3. Background
• Common Core State Standards for English Language
Arts and Math
• CCSS for English Language Arts and Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subject
• NJCCCS still exist for:
– Science
– Visual & Performing Arts
– Health and PE (Model Curriculum now available
on NJDOE website)
– Technology
– 21st Century Life & Career
– World Languages
– Social Studies
4. Common Core Standards
Key Features
• Depth Over Breadth
– Not “a mile wide and an inch deep”
– clear, consistent and high learning
goals
• Vertical Alignment
– Clear Articulation from Kindergarten to
Grade 12
6. Organization of Standards
English/Language Arts
•Reading for Literature (10 standards)
•Reading for Informational Text (10 standards)
•Foundation (4 standards – K-5 only)
•Writing (10 standards)
•Language (6 standards)
•Speaking and Listening (6 standards)
7. Vertical Alignment
Sample – English Language Arts (Writing)
Kindergarten: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing
to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic
or the name of the book they are writing about and state an
opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite
book is …).
First: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Second: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons
that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and,
also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
8. Vertical Alignment
Sample – English Language Arts (Writing)
Kindergarten: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing
to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic
or the name of the book they are writing about and state an
opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite
book is …).
First: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Second: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons
that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and,
also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
9. Vertical Alignment
Sample – English Language Arts (Writing)
Kindergarten: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing
to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic
or the name of the book they are writing about and state an
opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite
book is …).
First: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Second: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons
that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and,
also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
10. Vertical Alignment
Sample – English Language Arts (Writing)
Kindergarten: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing
to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic
or the name of the book they are writing about and state an
opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite
book is …).
First: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Second: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or
book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons
that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and,
also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
11. Vertical Alignment
Sample – English Language Arts (Writing)
Grade Six:
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant
evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence
clearly.
b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence,
using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding
of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships
among claim(s) and reasons.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from
the argument presented.
12. ELA Shifts
English/Language Arts
•Emphasis on informational text and writing
•Language literacy outside the E/LA classrooms
•Staircase of complexity design, the standards
build upon each other
•Students make evidentiary arguments in
conversation and writing
13. SHIFT #1
Balancing Informational & Literary Texts
– Increase in teaching and learning with
non-fiction text
Grade
Literature
Information
4
50%
50%
8
45%
55%
12
30%
70%
14. SHIFT #1
Balancing Informational & Literary Texts
– Increase in teaching and learning with
non-fiction text
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Build background
knowledge to
increase reading
skill
•Exposure to the
world through
reading
•Apply strategies
to reading
informational text
•Provide students equal #s of
informational and literary texts
•Ensure coherent instruction about
content
•Teach strategies for informational
texts
•Teach “through” and “with”
informational texts
•Scaffold for the difficulties that
informational text present to students
•Ask students, “What is connected here?
How does this fit together? What details
tell you that?”
15. SHIFT #1
Informational Writing from Sources
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Begin to generate
own
informational
texts.
•Expect that students will generate their
own informational texts (spending much
less time on personal narratives).
•Present opportunities to write from
multiple sources about a single topic.
•Give opportunities to analyze,
synthesize ideas across many texts to draw
an opinion or conclusion.
•Find ways to push towards a style of
writing where the voice comes from
drawing on powerful, meaningful
evidence.
•Give permission to students to start to
have their own reaction and draw their own
connections.
16. SHIFT #2
Integration of Social Science and Science
content knowledge
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Become better
readers by building
background knowledge
•Handle primary
source documents
with confidence
•Infer, like a detective,
where the evidence is
in a text to support an
argument or opinion
•See the text itself as
a source of evidence
(what did it say vs.
what did it not say?)
•Shift identity: “I teach reading.”
•Stop referring and summarizing and
start reading
•Teach different approaches for
different types of texts
•Treat the text itself as a source of
evidence
•Teach students to write about
evidence from the text
•Teach students to support their
opinion with evidence
•Ask : “How do you know? Why do you
think that? Show me in the text
where you see evidence for your
opinion.”
17. SHIFT #3
Staircase of complexity design, the
standards build upon each other
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Read to see what more
they can find and learn
as they re-read texts
again and again
•Read material at own
level to build joy of
reading and pleasure in
the world
•Be persistent despite
challenges when
reading; good readers
tolerate frustration
•Ensure students are engaged in more
complex texts at every grade level
•Engage students in rigorous
conversation
•Use leveled texts carefully to build
independence and practice learned
skills
•Provide scaffolding and explicit
instruction
•Engage with texts w/ other adults
•Get kids inspired and excited about
the beauty of language
18. SHIFT #4
Text-Based Answers
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Go back to text to find
evidence to support
their argument in a
thoughtful, careful,
precise way.
•Develop a fascination
with reading
•Create own judgments
and become scholars,
rather than witnesses of
the text.
•Conduct reading as a
close reading of the text
and engage with the
author and what the
author is trying to say.
•Facilitate evidence based conversations
with students, dependent on the text.
•Have discipline about asking students
where in the text to find evidence, where they
saw certain details, where the author
communicated something, why the author may
believe something; show all this in the words
from the text.
•Plan and conduct rich conversations about
what the writer is writing about.
•Keep students in the text
•Identify questions that are text-dependent,
worth asking/exploring, deliver richly.
•Provide students the opportunity to read the
text, encounter references to another text,
another event and to dig in more deeply into
the text to try and figure out what is going on.
•Spend much more time preparing for
instruction by reading deeply.
20. Math Core Content Curriculum - 2008
K
Number and
Operations
Measurement
and Geometry
Algebra and
Functions
Statistics and
Probability
12
21. Organization of Standards
Math (K-5)
Counting and Cardinality
(K only)
Operations in Algebraic Thinking
Number and Operations in Base Ten
Measurement and Data
Geometry
Number and Operations-Fractions (grades 3-5)
22. Organization of Standards
Math (6-8)
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
The Number System
Expressions and Equations
Geometry
Statistics and Probability
Math (9-12)
Number and Quantity
Algebra
Functions
Modeling
Geometry
Statistics and Probability
23.
24. Priorities in Math
Grade
Priorities in Support of Rich Instruction and
Expectations of Fluency and Conceptual
Understanding
K–2
Addition and subtraction, measurement using
whole number quantities
3–5
Multiplication and division of whole numbers
and fractions
6
Ratios and proportional reasoning; early
expressions and equations
7
Ratios and proportional reasoning; arithmetic of
rational numbers
8
Linear algebra
25. Vertical Alignment
Sample – Math (Measurement)
Kindergarten: Describe and compare measurable attributes.
First: Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
Second: Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
Third: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of
intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
Fourth: Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of
measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
Fifth: Convert among different-sized standard measurement units
within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m),
and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world
problems.
26. Vertical Alignment
Sample – Math (Measurement)
Kindergarten: Describe and compare measurable attributes.
First: Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
Second: Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
Third: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of
intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
Fourth: Solve problems involving measurement and conversion
of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
Fifth: Convert among different-sized standard measurement
units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to
0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real
world problems.
27. Math Shifts
Mathematics
•Fewer, more focused standards
•Standards continually return to organizing
principles to structure key ideas (such as place
value or properties of operations)
•Focus on arithmetic and fluency (e.g., with
whole numbers at early grades)
•Mastery of procedural and conceptual
knowledge (e.g., with fractions in upper
grades)
•Application of concepts
28. Shift 1: Focus
What the Student
Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Spend more time
thinking and working
on fewer concepts.
•Being able to
understand concepts
as well as processes
(algorithms).
•Make conscious decisions about what
to excise from the curriculum and
what to focus
•Pay more attention to high leverage
content and invest the appropriate
time for all students to learn before
moving onto the next topic.
•Think about how the concepts
connects to one another
•Build knowledge, fluency and
understanding of why and how we
do certain math concepts.
29. Shift 2: Coherence
What the Student Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Build on knowledge from
year to year, in a coherent
learning progression
•Connect the threads of math
focus areas across grade
levels
•Think deeply about what
you’re focusing on and the
ways in which those focus
areas connect to the way it
was taught the year before
and the years after
30. Mathematics Shift 3: Fluency
What the Student Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Spend time practicing, with
•Push students to know basic
intensity, skills (in high volume) skills at a greater level of
fluency
•Focus on the listed fluencies
by grade level
•Create high quality
worksheets, problem sets, in
high volume
31. Key Fluencies
Grade
Required Fluency
K
Add/subtract within 5
1
Add/subtract within 10
2
3
Add/subtract within 20
Add/subtract within 100 (pencil and paper)
Multiply/divide within 100
Add/subtract within 1000
4
Add/subtract within 1,000,000
5
Multi-digit multiplication
6
Multi-digit division
Multi-digit decimal operations
7
Solve px + q = r, p(x + q) = r
8
Solve simple 2×2 systems by inspection
32. Shift 4: Deep Understanding
What the Student Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Show, through numerous
ways, mastery of material at
a deep level
•Use mathematical practices
to demonstrate
understanding of different
material and concepts
•Ask yourself what
mastery/proficiency really
looks like and means
•Plan for progressions of
levels of understanding
•Spend the time to gain the
depth of the understanding
•Become flexible and
comfortable in own depth of
content knowledge
33. Shift 5: Application
What the Student Does…
What the Teacher Does…
•Apply math in other content
areas and situations, as relevant
•Choose the right math concept
to solve a problem when not
necessarily prompted to do so
•Apply math including areas
where its not directly required
(i.e. in science)
•Provide students with real
world experiences and
opportunities to apply what
they have learned
34. Backpacks: What you should see
Real-world examples
that makes what
students learn in
English and math
make more sense
Math homework
that asks students
to write out how
they got their
answer
Books that
are both
fiction and
non-fiction
Writing assignments
that require students
to use evidence
instead of opinion
Math homework
that asks students
to use different
methods to solve
the same problem
35. What you do not see
Professional Development
Teacher Behaviors
Student Behaviors
The CCSS are intentionally different from NJCCCS. They are supposed to have fewer performance indicators and fewer objectives so topics can be studied more deeply over a longer period of time. Again we’re moving away from “mile wide and an inch deep.”
Because college and career readiness overwhelmingly focuses on complex texts outside of literature, these standards also ensure students are being prepared to read, write, and research across the curriculum, including in history and science. These goals can be achieved by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing to build knowledge within their subject areas.
The focus of the Common Core State Standards in grades K-12 are interdisciplinary – all of the content is taught through the lens of literacy. In grades K-5, the CCSS are written so that all subjects can be taught with a focus on literacy. In grades 6-12, there are CCSS ELA Standards for History/SS, Science, and Technical Skills for the literacy goals. The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content standards still exist in all content areas except for math and ELA.
This shift involves simply reading more informational text – balancing the amount of literature with informational text. Elementary teachers are the students tour guide to world – to culture, to society. Rather than telling students about what is happening out there, we need to have them read about it. More literary non fiction, more information being conveyed through writing. Less fiction. Less telling and summarizing by the teacher.
This is evidence based WRITING about texts. We are shifting away from an overemphasis on narrative writing because it is a skill not often demanded by career and college. What IS demanded by career and college is to synthesize and react to what we have read. Therefore, the Common Core asks that students, across content areas, are being asked to interact with and make arguments through sources – texts, data, etc. Students must be trained to use the evidence they collect from what they read in order to form cogent and convincing argument in the text they produce.
Students must be ready to handle more informational text. In order to do this, teachers must work to build their own skills to deliver this
Instead of “telling” the students information, have them read about it. We all must have a balance of accessing informational text; accessing non-fiction in general. And, all content teachers 6-12, must do this as well. The Common Core is asking that all teachers become reading teachers. For example, instead of telling students about the Civil Rights Movement, teachers find text for them to read about the Civil Rights Movement. The way that content should be delivered is through sources; through texts, through data, through information online.
Students must be reading in all content areas. Increasingly complex texts throughout P-12. The Common Core is often defining grade level text complexity as texts that are 2-3 grade levels more complex than the current grade level texts in school so that they are actually prepared to access the complexity they encounter in careers and college. Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards includes a list of texts that model levels of complexity for every grade level. This is an important portion of standards and should be reviewed.
Students need to develop the ability to engage in rich, evidence-based dialogue about a text they have read. Having students have conversations about text and teachers’ facilitation of these conversations, requires a higher level of sophistication for both teachers and students. Rather than the quicker connections between text and self, teachers must now train students to stay in the text, to draw conclusions and make arguments about the text and do so through the text itself. Teachers will often be asking, “where do you see that in the text? What paragraph? What sentence? What word?” students must begin to think and argue through and with texts by constantly being asked to find evidence in what they have read.
This slide presents a visualization of how U.S standards used to be arranged, giving equal importance to all four areas - like “shopping aisles.” Each grade goes up and down the aisles, tossing topics into the cart, losing focus. This visualization, and the curriculum which it represents, shows no priority. The CCSS domain structure communicates the changing emphases throughout the elementary years (e.g., Ratios and Proportional Relationships in grades 6 and 7).
Number and Numerical Operations
Geometry and Measurement
Patterns & Algebra
Data
Mathematical Processes
Fractions and Ratios & Proportions are some of the toughest math for students
Operations in Algebraic thinking and Expressions & Equations – Foundations needed for Algebra
Focus on the math that matters most
Focusing on far fewer topics and treat them with much better care and detail.
As shown by the TIMMS study, in the high performing countries there is a relentless focus on specific areas of mathematics i.e.. addition and subtraction and the quantities they measure at the K-2 level.
For the first time, we will model these countries by having fewer topics learned more deeply. These core masteries will lead much fuller level of understanding. In middle and high school, students with this mastery can move on to do work in data and statistics and applying their knowledge to fields such as Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus. It will also enable them to engage in rich work in modeling multiple representation to other fields such as economics.
In reference to the TIMMS study, there is power of the eraser and a gift of time. The Core is asking us to prioritize student and teacher time, to excise out much of what is currently being taught so that we can put an end to the mile wide, inch deep phenomenon that is American Math education and create opportunities for students to dive deeply into the central and critical math concepts. We are asking teachers to focus their time and energy so that the students are able to do the same.
We need to ask ourselves –
How does the work I’m doing affect work at the next grade level?
Coherence is about the scope and sequence of those priority standards across grade bands.
How does multiplication get addressed across grades 3-5?
How do linear equations get handled between 8 and 9?
What must students know when they arrive, what will they know when they leave a certain grade level?
Fluency is the quick mathematical content; what you should quickly know. It should be recalled very quickly. It allows students to get to application much faster and get to deeper understanding. We need to create contests in our schools around these fluencies. This can be a fun project. Deeper understanding is a result of fluency. Students are able to articulate their mathematical reasoning, they are able to access their answers through a couple of different vantage points; it’s not just getting to yes; it’s not just getting the answer but knowing why. Students and teachers need to have a very deep understanding of the priority math concepts in order to manipulate them, articulate them, and come at them from different directions.
Make these a fun project; create contests around these fluencies
The Common Core is built on the assumption that only through deep conceptual understanding can students build their math skills over time and arrive at college and career readiness by the time they leave high school. The assumption here is that students who have deep conceptual understanding can:
Find “answers” through a number of different routes
Articulate their mathematical reasoning
Be fluent in the necessary baseline functions in math, so that they are able to spend their thinking and processing time unpacking mathematical facts and make meaning out of them.
Rely on their teachers’ deep conceptual understanding and intimacy with the math concepts
The Common Core demands that all students engage in real world application of math concepts. Through applications, teachers teach and measure students’ ability to determine which math is appropriate and how their reasoning should be used to solve complex problems. In college and career, students will need to solve math problems on a regular basis without being prompted to do so.
Achievethecore.org has many materials for educators to use to support their implementation of the CCSS
The Council of the Great City Schools has created Parent Roadmaps which can be found under their “Publications” link or on the Quick Links on the left side of their home page. These documents are free. They are available for K-8 in ELA and Math and are in English and Spanish and are being translated into 9 other languages. They give parents an overview of what their child will learn in the content are for each particular grade level, show them what their child would have learned the year before and will learn the year after, give homework examples, home support suggestions, and questions to engage in CCSS conversations with their child’s teacher.
The New Jersey Department of Education’s website has many resources to support Common Core, PARCC, and Teacher Eval implementation. Don’t miss the excellent resource the ELA Common Core provides in its appendices. Appendix A gives the research base. Appendix B provides text exemplars. Appendix C provides writing exemplars.