Teach Argument-Writing With The New York Times

10 Ways to Teach Argument-Writing With The New York Times | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Free webinar with Nicholas Kristof on Oct. 10. Will be archived after the live session.

 

"How can writing change people’s understanding of the world? How can it influence public opinion? How can it lead to meaningful action?

In this post, which accompanies our Oct. 10 webinar, Write to Change the World: Crafting Persuasive Pieces With Help from Nicholas Kristof and the Times Op-Ed Page, we round up the best pieces we’ve published over the years about how to use the riches of The Times’s Opinion section to teach and learn.

We’ve sorted the ideas — many of them from teachers — into two sections. The first helps students do close-readings of editorials and Op-Eds, as well as Times Op-Docs, Op-Art and editorial cartoons. The second suggests ways for students to discover their own voices on the issues they care about. We believe they, too, can “write to change the world.”

Join our webinar (live on Oct. 10 or on-demand after) to learn more, and let us know in the comments how you teach these important skills."


Via Jim Lerman
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

There's so much here for teachers to explore! 

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To Boost Higher-Order Thinking, Try Curation

To Boost Higher-Order Thinking, Try Curation | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Jennifer Gonzalez writes: "In an educational setting, curation has a ton of potential as an academic task. Sure, we’re used to assigning research projects, where students have to gather resources, pull out information, and synthesize that information into a cohesive piece of informational or argumentative writing. This kind of work is challenging and important, and it should remain as a core assignment throughout school, but how often do we make the collection of resources itself a stand-alone assignment?"

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Jennifer shares great ideas for using curation--with student writing! Instead of an annotated bibliography, have students use elink to create a more visually appealing curated list of resources. 

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The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet 

The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet  | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
We'd like to share this critical thinking skills cheatsheet for you to use with your students. Get them asking questions on any topic!
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Print a free copy of this cheatsheet for your classroom or library and get students thinking!

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Picture Prompts for Quick Writing from The New York Times

Picture Prompts for Quick Writing from The New York Times | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Images with writing prompts from The New York Times. 

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Have students analyze photos then read the accompanying articles. These would also be great for debate, too!

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Pairing novels with informational text

Pairing novels with informational text | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
A short promotion of titles in our library that would provide informational text to supplement literature units.
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

These are only a few ideas for pairing nonfiction with core novels. Check with your library staff to get more suggestions!

Mary Reilley Clark's curator insight, July 25, 2016 6:53 PM

How are you promoting your library to classroom teachers? Are they aware of all the ways the library can ease their pain? Making short Powtoon videos works for staff as well as students. 

Jan MacWatters's curator insight, July 26, 2016 12:11 PM

Good idea to get kids to read fiction and compare it to non-fiction.

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Jen Roberts' Classroom Charts

Jen Roberts' Classroom Charts | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Check out Jen Roberts amazing blog of yes, classroom charts! She has generously shared her work here, so if you use anything, it would be lovely to let her know! She's on Twitter: @JenRoberts1 

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Sharing this with our ELA teachers!

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3 Ways to Build Students’ Word Consciousness

3 Ways to Build Students’ Word Consciousness | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Abi Frost writes:  "Most teachers I know have a deep interest in words and academic language.  That’s probably why many of us became teachers— so we could expand and deepen students’ vocabularies and in turn make them stronger readers, writers, speakers and thinkers.  Right?  Unfortunately, most teenagers are not inherently 'word nerds' like we are."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Great article to share with teachers. These suggestions work for every subject, too!

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The Crayons Are Coming Home....And You Can Create Your Very Own Too!

The Crayons Are Coming Home....And You Can Create Your Very Own Too! | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Shannon McClintock Miller writes: "One of my all time favorite books is The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  It is the cutest little story about a box of Crayons....and the illustrations by Drew Daywalt make them all come to life. "

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Shannon mentions some great lesson plan ideas. I wanted to share because this is a perfect book to show teachers how using picture books can meet a variety of Common Core ELA standards:


  • Reading Anchor Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Depending on the grade level, students could compare and contrast characters, show how characters changed over the course of the text, describe how characters respond to events and challenges.
  • Writing Anchor Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. Students could write narratives for the crayons, using two unique events not in the book, write a readers' theater text creating a new experience for the characters, or write about the crayons in a genre to build a different tone or outcome (I think  juniors and seniors would love this! Imagine the crayons in space with limited access to a sharpener, or a suspenseful narrative describing the crayons' feelings as one after another crayon disappears.)
  • Writing Anchor Standard 6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. Why not have students write a progressive story with students in another classroom, whether it's across the hall or the country? 
Oh, you need students to write about informational text? Again, a picture book can be an excellent jumping off point for short or extended research projects. How are crayons made? Are there regional or national differences in crayon color popularity? Just how safe are the crayons sold in the US or other countries? Let your students brainstorm the research topics. 
I'll be creating picture book lists for my teachers to use to introduce a variety of units. Looks like I found my next Donors Choose grant focus!
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Poetry and Social Justice, by Sylvia M. Vardell | Booklist Online

Poetry and Social Justice, by Sylvia M.  Vardell | Booklist Online | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Sylvia Vardell writes: "It’s been 50 years since the signing of the Civil Rights Act, in 1964, when discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin became against the law. It may be difficult for children today to imagine a world in which such discrimination was a common practice, but it is important that we recognize the ongoing effects of such prejudice and pause to celebrate the progress the U.S. has made as a nation. That’s where literature can be especially powerful in capturing the pain of the past, the ongoing fight for justice, and our hopes for the future."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This would be a great introduction to a cross-curricular lesson! CCSS are included at the end, for those who are still worried that they can't teach poetry and literature:)

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In Search of Shakespeare: Comparing Film Adaptations

In Search of Shakespeare: Comparing Film Adaptations | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

"The late twentieth century marked a resurgence of Shakespeare on film. Directors and actors with styles as diverse as Kenneth Branagh, Baz Luhrmann and Mel Gibson strove to popularize "Hamlet" on the big screen, and students became used to seeing adaptations of Shakespeare arrive at their local Cineplex. The tradition in teaching has been to review the play by showing the entire movie. Viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions offers students the opportunity to engage in close critical analysis and to compare interpretations and visual styles. This technique also inspires students to value and create their own interpretations of Shakespeare. Though this lesson deals specifically with Hamlet and its themes, many of the strategies and approaches here may be used with most any of Shakespeare's plays that have been adapted to film." 

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Our 8th grade ELA classes read A Midsummer Night's Dream. This lesson would work perfectly!

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5 Ways to Keep Creativity Alive in Your Common Core English Class | Edudemic

5 Ways to Keep Creativity Alive in Your Common Core English Class | Edudemic | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Amanda Ronan writes: "The Common Core State Standards do not have to mean the death of creative work produced by your students. If anything, the emphasis on textual analysis gives you more reason to explore interesting and creative ways for students to engage with texts. "

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Very useful ideas that teachers can easily implement. Amanda's two points for making the CCSS connection obvious would be a great help to teachers doing creative work, yet worried about administrators' evaluations.

Mary Reilley Clark's curator insight, January 22, 2015 11:36 AM

Very useful ideas that teachers can easily implement. Amanda's two points for making the CCSS connection obvious would be a great help to teachers doing creative work, yet worried about administrators' evaluations.

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News of the World, At Every Level

Annie Murphy Paul writes: 


“A man who traveled from Liberia to visit family members in Texas tested positive for Ebola on Tuesday, marking the outbreak’s first diagnosis outside of Africa, health officials said.”

That’s a pretty standard lead-in for a news story, pitched at the level of a newspaper-reading adult. But it’s a long, rather complex sentence, and a younger reader would likely find it easier to digest if it were broken into two parts. The lead would then start off: “A man who traveled from Liberia to visit family members in Texas tested positive for Ebola on Tuesday.”

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

In this short blog post, Annie Murphy Paul manages to give a great overview of the leveled reading approach of Newsela, address the tie-in with Common Core, and summarize the arguments of proponents and critics of leveled reading. (Yes, there's a reason it's called The Brilliant Blog, folks!)


My only concern with Newsela is that teachers will use it as a "Common Core-aligned" fill-in for AR, assigning articles and grading students on their quiz scores.


Our school has a subscription, and thankfully most teachers are using it in more creative and truly educational ways. Yesterday a class I was working with in the library received instruction on finishing Newsela assignments.  I was thrilled to hear the teacher explain that while she needed to see their quiz scores, their grades were not based on the scores, but on the megacognitive reflection students wrote about those scores.  (Newsela quizzes are labeled by anchor standard, and quiz results show specific reading standards aligned with questions. Students can clearly see their strengths and weaknesses in certain areas, such as determining central idea, or word meaning and choice.) That kind of reflection is where learning can truly take place!

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S'more about Text Complexity

S'more about Text Complexity | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Via Tiffany Whitehead
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Tracy Watanabe shares lots of great tools here!

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Guess My Lexile

Guess My Lexile | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
Donalyn Miller writes: "I have no issue with assessing students' reading levels and identifying text complexity. As a teacher, I find such information helpful when determining my students' reading ability and what books might fit them. What concerns me is that in many situations, Lexile measures become the sole factor in book selection and recommendation.

While identifying readability can be useful when evaluating textbooks, guided reading texts, or other teaching materials, selecting books for classroom instruction and recommending books for independent reading are two different processes."
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How To Combine Text And Image In eLearning Design

How To Combine Text And Image In eLearning Design | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Connie Malamed writes: "In visual art and graphic design, a composition is the arrangement of visual elements into one cohesive whole. In eLearning and presentation design, every slide can be seen as a composition. The way that you combine text and image (including shapes) in a slide affects the message you convey and the visual appeal of the material."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Students need exposure to graphic design techniques to address many of the CCSS. Under the speaking and listening standards, students in middle school must introduce multimedia components to "clarify information," "emphasize salient points," or "add interest," depending on the grade level. Connie gives great information here for students to create more visually appealing graphics.

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Strategies to Help Students ‘Go Deep’ When Reading Digitally

Strategies to Help Students ‘Go Deep’ When Reading Digitally | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Katrina Schwartz writes: "

Students are doing more reading on digital devices than they ever have before. Not only are many teachers using tablets and computers for classroom instruction, but many state tests are now administered on computers, adding incentive for teachers to teach digital reading strategies. But casual digital reading on the internet has instilled bad habits in many students, making it difficult for them to engage deeply with digital text in the same way they do when reading materials printed on paper."

 

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

There are some great suggestions here to get students engaged in digital text. In fact, if teachers were given time to develop these, districts could save money on all that Common Core-aligned material they pilot and purchase!

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6 Cool Inquiry Lesson Ideas Based on Popular Movies

6 Cool Inquiry Lesson Ideas Based on Popular Movies | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
If you love the movies and inquiry-based learning, why not stack them together? Explore using these inquiry lesson ideas for learning students will love!
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

These are also great suggestions for school-wide essential questions. Anchor standards 1, 7, 8 and 9 for writing.

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Technology for Teachers and Librarians: History, Hamilton and Hip-Hop

Technology for Teachers and Librarians: History, Hamilton and Hip-Hop | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Image via people.com

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I, too, have been listening to Hamilton for the last several weeks. You've already done the Facebook pages for historical figures project (and frankly, very few of the middle and high school students I know are even on Facebook, so it's as dated a project to them as the traditional poster.) Jen Shafer suggests challenging students to a spoken word poem, a rap, or even a poetry jam for historical figures. I know it's not for everyone--I would have frozen in fear at the thought when I was an 8th grader--but it just might spark an interest in some students!

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The Importance of Real Reading for Resistant Readers

The Importance of Real Reading for Resistant Readers | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
Meaghan Hanrahan Dobson, an English teacher at an alternative high school, says schools do a disservice to struggling students by denying them opportunities for authentic reading experiences.
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Read. Read what you like. Read a magazine, a graphic novel, a newspaper, a blog. Just read. Then read some more. How can this so difficult? Let's stop with the assigned texts and help disconnected or struggling readers  find something that interests them. Get them reading, and figure out the rubrics, tests, etc. later. Just read.

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An Argument Writing Unit: Crafting Student Editorials 

An Argument Writing Unit: Crafting Student Editorials  | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
In this unit plan, an eighth-grade English teacher pushes her students to think deeply about what makes a good argument through an analysis of logos, pathos and ethos before conducting their own research and constructing their own editorial position.
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Whether your students participate in the contest or not, this is an excellent lesson for writing arguments. 

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8 Strategies to Keep Informational Reading Fun

8 Strategies to Keep Informational Reading Fun | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

John Spencer writes:  "

We are naturally inclined to find information fascinating -- to the point that we have to share it out to the world. Nobody on Facebook is getting a grade for it. They're sharing an article because they found it relevant.

As a classroom teacher, I want to see that same level of excitement as students engage with informational texts.

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

John shares some great strategies here. I like the idea of having students review the standards before reading to identify their areas of mastery and areas they need to improve. Several of our teachers ask students to focus on meta-cognition, to recognize how they learn, and this strategy would work well with that.



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Close Reading Resources from Commonlit

Close Reading Resources from Commonlit | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
COMMONLIT is a collection of poems, short stories, news articles, historical documents, and literature for classrooms.
  • 1 Choose a theme
  • 2 Choose a discussion question
  • 3 Choose a text
  •  Ready for Tomorrow!
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This looks like a promising site for teachers looking for more informational text to read and discuss in class. Right now the selections are a bit thin, but I'm assuming they are adding more in the future.

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Common Core Reading Resource: Smithsonian Tween Tribune

Common Core Reading Resource: Smithsonian Tween Tribune | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Catlin Tucker writes: "I’m always on the look out for great resources to support reading. While leading a training in Alaska this weekend, a participant mentioned The Smithsonian Tween (& Teen) Tribune. This free resource is a great place to grab informational and nonfiction texts written at various Lexile levels to support a wide range of reading abilities."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This looks a lot like the free version of Newsela. Teachers might like another source for interesting informational text. 

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3 Go-To Close Reading Strategies

3 Go-To Close Reading Strategies | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it

Abi Frost writes: "With the shift to Common Core State Standards, there has been lots of talk of “close reading.”  As a reading specialist, my responsibility is to help my students reach toward grade level with their reading skills, which most certainly involves having them read texts closely. But, what does close reading look like? And how do you get a reluctant and struggling adolescent reader to read the same text more than once and pay close attention to the details?  It is quite a challenge, but these go-to strategies have helped me enable my students, across grades 7-12, uncover the multiple meanings of text."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Some excellent strategies to share. These would be especially useful to subject area teachers who must add literacy strategies to their classroom teaching.  I love the first example of illustrating short excerpts. It's clear from the example that the student needed to read the excerpt again. By showing him the painting, he had a concrete example of how close reading matters.

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Dave Stuart Jr. on Using Article of the Week

Dave Stuart Jr. on Using Article of the Week | Common Core ELA | Scoop.it
Dave gives a great explanation of how to use Kelly Gallagher's Article of the Week assignment. This is an area where librarians can support teachers--help find articles, recommend Newsela, etc. Key features I liked from Dave's approach:

~Mark your confusion. Showing students that figuring out what they don't know or understand is key to eventual comprehension. It helps to model this, too:)

~ Annotate. Here's your proof of close reading. And annotate means commenting, not smily faces or excl...
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I love everything Dave Stuart writes about the Common Core! So sensible, so immediately useful, and so non-freaked out:)

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