Understanding the New Common Core State Standards

Dr. Carol Kelley, Superintendent

Karen Dudley, Supervisor STEM + Arts

Ali Watkins, Supervisor LA/Humanities

Greetings and Introductions

Engaging the Audience in the Common Core

Purpose: Why the Common Core?

Implications for Instruction

ELA Shifts

Mathematics Shifts

The Common Core in Branchburg

Resources and Parent Support

Agenda

Eight adults and two children need to cross a river, and they have one small boat available to help them. The boat can hold either one adult, or one or two children. Everyone in the group is able to row the boat. Show how you get them all across the river.

How many one-way trips does it take for the eight adults and two children to cross the river?

Engaging the Audience in the Common Core: You Try It!

two children cross __ one rows back __ one adult crosses __ child rows back (4 trips) repeat cycle until all adults are across (7 more times) last trip is two children crossing to join 8 adults 4*8+1 or 33 crossings

Engaging the Audience in the Common Core: You Try It! Answer Key

Purpose: Why the Common Core?

• What implications do the CCSS have on WHAT we teach?

• What implications do the CCSS have on HOW we teach?

This effort is about much more that implementing the next version of the standards. It is about preparing all students for success in college and careers

Implications

1. Building knowledge through content-rich

nonfiction

2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in

evidence from text, both literary and informational

3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic

language

The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in ELA/Literacy

8 achievethecore.org

Shift #1: Building Knowledge Through Content-Rich Nonfiction

Content-Rich Nonfiction

50/50 balance K-5

55/45 in grades 6-8

70/30 in grades 9-12

Students learning to read should exercise their ability to

comprehend complex text through read-aloud texts.

In grades 2+, students begin reading more complex texts,

consolidating the foundational skills with reading

comprehension.

Reading aloud texts that are well-above grade level should

be done throughout K-5 and beyond.

Content Shift #1

Students are required to read very little informational

text in elementary and middle school.

Non-fiction makes up the vast majority of required

reading in college/workplace.

Informational text is harder for students to

comprehend than narrative text.

Supports students learning how to read different types

of informational text.

Building Knowledge Through Content-Rich Nonfiction: Why?

11 achievethecore.org

Shift #2: Reading, Writing, and Speaking Grounded in Evidence From Text, Both Literary and Informational

Most college and workplace writing requires evidence.

Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak

student performance on NAEP

Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards:

Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and

Listening standards 2, 3, and 4, all focus on the

gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from

text.

Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks

of strong readers and writers

Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text: Why?

Content Shift #2

In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes

out. Describe a time when you failed at

something.

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”

Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest.

Discuss, in writing, a time when you

wanted to fight against something that

you felt was unfair.

In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln

says the nation is dedicated to the

proposition that all men are created

equal. Why is equality an important

value to promote?

What makes Casey’s experiences at

bat humorous?

What can you infer from King’s letter

about the letter that he received?

“The Gettysburg Address” mentions

the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s

speech, why is this year significant to

the events described in the speech?

Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Text-Dependent Questions

Students read an excerpt of

James D. Watson’s The

Double Helix and respond to

the following:

James Watson used time

away from his laboratory and

a set of models similar to

preschool toys to help him

solve the puzzle of DNA. In an

essay, discuss how play and

relaxation help promote clear

thinking and problem solving.

Sample Informational Text Assessment Question: Pre-Common Core Standards

Shift #3:Regular Practice with Complex Text and Its Academic

Language

Gap between complexity of college and high school texts is

huge.

What students can read, in terms of complexity is the

greatest predictor of success in college (ACT study).

Too many students are reading at too low a level.

(<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts).

Standards include a staircase of increasing text complexity

from elementary through high school.

Standards also focus on building general academic

vocabulary so critical to comprehension.

Regular Practice With Complex Text and its Academic Language: Why?

Subtle and/or frequent transitions

Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes

Density of information

Unfamiliar settings, topics or events

Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences

Complex sentences

Uncommon vocabulary

Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things

together for the student

Longer paragraphs

Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures

What are the Features of Complex Text?

Grade 3 Mini- Lesson

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So What Might This Look Like

The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in Mathematics

1. Focus: Focus strongly where the Standards focus.

2. Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics

within grades.

3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding,

procedural skill and fluency, and application.

Shift #1:Focus strongly where the standards focus

• Significantly narrow the scope of content and deepen how time

and energy is spent in the math classroom. Move away from

“mile wide, inch deep”

• Focus deeply on what is emphasized in the standards, so that

students gain strong foundations.

Shift #1: Focus Strongly where the Standards Focus

K 12

Number and Operations

Measurement and

Geometry

Algebra and Functions

Statistics and

Probability

Grade Focus Areas in Support of Rich Instruction and

Expectations of Fluency and Conceptual Understanding

K–2 Addition and subtraction - concepts, skills, and problem solving and place value

3–5 Multiplication and division of whole numbers and fractions – concepts, skills, and problem solving

6 Ratios and proportional reasoning; early expressions and equations

7 Ratios and proportional reasoning; arithmetic of rational numbers

8 Linear algebra and linear functions

Key Areas of Focus in Mathematics

Shift #2: Coherence: Think Across Grades, and Link to Major Topics Within Grades

Shift #2: Coherence: Think Across Grades, and Link to Major Topics Within Grades

• Carefully connect the learning within and across

grades so that students can build new understanding

on foundations built in previous years.

• Begin to count on solid conceptual understanding of

core content and build on it. Each standard is not a

new event, but an extension of previous learning.

Coherence: Think Across Grades Example: Fractions across grades

4.NF.4. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction by a whole number.

5.NF.4. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction or whole number by a fraction.

5.NF.7. Apply and extend previous understandings of division to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions.

6.NS. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions. 6.NS.1. Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve word problems involving division of fractions by fractions, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.

Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

Example: Data representation

Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.

-Standard 3.MD.3

“How many more people like the color orange than blue?”

Coherence: Link to major Topics Within Grades

5

10

15

20

25

Shift #3: Rigor: In major topics, pursue

conceptual understanding, procedural

skill and fluency, and application.

Shift #3: Rigor

• The CCSSM require a balance of:

Solid conceptual understanding

Procedural skill and fluency

Application of skills in problem solving situations

• Pursuit of all three requires equal intensity in time,

activities, and resources.

Required Fluencies in K-6

Grade Standard Required Fluency

K K.OA.5 Add/subtract within 5

1 1.OA.6 Add/subtract within 10

2 2.OA.2 2.NBT.5

Add/subtract within 20 (know single-digit sums from memory) Add/subtract within 100

3 3.OA.7 3.NBT.2

Multiply/divide within 100 (know single-digit products from memory) Add/subtract within 1000

4 4.NBT.4 Add/subtract within 1,000,000

5 5.NBT.5 Multi-digit multiplication

6 6.NS.2,3 Multi-digit division Multi-digit decimal operations

Fluency in High School

1) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2) Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3) Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

4) Model with mathematics.

5) Use appropriate tools strategically.

6) Attend to precision.

7) Look for and make use of structure.

8) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Application (Mathematical Practices)

Grade 5 Mini- Lesson (Multiplying fractions)

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So What Might This Look Like

Cautions: Implementing the CCSS is...

• Not about “gap analysis”

• Not about buying a text series

• Not a march through the standards

• Not about breaking apart each standard

What’s Happening in our District?

• Aligning and clarifying the written curriculum with the CCSS

• Create a toolbox for teachers – including CCSS Instructional Practice Guides

• Working with teachers on the workshop approach to teaching

• Teacher Academy to address the CCSS and classroom implementation

What can parents do?

• Keep informed • http://www.achievethecore.org/common-core-intro-for-

parents • http://www.pta.org/advocacy/

www.illustrativemathematics.org • www.corestandards.org • http://parcconline.org/parcc-content-frameworks

• Become familiar with the district curriculum • Visit Teacher websites and read newsletters about what is going

on in the classroom

Final Thought: