Sandra W.
CCSS and ELA
I am currently a TA working in special education and am almost finished with my special
education degree along with a dual certification in English. I work in many inclusion English
classes and intensive reading classes within a secondary school on Long Island. I also work in
inclusion Social Studies classes. Literacy standards are evident in both of these academic
areas.
I am in the unique position of viewing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
movement before it came into play, while it was rolled out and as it is currently. It was
interesting reading the assigned book because it was written in 2011; very close after the
CCSS were put into place. I always wondered who actually was involved in developing the
standards, which was explained nicely by Kendall (2011). I was surprised at how much
involvement outside companies and industries had in developing the standards but can see
why they wanted a hand at directing learning standards towards college and career
readiness.
Kendall describes how the standards came into being and how important they are
because before CCSS, teachers taught what they wanted to teach. There were problems going
from one grade to another or from one school to another because of the lack of cohesion of
learning targets (Kendall, 2011). I definitely agree with this goal of the standards because
standards are necessary to promote a unified vision of what needs to be addressed during
instruction with the goal of increasing student achievement.
Ironically, in the section of the book entitled “Benefits and Concerns” one of the benefits
of the CCSS listed is “A Manageable Number of Standards” (Kendall, 2011, p.29). I have
to disagree with this statement because for the ELA strand alone there are almost 40
standards broken up into reading, writing, speaking-listening and language. In fact, there are
16 pages of all the standard for grades 9-12 in the ELA standards. It is too voluminous and
detailed for my taste. It is actually confusing to read all of them and some of them repeat
themselves over and over. I believe this is why they are revising them again to combine
information texts and literature standards together. I believe the CCSS are too detailed and
need to leave teachers with a little more breathing room as to how to meet the core
standards. Bottom line, though, is that a common set of standards for the country as a whole
is important to promote the best educational outcomes for students today.
Kendall, John S. Understanding Common Core State Standards. ASCD Publications, 2011.
Sara P.
Standards and Literacy Across the Content Areas
The grade level I am working with is kindergarten. The content area of literacy in
kindergarten lays the foundation for phonics and early literacy development. The standards
are aligned to prepare scholars in a progression to succeed in their literacy
development. When reading the standards there were many things I flagged as being
important. I paid specific attention to the sub topics. Specifically key ideas and details, craft
and structure, integrations of knowledge and ideas, and the lastly range of reading and level
of text complexity. These sub topics apply to each different set of the reading
standards. Literacy Standards are broken down into reading literature standards, reading
informational text standards, foundational skills, writing, speaking and listening standards,
and language standards.
I specifically drew my attention to the foundational skills. These foundational skills are
key to master in order to progress in ones literacy development. The print concepts are key
when learning how to read. An example of this is the following: CCSS.ELALITERACY.RF.K.1.A: Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by
page. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.C: Understand that words are separated by spaces in
print. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.D: Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters
of the alphabet. These standards are a necessity to master in order to grow in literacy
development. The phonological awareness piece is also important. It is important that
scholars master these standards. It truly lays the foundation for their literacy development.
The reading addresses the standards as being. “One size fits all.” In kindergarten I agree
with that to an extent. The foundational skills are key to master. As an educator, I use the
standards as a checklist to see what my scholars know and do not know. This allows me to
form small groups and really dive in to unknown content and standards. Acknowledging that
every scholar learns differently is also key. It is important to use standards as a baseline.
Modifications can then be made in order to meet scholar’s needs. I often use standards as
individual reading goals for scholars. I stongly believein using the standards as a baseline, and
from there spiral up or down the curriculum to meet thier learning needs.
My thoughts and perceptions didn’t necessarily change, I did find myself making
comparisons to grade levels I have previously taught. One particular grade level I compared
was kindergarten to second grade. I thought about the gap and the progression that needs to
take place in order for second grade scholars need to grow in their literacy development, and
to be on grade level. It was very interesting to me and really made me see how important the
standards are. I also allowed me to see how important it is that the literacy curriculum and
interventions are aligned with the common core standards. Following the standards closely
will allow one to see how the standards link together and follow a progression. It allows one
to see where they scholars are now and where they will end up in the future.
Kendall, John S. Understanding Common Core State Standards. ASCD Publications, 2011.
English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Foundational Skills » Kindergarten. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/K/
Andrea K.
CCLS
The program I am in is for my special education certification 7-12 so I do not have a content area. I am a
1:1 paraprofessional who goes with their student to every class. My student has double period of math and
ELA, one period of social studies and science and Drama as his elective. My strong subject is math.
One part stuck out to me which was the “One size Fits all.” When I read about the standards and when I
see them implemented, I always think about the students I work with who are on reading levels two or
three levels below their age. Will they be able to handle the increased rigor along with a scripted approach
to teaching and learning. Common Core standards are set in place to prepare our students for college
which in turn prepares them for their career. “ Student’s must be able to recognize their future in the
standards they master, especially when those standards are challenging” (Kendall, 2011). How can my
students do this when they are struggling to read the passage given that was picked because of the
standard needed for their grade level? Teachers, of course, modify the lessons and implement
accommodations for our students but this allows comes with the teachers feeling worried because they are
behind the schedule. The Common Core isn’t necessarily the culprit for the students not being able to
keep up with the standards but rather the way the standards are being interpreted in the state-approved
curriculum. Don’t get me wrong, all students should be challenged, it’s important for them to get their
brain going but sometimes it’s just too challenging and our students are struggling.
I do understand that CCLS gives the teachers a guideline for teaching and I do understand it allows for the
students to have goals, I just think sometimes, and for some students, these goals are out of reach, well at
least for now. These standards are grade level but not all students are on their grade level. So, now what?
Also, are these standards definitely preparing our students for the work place? Kendall states that “during
the last several years, research has shown the increasing amount of remediation required to bring
postsecondary students up to mastery, and businesses have complained about high school graduates’ lack
of preparedness for the work world.” (p. 27) Isn’t this something to look into? This is not a good statement
and should be taken seriously.
Kendall, John S. Understanding Common Core State Standards. ASCD Publications, 2011.
Ariel T.
NCTM and Literacy
For those I am meeting for the first time through this class, I teach Algebra I for a
BOCES alternative education program. As NYS is moving away from CCLS to Next
Generation, I closely follow the National Council of the Teachers of Math
standards. These standards are very similar to both CCLS and Next Gen standards,
but I feel are more clear in intent and purpose.
NCTM contains the same content standards as CCLS, covering number operations,
algebra, geometry, stats and data, and measurements. These are not specific
necessarily to grade and encompass all content standards addressed in K-12 math
classes. NCTM also includes process standards, which focus on problem solving,
reasoning and proof, communication, connection, and representation. I use problem
solving frequently as a tool to engage student learning and create a meaningful
connection to the content. " By solving mathematical problems, students acquire ways
of thinking, habits of persistence and curiosity, and confidence in unfamiliar situations
that serve them well outside the mathematics classroom. " My activities also require a
lot of communicating mathematically, where students are given many opportunities to
organize their thoughts and understanding of various concepts, either verbally or
written.
Last semester, I struggled with a lot of the initial assignments due to a lack of my own
connections between literacy and math. For students to be successful in algebra, there
is a lot of vocabulary they need to not only know, but understand. Therein lies a lot of
literacy work, where students must be able to not only read the words on the page, but
understand the meaning behind them and be able to decode what the question or
problem may be asking. If students struggle with literacy, problem solving activities that
require a fair amount of reading, along with being able to communicate an answer, will
also be a struggle. " Through communication, ideas become objects of reflection,
refinement, discussion, and amendment. When students are challenged to
communicate the results of their thinking to others orally or in writing, they learn to be
clear, convincing, and precise in their use of mathematical language. " Students that
struggle with literacy will struggle with these standards and expectations. I have already
become more efficient (in my opinion) in introducing, implementing, and practicing
vocabulary into class time, mainly through our vocabulary cards. This gives students
the tools they need to be successful in the NCTM standards.
https://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Standards_and_Positions/PSSM_ExecutiveSumma
ry.pdf
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