5 Things Every Teacher Should Be Doing to Meet the Common Core State Standards in Literacy
The consultant will elaborate on the 5 shifts that should be happening in every classroom as identified by the Common Core State Standards. They include: increasing text complexity, leading high-level class discussions, teaching argument over persuasion, focusing on process, not just content, and creating authentic assignments. Participants will learn about the importance of each shift and walk away with strategies to implement them. Teachers will learn how to adjust their current practices to be better aligned with the Common Core.
Who Should Attend: English and content-area teachers (6–12), literacy coaches, instructional leaders, and anyone interested in learning practical ways to implement the Common Core State Standards.
Language Skills for the Common Core: Speaking, Listening, Writing
“Literacy floats on a sea of talk” (James Britton, 1970). Language skills are at the heart of the Common Core State Standards because academic success depends on the ability to process and express information. This workshop will connect teachers to the principles of natural language acquisition that will grow and reinforce academic vocabulary as well as the social expectations for listening in the classroom. We will address the following elements of durable language learning: how words get learned and stay learned, what criteria we should use to select words for explicit instruction, how to determine the most essential words in academic text, and how to make vocabulary learning engaging and fun.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), literacy coaches, instructional leaders, and anyone interested in learning how to improve language and vocabulary skills so the transition to writing is seamless.
Grammar: What Really Works
Everyone knows that traditional exercises, worksheets, and rote memorization do little, if anything, to improve students’ writing and use of the English language. Everyone also knows that ignoring “the grammar problem” does not make grammar go away. Learn innovative, exciting strategies for making grammar instruction come alive and be effective. The grammar topics selected will link to the Common Core.
Who Should Attend: English and content-area teachers (4–12), literacy coaches, instructional leaders, and anyone interested in learning innovative, exciting strategies for making grammar instruction effective.
Literacy Strategies for the Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts
Although there are many similarities between existing state learning standards and the new Common Core State Standards, teachers need to know how to make the transition. Participants will learn techniques for teaching reading and writing for argumentation, informational text, and narrative text, as well as reading comprehension strategies for the increasing levels of text complexity required by the Common Core State Standards. Included will be a segment on academic vocabulary development.
Who Should Attend: English and content-area teachers (4–12), literacy coaches, instructional leaders, and anyone interested in learning strategies for teaching reading and writing for argumentation, informational text, and narrative text, and for increasing text complexity.
Literacy Strategies for the Common Core State Standards: Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Although there are many similarities between existing state learning standards and the new Common Core State Standards, teachers need to know how to make the transition. Participants will learn specific techniques for teaching the reading and writing tasks necessary for success on the new standards. Included will be a segment on academic vocabulary development.
Who Should Attend: Social studies, science and technical subject teachers (4–12), instructional leaders, and anyone interested in learning strategies for teaching reading and writing skills that meet the Common Core State Standards.
Managing and Engaging Students in the Common Core Classroom
The Common Core State Standards require that students collaborate, think deeply about content, make connections across disciplines, communicate ideas, and direct some of their own learning. As a result, classrooms will have to be organized and managed in an authentic manner. This session will provide specific organizational, behavioral, and instructional techniques that will help to produce self‐controlled, cooperative, and focused learners.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), administrators, academic coaches, and anyone interested in learning how to optimize their classroom management style to support the teaching of the Common Core State Standards.
Project Based Learning
When you base learning in real-life scenarios and include problem solving, there is more meaning in the classroom and a stronger connection between school life and “real life.” How to do this? Project-Based Instruction. It all starts with examining the skills needed to function as an adult in this 21st century world, and then designing lessons, mini-units, and projects to prepare students to better use those skills. In this workshop, participants will have a greater understanding about the rationale to support Project-Based Instruction. They will also come away with ideas for practical units, a step-by-step guide for developing projects that are tailor-made for each teacher, and resources to help them as they launch into this next chapter of meaningful, Project Based Instruction.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), administrators, academic coaches and anyone who is interested in gaining strategies on how to implement project-based instruction.
Formative Assessment
How does one use summative assessment, and more importantly, formative assessment? Where does reflection come in as both a formative assessment tool for students and for teachers? How can students play a role in owning their own units and giving feedback for future units of instruction? In this session, the consultant will share ways to address all of these topics and will provide resources to help teachers as they tackle assessment and reflection as it relates to project-based instruction.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), administrators, academic coaches, and anyone who is interested in learning about how formative assessment can drive classroom instruction.
Planning a Rigorous School
If your school were truly rigorous, what would that look like? While increasing the level of rigor of a school’s instructional program begins at the classroom level, principals play a key role in creating a culture that encourages these classroom-level changes. This session introduces participants to the COMPASS model, a set of tools for working with your school community to improve rigor in your school. Examples from schools across the country will be used to demonstrate the power of the tools to improve your school.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), administrators, academic coaches, and anyone who is interested in learning how to raise the level of rigor in the classroom to meet the Common Core State Standards.
Assessing Rigor in Schools
This session introduces a set of tools that can be used to engage your school community in an assessment of the rigor in your school. It introduces a three-part definition of rigor—high expectations, high support, multiple measures—and provides strategies that can be used with faculty and community members to improve rigor in the classroom.
Who Should Attend: Teachers (K-12), administrators, academic coaches, and anyone who is interested in learning how to evaluate rigor to meet the Common Core State Standards.