The Importance of Using Multiple Text Sets in Accordance With the Common Core State Standards

Carmella PruskoQuestar III Literacy SpecialistState Wide Meeting of Assistant Superintendents November 18, 2010

Overview • Transition from

elementary to middle school

• New Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and what they mean for teachers and students

• Instructional implications

Literacy in Elementary School • Large block set aside each day for

literacy– Guided Reading Groups– Word Work/Spelling Center– Writer’s Workshop– Basal Series

• Ability to model concepts learned during literacy time in different content areas

– Chunking an unfamiliar word in the science text book

– Using context clues to figure out the meaning of an unknown vocabulary word in social studies

• Availability of additional instructional support

– Co-teaching – Reading Recovery– Access to a Reading Specialist/Literacy Specialist– Academic Intervention Services (AIS)

Literacy in Middle & High School • Students are no longer with one or two

teachers all day• Decreased instructional time in English

Language Arts– Literature Circles– Critical Analysis of Literature– Compositions comparing different works of

literature and/or analyzing the author’s purpose

• Other reading and writing demands are being put on the student that they are unfamiliar with

• Reading and comprehending primary sources• Expected to write narratively as well as technically • Research and correctly cite information

• Additional Instructional Support– AIS– Resource Room

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

• New York State officially adopted the CCSS in July 2010

• September 2012

• This initiative is being led by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

•The CCSS are research and evidence-based

•Aligned with college and work expectations

•Are informed by other top performing countries so our students will be equally prepared for our global economy and society

•Currently, the CCSS do not provide the full level of support for students with special needs and English language learners

What Has Changed?

• Alignment with college and career readiness expectations

• Standards for reading and writing across content areas

• Larger emphasis on non-fiction texts

• Large emphasis on proving an argument is sound when reading

• Large emphasis on the ability to write arguments to support claims using valid reasoning and sufficient evidence

Rigor/Relevance

International Center for Leadership in Education. (2008). Graphic of Rigor and Relevance Framework. Retrieved from http://www. leadered.com

How to Prepare Our Students

• We need to stop thinking inside our own individual boxes we need to create one big box

• We need to actively engage our students in our lessons and content

• We need to move our students past the acquisitional and application stages of learning

• We need to expose them to these important themes, concepts, and vocabulary using several different mediums – Newspaper articles– YouTube Clips– Documentaries– Artifacts– Research articles– Picture Books– Novels

Instructional Implications• Use multiple text sets

– Different reading levels, genre, and media that offer different perspectives on a common theme

– By using different genres and media it allows the teacher to reach all of the different types of learners in his or her classroom

– A great way to teach grade level content and themes to students who may not be reading on grade level

– By providing students with multiple perspectives it forces them to begin to question the validity of what they are reading

The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck

• Picture Books- Altman, Linda Jacobs. Amelia’s Road. New York: Lee and Low, 1993.- Bunting, Eve. A Day’s Work. New York: Clarion, 1994- Thomas, Jane Resh. Lights on the River. New York: Hyperion, 1994.- Williams, Sherley Anne. Working Cotton. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck

• Fiction and Non-Fiction Chapter Books- Ashabranner, B.(1985). Dark harvest: Migrant

farmworkers in America. New York: Putnam.- Hesse, K. (1997).Out of the dust. New York: Scholastic.- Genasci, S., Velasco, D. (Directors and Producers). (1990). Troubled Harvest[DVD]. New York: Women

Make Movies.- Ryan, P.M. (2002). Esperanza Rising. New York:

Scholastic.- Stanley, J. (1992). Children of the dust bowl: The true story of the school at weedpatch Camp. New York: Crown Publishers.

The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck

• High School -Adult Novels

- Hart, E.T.(1999). Barefoot heart: Stories of a migrant child. Arizona: Bilingual Review Press

- Hill, J. (2010).Dreamer in the fields: My life as a child migrant farm worker. California: Vision Publishing.

- Straight, S.(2002). Highwire moon. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing.

- Steinbeck, J. (2002). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Publishers.

The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck

• Other Types of Media

-Hudson-Goff, E., Brown, J. A., & O’Hern, K. (2007). Cesar Chavez. New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing.

- Gibson, W.E. & Rodriguez, I.(2005, October 17). Migrant workers on Gulf Coast face exploitation, many find employers don’t meet promises. Knight Ridder Tribune.

- Pietropaolo, V. (2010). Harvest pilgrims: Mexican and caribbean migrant farm workers in Canada. New

York: Between the Lines Productions-Vega, J.P. (2007). Estamos aqui: Poems by migrant

farmworkers. New York: YBK Publishers. -

Culinary Arts• Picture Books

- Cole, J.(1995). The magic school bus gets baked in a cake: A book about kitchen chemistry. New York: Scholastic.

-Goodman, S. (2006). All in just one cookie. New York: Harper Collins Publishing.

-Priceman, M. (1996). How to make an apple pie and see the world. New York: Random House Publishing.

Culinary Arts• Fiction and Non-Fiction Chapter Books

- Catling, P.S.(2006). The chocolate touch: New York: HarperCollins Publishing.

-Goodman, S. (2006). All in just one cookie. New York: Harper Collins Publishing.

-Henderson, J. (2007). Cooked: From the streets to the stove. New York: HarperCollins Publishing.

Culinary Arts• High School – Adult Novels

- Child, J., Prud’ Homme, A.(2009). My life in France: New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing.

-Powell, J. (2006). Julie and Julia: My year of cooking dangerously. New York: Little, Brown & Company.

- Ruhlman, M. (2009). The making of a chef: Mastering heat at the culinary institute of america.

Contact Information

Thank you for your attention!

If you have any questions concerning the information in this presentation, please feel free to contact me at :

Carmella.prusko@questar.org

Resources• Costello, J. Introduction to the common core

standards ELA 6-12 [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from after school professional development.

• International Center for Leadership in Education. (2008). Graphic of Rigor and Relevance Framework. Retrieved from http://www. leadered.com

• n.a. (2010). About the standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org

• Richison, J.D., Hernandez, A.C., & Carter, M. (2002). Blending multiple genres in theme baskets. English Journal, 92 (2), 76-81.