I don’t know about your district, but in mine we have a leading contender for Buzzword of the Year: close reading. So what is this mystical act? And, like too many buzzwords, is it mere hogwash? Or could there be awesomeness contained within it? [Please note that, contrary to journalistic common sense, I am saving […]
David Coleman
Keyboarding Skills and the Common Core
If you’re a K-6er trying to incorporate the grade-specific Common Core State Standards (CCSS), you’ve probably noticed an interesting skillset nestled within anchor standard W.CCR.6: keyboarding! That’s right! While I spoke about W.CCR.6 as an anchor standard in this post, I didn’t delve into the grade-specific standards contained within it, and therefore I didn’t really […]
Common Core SL.CCR.3 Explained
SL.CCR.3 — that’s the 3rd College and Career Readiness anchor standard within the Speaking and Listening strand of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA/Literacy — says: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric. All right, lots of fun stuff in here, so let’s get started. We’ll be looking at what […]
5 Principles in Developing the Common Core
If you’re wondering how the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed, this YouTube video featuring David Coleman begins to answer the question. It does not go into great depth, but it does provide some interesting food for thought. Principle #1: College-and-Career Readiness (CCR) When students aren’t ready for college-level work, colleges place them in […]
What are the “Six Shifts”?
I first heard the “Six Shifts” mentioned by Mike Schmoker in his presentation at the Michigan Reading Association’s annual conference a couple months ago. However, I’ve only recently discovered where they’re located on the internet! For the sake of improving the internet, I want to link to them (on that page, you’ll find links to videos […]