The Six Shifts in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts impact all subject areas K-12:
- an increase in reading non-fiction texts
- content area literacy
- increased text complexity
- focus on text-based questions
- focus on writing arguments
- academic vocabulary
Saturday, April 14th Mary Janzen, Fresno County Office of Education, Dr. Melissa Jordine, California State University, Fresno, and Marsha Ingrao, Tulare County Office of Education, all members of San Joaquin Valley Council for the Social Studies, formed a successful tag team to present an awareness session to history and language arts teachers, literacy coaches and principals about the effect of the Common Core Standards in History-Social Science classes.
Administrators, college professors, and teachers wondered how the Common Core Standards will impact elementary, middle and high school history instruction.
Dr. Jordine shared the Civil War Blueprints, a California History Project document on which professors and teachers worked collaboratively for over a year to complete. This extensive resource contains lessons, primary sources, and strategies to help teachers integrate the Common Core Language Arts Standards in this Civil War unit of study. Teachers in the workshop compared the legal rights of states in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to answer the question, “Did the South have the right to secede?”
Teachers examined a Toolkit which aligns the Analysis Skills of History-Social Science to the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking to assist teachers in crafting quality critical thinking questions in both reading and writing Marsha Ingrao explains ways to use the Toolkit to implement the Common Core Standards using existing materials in both language arts and history.
Teachers paired up to strategize how to use the Toolkit effectively in the classroom.
They also read and discussed a sample 6th grade Reading Informational Text assessment for 6th grade.
“Students trace the line of argument in Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” address to Parliament and evaluate his specific claims and opinions in the text, distinguishing which claims are supported by facts, reasons, and evidence, and which are not. [RI.6.8]” Common Core Standards Appendix A p. 91.
Thursday, April 12th, Mary Janzen and Marsha Ingrao also made a short presentation to student teachers in Robin Perry’s Fresno Pacific University‘ s teacher preparation class about the Common Core Standards and the Toolkit. Students were also invited to become members of the San Joaquin Council for the Social Studies.
The Common Core Standards provide justification for elementary teachers to spend more time teaching history-social studies during the language arts’ block of time. Teachers in middle and high school learn more reasons to collaborate to effectively implement the rigorous and relevant Common Core Standards.
To present effective instructional strategies specific to teaching history-social science analysis skills, additional workshops will be held May 16th at Tulare County Office of Education, then in Fresno at Literacy Conference on May 22nd. This summer, July 16-20th, Tulare County Office of Education will host a 5 day Common Core Institute featuring special presenters, as well as a complete roll out of the Toolkit, and technology training appropriate to implement the standards.
Hi Marsha:
I’m especially pleased that you and your colleagues were invited to present information to student teachers. It is so important that new teachers have an understanding of the alignment of the History Social Science Analysis Skills with the Common Core State Standards.
Good Job!
Sylvia
LikeLike
It is exciting to start building that network with colleges, and with the new teachers!
LikeLike
I had so much fun this past Saturday! I think that the more we present this the better we get (but I guess that is the way it is supposed to go).
LikeLike
We have a little more time on the 16th, and only a short time on the 22. We need to figure out what to add and subtract.
LikeLike
I am extremely inspired along with your writing abilities as well as with the layout in your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to look a nice weblog like this one these days..
LikeLike
Thanks so much for the kind words. I used a WordPress theme, and inserted one of my own pictures. I’ve started this blog in order to learn how to blog because I’m involved in several organizations that are looking to upgrade their websites. I’m enjoying it a lot.
LikeLike
hello I’m a student teacher and would like to get some training in alligning the common core across the curriculum. Maybe you can suggest something like a website or something from your own wisdom.
Thanks Rochelle
LikeLike
For California a couple of projects have been done in History-Social Science. Michelle Herczog from LACOE wrote an alignment of Civic Education and the Common Core. It can be found on the LACOE website. I have written a Toolkit aligning the Common Core with the History-Social Science Analysis Skills and aligned the history-social science standards to the three text types of writing, creating writing prompts for all three text types – grades K-11. This document will be online on the TCOE.org website hopefully in May. I think the science consultants in county offices are working on something similar. Fresno County Office of Education has completed something similar in technology, but I don’t know it is available yet.
LikeLike
thanks you, I will definitely check out those websites. I need to actually create an interdisciplinary unit focusing on world communities. My group picked Italy and we have to come up with 3 social studies, 3 LA, and 3 art lesson plans that scaffolds one another. Thanks for the website again.
LikeLike
What fun! I did a unit on Italy years ago because I had the chance to visit there. The kids loved it!
LikeLike