Richard Beach & Amanda Heartling Thein: Presentation at the Spring MCTE conference: Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core Standards, April 12, 2013

1. Teaching to Exceed the
English Language Arts
Common Core Standards
Richard Beach, University of Minnesota
Amanda Haertling Thein, University of Iowa
Online handout
http://tinyurl.com/cwndbp3
Resource website:
http://englishccss.pbworks.com

2. Strengths of the CCSS
 Not mandating content to be taught
◦ Versus the Profile of Learning
 Emphasis on informational
texts/argumentative writing
 Connection to social studies and science

3. Limitations of the CCSS
 Formalist approach to reading/writing
instruction
◦ Teaching structures of essay/literature
versus responses/experiences

4. Decline in writing about
experience

5. Implemenation: Publishers use of
―Text-dependent questions‖
 ―The Standards strongly suggest that
a majority of questions posed to
children be based on the text under
consideration…, not rely on students’
different knowledge backgrounds.‖
 –Authors of the Common Core
Standards in ELA/Literacy

6. Publisher’s ad:
 ―Give them informational and
narrative books they can’t put down—
with text-dependent questions for
every title!
 Every book in the following sets
comes with a Text-Dependent
Comprehension Card to help students
respond to 4 levels of text-dependent
questions on new Common Core and
state assessments. Saves prep time

7. Literature/informational texts
Prior knowledge:
 Before reading All Quiet on the Western
Front, my honors-level sophomores read
three pieces on morality and ethics, written
by Pema Chödrön, Thomas Jefferson, and
Machiavelli—all of whom propose certain
ethical standards to live by. As we then read
All Quiet, the moral dilemmas came into
sharp focus as students considered how
Erich Maria Remarque created his own
ethical code. They read Taliban propaganda
and then the Declaration of Independence.
We looked at how people use that power,
both legitimately and illegitimately.

8. Grade level standards based on
―progressions‖: Literature
 6th grade. Interpret the figurative and
connotative meanings of words and
phrases as they are used in a text.
 7th grade. Interpret the figurative and
connotative meanings of words and
phrases as they are used in a text and
describe in detail a specific word choice
and its impact on meaning and tone.
 8th grade. Explain the comparisons an
author makes through metaphors,
allusions, or analogies in a text and
analyze how those comparisons
contribute to meaning.

9. Literacy practice framework
Framing events
Constructing and enacting identities
Relating to and collaborating with others
Constructing texts or objects
Synthesizing and connecting texts
Critiquing and representing issues
Formulating effective arguments on
issues
Critiquing systems
Re-designing/transforming systems

10. 9 th/10th grade argumentative
writingarguments which they:
 1. Write
 a. Introduce a precise claim, distinguish it from
alternate or opposing claims, and provide an
organization that establishes clear relationships among
the claim, reasons, and evidence.
 b. Develop a claim and counterclaim fairly, supplying
evidence for each, while pointing out the strengths of
their own claim and the weaknesses of the
counterclaim.
 c. Use precise words, phrases, and clauses to make
clear the relationships between claims and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between claims
and counterclaims.
 d. Sustain an objective style and tone while attending
to the norms and conventions of the specific discipline
as well as to the audience’s knowledge of the issue.

11. Negotiating identities/adopting
perspectives: Online role-play
 Issue: Access to information on
blocked websites
 Students adopt pro-con roles
◦ construct a persona
◦ employ rhetorical appeals
◦ support their position with reasons
◦ identify and refute counter-arguments
◦ revise or modify one’s own positions

12. Using a Ning as the platform
for online role-play:

13. Using Diigo sticky notes to share annotations on
related research http://grou.ps/cwhybrid2010t1/talks/5160010/4

14. Threaded discussion allows students easily follow
discussion

15. Role construction: Adopting
different perspectives
EmoGirl: Critique of school
Internet policies
I think the internet
usage policies are ridiculous.
The policies are
almost impossible to find. I
spent half an hour trying to
find them and I'm a
young, computer savvy
person.

16. ―Strict Father‖ cultural model:
Charles Hammerstein III
 The issue with sites like
YouTube is that it is a
helpful site when used
correctly, but the ratio of
students who would use it
to the students who would
abuse it would greatly favor
the later of the two. R-rated
sites are not ok because
they usually contain
information and content that
may be considered
offensive. The internet
policies are very clear, if
your grandmother would not
appreciate it, then you
probably shouldn't be doing
those kind of things at
school.

17. Issues from literature
Elizabeth Barniskis, Edina High
School:
―Huck or Chuck?: Using Online Role-
Play and Ning to Negotiate Race in the
High School English Classroom ~
MCTE Journal‖

18. ―Same-sex classrooms enhance
learning‖
 1. Divide up table: half pro/half con
 2. Adopt roles: teachers, students,
administrators, counselors, parents,
etc.
 3. Adopt a pro or con position and
voice your opinions with supporting
reasons
 Share positions (State role and
positions)
 http://todaysmeet.com/M

19. Making sense of the CCSS, literacy
practices and:
LANGUAGE, GRAMMAR, A
ND USAGE

20. English teachers and red ink:
 English teachers ought to teach
―proper grammar,‖ spelling, and
mechanics, right?
 The primary job of an English teacher
is to teach student to speak and write
in Standard English, isn’t it?
 The answers are not so simple!

21. In this part of the session I’ll talk
about:
 Current theory and research on
language variation, vernacular
dialects, and English language
learning
 What the CCSS ask of English
teachers with regard to the teaching
of language, grammar, and usage
 How you can meet and exceed these
standards as you acknowledge and
build upon students’ language and
literacy practices

22. Direct instruction of traditional
school grammar
 Student learning through direction
instruction of traditional school grammar
has been extensively studied with
absolutely clear results:
◦ The study of traditional school grammar (i.e.,
the definition of parts of speech, the parsing
of sentences, etc.) has no effect on raising
the quality of student writing…In some cases
a heavy emphasis on mechanics and usage
(e.g. , marking every error) results in
significant losses in overall quality.
◦ - Hillocks, 1984, p. 160

23. What do the CCSS call for?
 At first glance they seem at advocate
for a traditional approach:
◦ Anchor standards state that students
should ―demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing or speaking.”

24. What do the CCSS call for?
 However, in the CCSS ―key points‖
section they explain that:
◦ “The standards recognize that students must
be able to use formal English in their writing
and speaking but that they must also be able
to make informed, skillful choices among the
many ways to express themselves through
language.”
 This caveat is also seen in standards
that state that students should:
◦ “Apply knowledge of language to understand
how language functions in different
contexts, to make effective choices for
meaning or style, and to more fully

25. In other words:
 While the CCSS place a high value
on Standard English, they also
suggest that students must be able to
understand and use language
variation within the English language
as well as other languages that
students might speak in their homes
and communities across different
academic and social contexts.

26. How does language variation
work?
 In order for students to understand
how language functions, they need to
consider how it varies and changes
 Example of English as spoken in
U.S.:
◦ Regional differences; generational
differences – how do they occur?

27. Is there one, correct, formal,
―standard‖ English?
 People often assume so
 Variations (AAVE, Chicano English, etc.)
must then be informal or even improper
or incorrect.
 People who see themselves as speaking
standard English – typically those who
are white and middle class – tend to
hold negative views of people who
speak vernacular Englishes.
 Teachers often have lower expectations
of students who speak such variations.

28. These ideas have been widely
debunked by linguists and
literacy scholars.
Standard dialects are not linguistically
better by any objective measure; they are
socially preferred simply because they are
the language variations uses by those
who are most powerful and affluent in
society. In addition, although schools often
refer to Standard English as if it were a
single dialect, there are numerous
regional standard dialects.
- Godley, et. al., 2006

29. Do SE speakers actually speak
SE?
 James Gee (1996) argues that ALL
English speakers (and speakers of
any language) speak a range of
informal variations of English that vary
in their faithfulness to SE across
social contexts.
 As a teacher you almost certainly
speak a different variation of English
in your classroom than you do at
home with friends or family

30. Language as social practice -
Pennycook (2010)
 In no one really speaks standard
forms of languages, than how do
language actually function?
◦ Languages are not systems that are used
more or less formally in various social
contexts
◦ Instead, social contexts themselves drive
language use and construction.
◦ We use language to achieve social goals
– for instance to construct identities or
build relationships.

31. Language as social practice -
Pennycook (2010)
 Language is not a system that is
changed or distorted by social contexts,
but shifts with social needs
 Example ―friend‖ and ―unfriend‖
◦ The construction and use of these terms
developed within ―bundles‖ of social practices
that are a necessary part of social networking
 Abbreviations such as ―lol‖ and ―btw‖
◦ Not simple formal or careless means of
communication
◦ Logical and useful variations that developed
as part of the social practice of texting

32. So why teach Standard English
at all?
 Students need to learn about the
concept of SE, what it looks like, and
its gatekeeping role in allowing so
people access to power while denying
it to others
 SE is part of ―codes of powers‖ that
we should not deny any of our
students from accessing and
understanding (Delpit, 2006).

33. Delpit (2006)
 To act as if power does not exist is to
ensure the power status quo remains
the same. To imply to children…that
is doesn‟t matter how you talk or how
you write is to ensure their ultimate
failure. I prefer to be honest with my
students. I tell them that their
language and cultural style is unique
and wonderful but that there is a
political power game that is also being
played, and if they want to be in on
that game there are certain games

34. ―Englishes,‖ not English (Kirkland,
2010)
 Teachers should acknowledge and
teach the power of SE
 The should also consider ways that
other variations provide access to
particular kinds of status and social
power
 Example: working class girls (Jones, 2006)
◦ Used regional variation and discourse ―to
shout back at a mainstream society that
judged them harshly‖ (122)

35. Activity:
 Consider the variation in your own
language use, even within your role as
an English teacher
 Working with a partner role-play 3
scenarios. Describe your goals for one
of your English courses to your
principal, a parent, and a student.
 Take turns being the ―teacher.‖ The other
partner listens and examines:
◦ Word choice, grammar/usage, affect, and
tone
◦ Information that is included/omitted
◦ Consistency of language with SE in each
scenario

36. Debrief:
 What did you notice about language
variation in this activity?
 What social practices was your
language linked to in each scenario?
 What kinds of social access might you
gain through your use of language
variation in each scenario?

37. How can we help students
understand language variation?
 Show students that SE is not a static
system
◦ Close examination of language in
Shakespeare – functional shifts such as
using a word commonly used as a noun
as a verb leading to changes in the word’s
use in everyday speech.
◦ Show students the same poem written in
Old English, Middle English, and Modern
English.

38. How can we help students
understand language variation?
Some words or phrases become
linguistic fads; others fall into disuse or
“misuse.” Rules of taste change, and
the pronunciations, uses, conjugations,
and spellings of words are altered over
time to adjust to new contexts,
speakers, purposes, and audiences.
We call this adaptability „survival of the
fittest‟ when we discuss other kinds of
evolution; it is evidence of the
resilience of language and not a matter
for concern (Zuidema, 2005, p. 672).

39. Grammar vs. Usage (Zuidema,
2005):
 Grammar – internal patterns that a
given language naturally follows
 Usage – rules of taste
 Confusion between the two leads
people to see the English language
as more rules oriented than it is.
◦ Examples: ―ain’t‖ or ending a sentence in
a preposition. Neither are grammatically
incorrect from a linguistic standpoint, on
from the standpoint of particular tastes.

40. De-centering Standard
English
 Translating Tupac Shakur’s ―Just Me
Against the World‖ from a variation of
AAVE to SE
Though each passage…has the same
literal meaning, the original, non-Standard
English passage inevitably holds far more
emotional and rhetorical power…via
different translations of the same text, my
students experienced firsthand how
meaning can be list when we insist on a
rigid form of English for making meaning

41. Examining linguistic prejudice
 Wilson (2001) suggests asking
students to look at ways that
particular
regional, racial, cultural, and
generational variations of English are
stigmatized, stereotyped and linked to
particular identities in popular culture
and media.
◦ Viewing sitcoms – how dialects delineate
character types
◦ Record evidence of language prejudice in
cartoons, newspapers or magazine

42. Students examining their own
variations
 Role playing activity in which students
describe a car accident to parents,
friends, and an insurance agent
(Hagemann, 2001)
◦ Depending on the audience [students]
chose different words, added/deleted
particular details, used a different tone,
etc. (p. 78).
 Ask students to list all of the
variations they hear and speak in
everyday life (―dinner table,‖ ―church,‖
―military,‖ ―school,‖ etc.) (Flynn, 2011).

43. Constructing and enacting
identities through language
variation:
 Helping students understand how
identities are constructed through use
of language as social practice.
◦ Challenge and rethink their status quo
uses of language as they impact their
ability to access particular kinds of power.

44. Seeing links between identity and
language in the classroom:
 Acknowledge and allow students to
use home languages and variations in
class whenever possible
 Choose texts that use non-standard
dialects to provide students a means
of exploring identity and language

45. Collaborating with others in
exploring language:
 Provides multiple perspectives on social
practices related to language use
 Student-centered, dialogic discussion
(Godley & Minnici, 2008) of language use:
◦ African American students identified nuances
and variation in the use of AAVE across
neighborhoods in their city.
◦ Emphasized distinct identities within an
African American community rather than a
linguistic identity constructed primarily in
opposition to White identities (p. 336).
◦

46. Conducting ethnographies of
language use:
 Students collaborate in studying
language oral and written language use
as it is linked to
roles, relationships, norms, beliefs, and
social practices in a particular
community.
◦ Athletic teams
◦ Sororities/fraternities
◦ Car body shop
◦ Church communities
 Students learn how language is used to
establish shared knowledge and define
identities within a group

47. Synthesizing and connecting
across languages and dialects:
Once your students learn to:
◦ Frame all language as inherently variable
◦ Understand language use as a social
practices used to construct identities
◦ And, explore multiple perspectives on
language use through collaborative
discussion and inquiry…
they will be ready to synthesize what
they’ve learned and make connections that
will lead them to acquisition on new
language variations

48. Knowledge of home language or
variation can help students gain
proficiency in Standard English:
 Comparison or ―contrastive analysis‖
(Godley & Minnici, 2008) of language
 Learning to notice and pay attention to
features in their home language as they
seek to understand particularities of SE
◦ Negation in AAVE or Southern U.S. dialects
(―ain’t‖ vs. ―is not‖)
 Students learn to determine
effectiveness of language choices for
particular audiences

49. Key point:
 Students need to understand that you
are not asking them to give up their
home languages:
◦ Our goal as teachers should be ―expanding‖
rather than ―erasing‖ a student’s linguistic
repetoire (Hagemann, 2001).
 Students need to know about ―code-
switching‖ (Depit, 2006) – using different
languages, discourses, and variations in
different contexts.
◦ Examples on code-switching can be found in
literature (A Lesson Before Dying, To Kill a
Mockingbird, etc.)

50. In sum:
 The CCSS for language and usage
convey two key ideas:
◦ They ask that teachers help students gain
proficiency in SE in both written and oral
forms
◦ They ask that teachers ensure that students
understand the contextual nature of language
and usage and are prepared to communicate
appropriately and effectively across social
contexts
 Both of these standards can be met and
exceeded by literacy practices that help
students understand language variation
and the role of SE within that variation.

51. Digital/media literacies
handout:
http://tinyurl.co
m/boemvof

53. Using Diigo social bookmarking
for sharing annotations
1. Add Diigo to your iPad or computer
toolbar
2. Find an online text
3. Highlight sections of the text
4. Click on the icon to add a Sticky Note
response
5. Have other students add their responses

54. Diigo annotations: Pro-con
readings: benefits of energy from
wind power
th
 7 grade students iMelanie
Swandby’s
◦ Lighthouse School Community
Charter School, Oakland, California
 Students posed questions for each
other
◦ ―What does that mean, virtually
free?‖
◦ What are some things that use
energy or power?‖

55. Adding sticky-note
annotations

56. One student’s annotation: Pro
wind turbine essay

57. One student’s annotation: con
essay

58. Students responding to each
other’s annotations

59. Dialogic interactions through
annotations
―There is a bad and good thing about
this. Bad is it kills birds passing by.
Good it makes energy cleaner.‖
 ―Tarnished with wind turbines? Aren't
wind turbines supposed to be a good
thing? Why are they complaining
about the turbines? it doesn't even
look bad.‖

60. Use of annotations for summary
writing
 I am perplexed in choosing if wind
energy is a good courses or bad source.
While, wind energy is a good source
because it’s renewable and needs
nothing more but construction, it can
also cause irritation and attention of
some people. Wind turbines are loud,
noisy, and risky. Even though, it doesn’t
cause any greenhouse gases in the air,
wind turbines are harmful to wildlife and
space. More birds die by getting hit by
wind turbines which is very dangerous to
our wildlife.

61. Digital concept mapping
 iPad apps: iBrainstorm, MindMeister
for Ipad,, Sundry Notes, Idea Sketch,
Total Recall, inShare, iMindMap
MindNode, iThoughtsHD, Popplet Lite
http://tinyurl.com/3o6a3wy
 Hierarchical/logical relationships between
key concepts

62. 5 th
Grade Students: Popplet
Lite for Concept Mapping
 5th grade students
in Laura
Kretschmar’s class
at Lighthouse
Community Charter
School, Oakland, C
alifornia
 Lesson on rare
earth metals to
address the
question, ―What is
gold?‖

63. Mateo’s initial map: What is
gold?

64. Mateo’s revised map

65. Speaking and listening
standards: Discussing to learn

66. Subtext: book discussions

75. Images/audio/video to learn

76. Comic Life

77. Objective: Understand personal experience, opinions and
attitudes about modern society through techniques of
narrative storytelling within a multi-media product that
incorporates photos from a variety of sources. The final
product must present a thorough narrative of your
experience. Use photos and/or drawings from your own
life. Use text bubbles that convey both dialog and
thoughts. You may use and cite additional sources that
you find to give more information about current events.

78. VoiceThread: Multiple audiences
share responses to the same
images

79. 5th Graders: VoiceThread for
Studying Dinosaurs
 Extinction of the dinosaurs:
◦ supernova, volcanoes, or an asteroid.
◦ Volcanoes
http://voicethread.com/share/2454743/
◦ Supernova
http://voicethread.com/share/2544219/
◦ Asteriod
http://voicethread.com/share/2545658/

80. Students ShowMe’s: Genetics:
dominant vs. recessive traits
 ―If a brown eyed and a blue eyed parent
had a baby, what color eyes would the baby
have?‖
 http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=ibbycYS
 Mother and father birds and baby bird
 http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=RNKspgu
 Pea plant genetics
 http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=GC6q3nM

81. Screencasting: Students or you
create how-to tutorials for peers
 VoiceThread, ExplainEverything,
Screenchomp, ShowMe,
Educreastions
 Snapguide http://tinyurl.com/ctkslx8
◦ Students:

82. Screencasting: feedback
 VoiceThread, ExplainEverything, Scre
enchomp, ShowMe, Educreastions
 Video response to writing: Jing
◦ http://tinyurl.com/3kkw4am
 Speeches/drama: Formative
Feedback for Learning
http://formativefeedbackapp.blogspot.
com

83. Publishing Multimodal Writing
 ePub: Mac Pages (soon to be
on iPad Pages)
 Apple iBooks Author (requires
OS Lion): iBooks

84. Tom’s Messenger
http://tinyurl.com/7v7klxw

88. My message on Tom’s
Messenger

89. Another message

90. Brainstorm: Digital tools/apps
 How could you use digital tools/apps
to engage students in learning?
 Share:
http://todaysmeet.com/MC
TE

91. Professional Learning
Community