[Update from Dave: my all-day literacy workshop for 6-12 teachers across the content areas includes a solid segment on getting kids speaking and listening in a way that increases their long-term success and improves their mastery of content. Read more about that workshop here. I’d love to come to your school.] Prior to the Common […]
If there is one way that you can begin implementing the writing and speaking/listening portions of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in a simplified, manageable, high bang-for-your-buck fashion, it’s simply this: have students argue. Frequently. Whether you teach science, social studies, technical subjects, ELA, even math, argument is a dependable path to enlivening your […]
Update from Dave: Welcome to one of the most popular posts on the blog. This post is kind of old and doesn’t reflect my latest thinking, so let me point you toward some more recent things I’ve written in case you’re curious: An Obituary for Close Reading Moving Forward with Close Reading Purposeful Annotation: A […]
Recently, I posted an overview of the non-freaked out approach to the Common Core that I’ve been experimenting with in my ninth grade world history and comp/lit (ELA) classes during the last year and a half or so. In this post (Part 2), I’m going to dive into the what, why, and how of getting […]
When I set out in June 2012 to blog through the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), I was, as long-time readers know, a diehard standards avoider. To me, standards were nothing more than codified wish lists created by committees. They were useful for getting good grades on School of Ed lesson plans, and that was […]
One search term that seems to regularly bring folks to the Teaching the Core blog is “speaking and listening rubrics for Common Core State Standards.” Up to this point, those good-hearted yet unfortunate rube-seekers haven’t found what they were looking for here. In the words of William Wallace’s Uncle Argyle, “That is something we shall […]
During the last two weeks, I’ve had time to enjoy my beautiful ladies (my wife and our two-year-old and six-month-old), visit with family, reconnect with friends, rest my mind, and reflect on the year to come. I am certainly thankful for the holiday break that our profession affords us. And from that gratitude flows a […]
In case you haven’t heard, the moment all of us social studies teachers have been curiously looking forward to — the release of national social studies content standards — has come. Or not. At this month’s National Council of Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, where the national standards were expected to be unveiled, social studies gurus […]