Timothy Shanahan, a must-read for everything Common Core- and literacy-related, discusses how reading lessons will change after the implementation of the new Common Core State Standards.
First, Shanahan notes, the new standards will dissuade teachers from the (fallacious) practice of matching students with books based on their reading levels in favor of having students grapple with challenging texts. Second, the Common Core will cut back on pre-reading activities, such as previews of the text or discussions of relevant background information, so that more time can be spent on close reading. Finally, Shanahan discusses how to craft good text-dependent questions that elicit from students not “low-level facts” about the text but rather “key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas.”
Overall, Shanahan writes, “the CCSS place the text—not the teacher—at the center of the students’ negotiation of text meaning.” But this new approach will require that teachers rethink their current practices, and one major hurdle is the lack of tools for helping teachers navigate challenging texts with students.
Shanahan is right: teachers need more support. Our free teaching resources can help teachers implement these key changes in their classrooms with in-depth discussion guides, model conversations, teacher-created lesson plans, and a library of classic and contemporary American texts, which includes many Common Core exemplar texts and authors. Want to learn more? Check out our Common Core FAQ.
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Distinguished scholar-teachers Amy and Leon Kass demonstrate how short stories, speeches, and songs can be used to enhance civic education and how a pedagogical approach that stresses learning through inquiry can make primary sources come alive for students of all ages.
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