Wow, this year has flown by. Last Friday, I walked out of my school for the last time this school year. (This morning, I will re-enter it for world history curriculum work, but let’s ignore that for a moment.) The beginning of summer means, to me, the beginning of some semblance of reflective leisure. Sure, […]
common core
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 5 — Every Kid Speaks
[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 […]
Non-Freaked Out Common Core — Part 4 — Argument and Debate
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 […]
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 3 — Close Reading
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 […]
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 2 — Complex Texts
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 […]