Janice A. Dole Utah Center for Reading and Literacy University
of Utah CCSS: Dont Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater!
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My Starting Assumptions YOU PROBABLY KNOW: and are familiar
with Utahs Core Curriculum in reading and language arts. and are
familiar with the goals and purposes of the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS). why we have moved to the CCSS. that the CCSS
contain outcomes for students and not the curriculum you actually
teach.. that the CCSS include foundational skills for students who
do not yet know how to read well.
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My Starting Assumptions YOU MAY NOT KNOW: how the CCSS relates
to what you have been doing for the past number of years. how the
CCSS relates to the Utah Core Curriculum. how the CCSS relates to
your own core reading program that is NOT CCSS-based. how to move
from the CCSS to units and lessons to teach your students.
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First and Foremost Dont throw the baby out with the bathwater!
There are many effective reading instructional strategies that you
are now using. Continue to use those effective strategies that are
research-based. Examples: Reading First beginning reading
instruction. Strategies that you teach your students for
comprehension. Analysis of figurative language, authors craft.
Close reading and analysis of poetry.
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CCSS Focus 1 ) Informational texts 2) Close reading of literary
texts 3) Critical thinking through texts 4) Writing argumentative
and persuasive texts based on the readings as well as on other
general topics. 5) Tier 2 Words and academic vocabulary 6) Reading
increasingly complex texts with scaffolded instructional
support.
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Todays Talk Focus on two critical aspects of the CCSS that
differentiate it from most state core curricula: Close reading and
critical thinking Ill provide some of the skills and strategies
that the CCSS emphasizes. Then provide examples from various grade
levels to show how your existing programs can provide some support
for close reading and critical thinking. Recognize that Im not
trying to do everything!
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Close Reading and Critical Thinking 1) KEY DETAILSuse explicit
details and implicit information to support answers or inferences
from the text. 2) CENTRAL IDEASSummarize central ideas. 3) WORD
MEANINGSDetermine connotations, denotations, multiple meanings,
word structure. 4) REASONING and EVIDENCEApply reasoning and
textual evidence to justify points.
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Close Reading and Critical Thinking 5) ANALYZE
RELATIONSHIPSwithin and across texts, how information is
consistent, inconsistent. 6) STRUCTURES/FEATURESrelate to text
structures (cause and effect) and features of texts (headings,
index, table of contents) 7)LANGUAGE USEinterpret figurative
meanings of words, phrases used in context
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How the Turtle Flew South for the Winter (GR. K) Basal Program
Have children fold a sheet of paper in thirds. Ask them to draw a
picture of what happened in the beginning, a picture of what
happened in the middle and a picture of what happened at the end.
(STORY STRUCTURE) CCSS Adaptations Have children fold a sheet of
paper in thirds. Ask them to draw a picture of what happened in the
beginning, a picture of what happened in the middle and a picture
of what happened at the end. (STORY STRUCTURE)
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How the Turtle Flew South for the Winter (GR. K) Basal Program
Why did turtle have to fly south? Why couldnt he walk there?
(REASONING) How is this folk tale similar and different from Frog
and Locust? (GENRE) What is the reason the author wrote this story?
(AUTHORS CRAFT) CCSS Adaptations Why did the turtle have to fly
south? Why couldnt he walk there? (REASONING) What lesson did the
turtle learn? (CENTRAL IDEAS) How is this folk tale similar and
different from Frog and Locust? (GENRE)
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How the Turtle Flew South for the Winter (GR. K) With prompting
and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of
characters in the story. (CCSS Standards) TurtleBirds cant flycan
fly stays in winterflies south in winter hibernates in winterflies
south in winter doesnt need food in needs food in winter
winter
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Little School on the Prairie (Gr. 4) Basal Program To restore
means to return a thing or place to how it was before. (WORD
MEANINGS) How much of North America was once covered by prairie?
(DETAILS) To make short work means to deal with or finish something
quickly. (WORD MEANINGS) CCSS Adaptations To restore means to
return a thing or place to how it was before. (WORD MEANINGS) What
does the author mean by an ocean of grass? (LANGUAGE USE) To make
short work means to deal with or finish something quickly. (WORD
MEANINGS)
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Little School on the Prairie (Gr. 4) Basal Program What is
special about the school on the prairie? (INFERENCE) What is one
benefit of restoring the prairie ecosystem? (REASONING and
EVIDENCE) CCSS Adaptations Why did the students at Sunset Ridge
Elementary School want to restore the prairie? (CENTRAL IDEA)
Compare the setting of this piece to Little House on the Prairie?
(ANALYZE RELATIONSHIPS) Find text evidence of what the new prairie
will look like. (REASONING and EVIDENCE)
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Little School on the Prairie (Gr. 4) Determine the main idea of
the text and explain how it is supported by key details. Summarize
the text. (CCSS Standards).
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Little School on the Prairie (Gr. 4) Main Idea Students at
Sunset Ridge Elementary School want to put back into the land the
prairie grass that was there long before their school was built.
Key Details to Support Main Idea At one time, the land all around
Sunset Ridge was prairie. But soon the settlers and their steel
plows made short work of the grasslands.
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Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat(Gr. 6-8) Text I have nothing to
offer you but blood, toil, tears and sweat What is our aim? Victory
at all costs, victory in spite of all terrors You ask, what is our
policy? I say it is to wage war I take up my task with bouyancy and
hope. CCSS Questions Provide specific evidence of irony in this
speech. (LANGUAGE USE) What is the authors purpose in this speech?
(AUTHORS CRAFT) Which claims of the author are supported by facts?
(REASONING and EVIDENCE)
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Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat(Gr. 6-8) Questions to Ask: What do
I already know about this topic? Who is the author? What is the
author saying here? What is the author doing? What provocative
statements does the author make? Questions to Ask: What is
important about this section? What is the purpose of this section?
Do I agree or disagree with what the author is saying? What words
does the author use to evoke feelings?
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Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat(Gr. 6-8) Some Strategies to Use
Summarize the passage. Identify the central idea of the passage.
Integrate ideas in the passage with background knowledge about
World War II. Ask questions. Some Activities to Use Sticky notes to
identify important ideas. Marginal notes to clarify hard parts, ask
questions of the text. Marking the text for central concepts and
ideas; important details. Graphic organizers to organize ideas in
the text.
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Some Questions What do you think the
permanent Indian frontier was meant to be, and where was it
supposed to be? Find evidence in the text to support your
reasoning. (REASONING and EVIDENCE) Why did the white men want to
move the Indians from the East to the West? (REASONING) Some
Questions Why does the author put quotes around permanent Indian
frontier? (LANGUAGE USE) What was the trail of tears? What does
that phrase mean? (LANGUAGE USE) What are refugees?
(VOCABULARY)
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Some Questions: How did the Eastern
Indians feel about their removal to the West? Provide evidence from
the text to support your point. (REASONING and EVIDENCE) What
happened when the refugees settled in the West? Provide evidence to
support your argument. (REASONING and EVIDENCE) Some Questions How
does the ordeal of the Indians compare and contrast with the ordeal
of other refugee groups you have studied? (ANALYZE RELATIONSHIPS)
What is the central idea of this passage? (CENTRAL IDEA) What are
two important details that support the central idea? (KEY
DETAILS)
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Questions to Ask: What do I already
know about this topic? Who is the author? What is the author saying
here? What is the author doing? What provocative statements does
the author make? Questions to Ask: What is important about this
section? What is the purpose of this section? What words does the
author use to evoke feelings? What are key ideas and concepts from
this section?
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Reading Standards for Informational
Text, Grs. 6-12 Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a
text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point
of view or purpose. (from the CCSS Standards) First, make a T chart
to show examples of the rhetoric Brown uses to advance his
point.
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Authors Purpose or Point of View To
show what a diffiicult time it was for Eastern tribes and how
poorly they were treated. Rhetoric to Advance that Point of View
First sentence: The decade following establishment of the permanent
Indian frontier was a bad time for the eastern tribes. End of
paragraph: Carrying their shabby goods, rusty farming tools,
refugees prison camps
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Writing Prompt: Compare and contrast
the Indians from Browns book with other refugees you have studied
about. Consider the settings, time period, political and social
contexts of the periods.
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Writing Arguments Compare and contrast
the Indians from Browns book with other refugees you have studied
about. Consider the settings, time period, political and social
contexts of the periods. Make a T chart. On one side put East Coast
Indians. On the other side put another set of refugees you have
studied. Make subtopics to think about. Settingwhere in the world
Time periodwhen? Political context- who was in charge? What did
they do? Social context- levels of poverty, socio-economic classes,
Fill in subtopics under T chart.
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Bury My Heart (Gr. 9-10) Sentence Starters and Templates The
East Coast Indians can be compared to _____________. First, they
both __________________________________. Second, they both
__________________________________. Third, they
both_______________________. However, the East Coast Indians are
different from _________________ in many ways as well. While the
East Coast Indians _________________, the ______________ did
__________________.
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In Summary Many strategies and activities that teachers
currently use are consistent with the CCSS. 1) First Big Idea: All
beginning reading instructional strategies and activities stay. 2)
Second Big Idea: Many comprehension strategies and activities stay.
Analyzing relationships within and across texts. Use of language.
Authors craft. Text structure and text features. Central ideas and
key details.
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In Summary 3) Third Big Idea Writing now takes a center stage
along with reading. 4) Fourth Big Idea Reading critically becomes
more important. 5) Fifth Big Idea Vocabulary, especially academic
vocabulary, now takes center stage along with reading.
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Messages of the Day 1) You dont have to throw everything out
you know. You know much about the CCSS. 2) Dont be afraid of the
CCSS. They can help your students become better readers!
