Our transition to the Common Core State Standards will impact every aspect of how we approach teaching and learning.

Follow the link below to view a 14 minute video that provides an overview of the ELA/Literacy standards and the key shifts. Contributing author, David Coleman, John King, Education Commissioner for the state of New York, and Kate Gerson, a Sr. Fellow with the NY Regents Researcy Fund discuss the background of the standards, the principles and of their development, and the changes required of schools during the transition. Though this conversation is about the tranistion in the state of New York, the issues discussed are relevant for all states transitioning to the Common Core State Standards.

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-an-overview/

There are six shifts that the Common Core requires of us if we are to truly align instructional practices to embody the spirit of these standards. These key shifts are explained briefly below. Following each description is a link to a short video featuring David Coleman, contributing author, discussing the implications for teaching and learning with John King, Education Commissioner of New York, and Kate Gerson, Sr. Fellow with the NY Regents Research Fund.

Shift #1: K-5 Balancing Informational Text and Literature

Students read a true balance of informational and literary texts. Elementary school classrooms are places where students access the world - science, social studies, the arts and literature - through text. At least 50% of what students read is informational. (Video - 10 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-1-pk-5-balancing-informational-text-and-literature/

Shift#2: 6-12, Knowledge in the Disciplines

Content area teachers outside of the ELA classroom emphasize literacy experiences in their planning and instruction. Students learn through domain-specific texts in science and social studies classrooms - rather than referring to the text, they are expected to learn from what they read ... and write. (Video - 8 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-2-6-12-building-knowledge-in-the-disciplines/

Shift#3: Staircase of Complexity

In order to prepare students for the complexity of college and career ready texts, each grade level requires a "step" of growth on the "staircase". Students read the central, grade appropriate text around which instruction is centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space in the curriculum for this close and careful reading, and provide appropriate and necessary scaffolding and supports so that it is possible for students reading below grade level. (Video - 15 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-3-staircase-of-complexity/

Shift#4: Text-based Answers

Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on a common text. Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply connected to the text on the page and that students develop habits for making evidentiary arguments both in conversation, as well as in writing to assess comprehension of a text. (Video - 11 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-4-text-based-answers/

Shift#5: Writing from Sources

Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument rather than the personal narrative and other forms of decontextualized prompts. While narrative still has a role, students develop skills through written arguements that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented in the texts they read. (Video - 12 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-5-writing-from-sources/

Shift#6: Academic Vocabulary

Students constantly build vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts by focusing strategically on comprehension of pivotal and commonly found words that are used across many disciplines. Isabell Beck defines these as "Tier 2" words. They play a large role in a language user's repertoire. A rich knowledge of words in the second tier can have a powerful impact on students' ability to access more complex texts across content areas. (Video - 6 minutes)

http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-6-academic-vocabulary/

The Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects are accompanied by three appendices which contain valuable information.

Appendices A, B, and C

Appendix A contains supplementary material including the research supporting key elements of the standards and a glossary of key terms.

Appendix B includes text exemplars illustrating the complexity, quality, and range of reading appropriate for K -12 with accompanying sample performance tasks.

Appendix C includes annotated samples demonstrating at least adequate performance in student writing for K -12.

Compilations of information from Appendices A, B, and C for specific grade spans are also available. Each document contains information about text complexity, text exemplars, performance task samples and student writing samples for a specific grade span.

The CCSS for ELA require that students in grades K through 12 read and understand high quality and increasingly more complex text. Appendix B provides text samples that exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. The choices are useful in helping teachers select appropriate texts, but teachers also need to be able to determine the level of complexity of other texts.

The following resources include:

• a module designed to help participants understand the reasoning and importance of the Common Core State Standards' shift to increase the complexity of texts utilized in K-12 classrooms in order to prepare students for college and career readiness
• a protocol to help determine the text complexity grade bands for selecting texts for instructional purposes
• a protocol for determining the text complexity of texts that are currently being used in classrooms These materials can be effectively used by groups of grade level/course teachers during a common planning session.