All That You Need To Know About English Language Art Common Core Standards

All That You Need To Know About English Language Art Common Core Standards

Escorting students into the big, deep world of English language is a big responsibility. Here’s how experts pave a consistent and smooth road for everyone

THE role of teachers and schools has changed drastically over the last few years, and way beyond the boundaries of education system. What you teach there has a profound impact not only in a student’s academic journey and grooming of a well-rounded brain but also throughout a student’s career story and professional trajectory.

Forbes was right when he remarked that the purpose of education should be to replace an empty mind with an open one.

In the pursuit of preparing young minds for a fruitful journey all across their lives’ different turns and fill them with enough curiosity and skills to be deployed on the way; education veterans have been working on cementing a solid foundation.

This foundation, in other words, is known as the Common Core State Standards.

Like a common denominator, they have been constructed as those vital stones that will ensure that every student, irrespective of what school, what region, which appetite, which learning curve and what strata s/he belongs to; stands at an equal stature and with equal wisdom as well as skills’ repertoire when it comes to crucial subjects like Maths and English.

It has been noted that these subjects have wide ramifications over a person’s life, irrespective of the profession chosen, and they cannot be left half-baked or non-uniformly shaped as their specific competencies affect a person’s life in many ways.

The significance of common standards for all students becomes all the more accentuated when we look at the ever increasing rate of competition, pressure, expectations and challenges that overwhelm today’s typical student life.

This is why Common Core State Standards come in and lay down very clear as well as consistent guidelines. Drafted meticulously by experts and professionals in this genre, these have been sculpted well for English language arts and touch students right from kindergarten, throughout all class levels ahead and till 12^th grade.

Let’s have a good peek into what these exactly are:

The ‘Core’ of Common Standards

The idea behind inking precise standards is to provide a compass by which students can be steered into a variety of directions with equal ease, poise and strengths. These are apt for entry-level careers, freshman-level college courses, training programs and other skill ilks and hence cover entire roadmap of a student’s life.

The DNA of this set of standards comprises of focus on critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. This is how they guide teachers in ensuring that student progress is assessed with a uniform yardstick and their skills are strengthened for sure-shot success in their academic careers.

English standards have been drafted in a way that teachers can ensure that all students are equipped well when it comes to the ability to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively and also nurture their literacy skills and understandings that may come useful later for college, during multiple disciplines or career requirements.

On many levels, the ELA/literacy standards prepare students for life outside the classroom by injecting critical-thinking skills, ability to closely and attentively read texts in enjoyable inclination towards complex works of literature, use of cogent reasoning and evidence collection skills.

In short, the standards play a vital role in making teachers ready with:

●      A clear picture of consistent goals and benchmarks

●      The level-playing field to ensure students are progressing in the right direction

●      Removing arbitrariness and confusion with expectations if and when students jump from one district or classroom to others or to other states

●      A collaboration platform that accommodates space for integrating work with other teachers across the country in areas like curricula development, finalising materials, and fine-tuning assessments

●      Grooming material for training areas that teachers go through

What the ‘standards’ do not do

There is a ‘however’ element to these standards.

Teachers are important and indispensable elements in the field of knowledge nurturing so they surely know it better as to what works in the classroom. The intent of standards is not to limit teachers or dictate them on the ‘how’ of teaching. Their attempt is only at providing a clear direction which injects consistency and irons out complexity and confusion from the system, specially as students may vary widely and swing at various levels in a world of a buffet of disciplines, approaches, brain-capacity levels, inclinations, home environments and parenting strategies.

It is a myth that these standards focus too much on skills at the cost of content knowledge, but a diligent teacher will soon discover that they recognize both content and skills in equal importance.

Also, they are more than just some vague descriptions of skills and their inclusion of sample texts vividly and evidently points at various levels of text complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatibility with the learning demands.

Contrary to some perceptions, the standards do direct enough emphasis on fiction/literature.

The fact that the very Common Core drafting process relied on teachers and standards experts iterates that this was a thoughtful and transparent process of standard setting exercise and one that was adequately based on research or evidence. Their role is to impart a student with as much appetite and agility as possible without restricting him/her to rote and rites.

They serve as a good reference point, but do not constrain anyone in boxes.

With sample texts that address complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatibility factors for learning demands, the standards allow flexibility to teachers in their own decision-making.

In English language per se, these standards sketch an interesting gradient of text complexity, which gives both teachers and students stepping stones as students ascend one level of complexity after another.

What is remarkable is that these Common Core State Standards require teachers to not stop at content coverage, but make students ready and keen for acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening and in many dimensions possible.

Courtesy: Progressive Boink.com

There are some shifts that the Common Core points a teacher’s attention to, in light of changing times and some long-running challenges:

They encourage teachers to not just focus on the skills of reading and writing, but to also be cognizant of the complexity levels of the texts that students need to as per the versatility of demands of college, career, and life that will follow.

Courtesy: Get better gradesnow.com

Now a quick walk at some areas that these standards specifically cover:

Reading:

As part of the Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy teachers have to groom independent, strategic readers.

There are many emphasis areas and teachers have to focus by splitting the challenge into various levels and stages.

Read closely to determine what the text says on an explicit level.

Make logical inferences from it

Cite pointed evidence when writing or speaking so that conclusions can be drawn well from the text.

Break the space down and identifying central ideas or themes of a text.

Analyse formation of these ideas with key supporting details and sub-ideas.

Interpretation part of various words and phrases  along with their technical, connotative, and figurative meanings.

Assessing the structure of texts, which should cover specific sentences, paragraphs, and their equations to each other and the whole play together.

Noting various point of views that shape the content and style of a text.

Evaluation of content played out in diverse formats and media and delineation of the argument and the inherent reasoning therein.

Studying the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence portions and dwelling on diverse themes or topics which allow comparison of various approaches or authors.

Comprehension of complex literary and informational texts in an independent way.

Teachers can set reasonable goals and inculcate fun in the process and may be use a series of shorter books, tells this Readathon Video by Little Book Owl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWcLi_w5QtU

In English reading with Dori she admits the challenges of academic reading and shares some strategies like working with specific information rather than general information under some constraints.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mspflt0x0bM

Writing:

Teachers need to prepare students to independently write for diverse purposes and audiences. They have to imbibe the necessary practice, tools and cultivate unique strengths so that this communication medium is aptly addressed.

Emphasis on narrative writing, a command of sequence and detail, argumentative and informative writing, or evidence-based writing, or ability to inform and persuade marks the change that these standards have brought and thus focusing on the roots of the language’s proficiency rather than just external shoots.

Courtesy: getbettergradesnow.com

Speaking :

Teachers can cover these skills through academic discussion; class Presentations, or collaborative Activities.

The idea is to prepare them for a meaningful discourse whether it is in an informal setting or high-octave seminars or more formalized and structured conversations. The student has to be adept at a variety of speaking experiences.

Listening:

Teachers have to impart this very crucial ability and cover many nuances and challenges that this generally involves.

Some tips cover areas of false assumptions and wrong conclusions as well concept of mirroring are covered well in this video by Realtraining Rightnow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_I2IWLKfVc

Margarie Well advises on the importance and implications of listening as well listening to ‘what are they not saying’ in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0FJHA9byvU.

Technology:

Today is a world where technology is a staple factor of every young person’s life. If students can be taught to leverage technology’s power in positive and constructive ways like, collaborating online with Google and G Drive, the teachers would have accomplished a big competency area.

That will allow students (or teachers) to be on the same page even if they not in the same room or in the same city and can still work together. This will also prepare them for careers, education pit stops and businesses that depend on online collaborative environments.

Courtesy: versuswines.com blog

The focus should be on making students learn that technology is more than some entertainment and socializing and its role in communication, collaboration and even creation of knowledge should be introduced well.

Remember This:

In the pursuit of shaping a strong, curious and well-drilled mind, these standards draw attention to reading comprehension, academic vocabulary, listening and other skills. Other accessory areas for language like certain critical types of content for all students, viz. classic myths and stories from around the world, foundational U.S. documents, seminal works of American literature, evidence’s use from texts for careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information and so on.

Courtesy: Deviantart.net

Their goal is to ensure that students are prepared to not only answer from their prior knowledge and experience alone, but also tap their care, absorbing power, cogency and attention when they were reading those texts.

That is why teachers are spurred to ensure that students read carefully and grasp information, arguments, ideas, and details and have answers that adduce inferences based on careful attention to the text.

Courtesy: Danslechamp.files.wordpress.com

The standards bring in the radical but progressive notion of immersing students in information about the world around them if they are to develop the strong general knowledge and vocabulary and also pour onto them extensive opportunities to cement this knowledge through texts as well as the ability to learn independently.

Today, many states and localities are deploying different approaches and supporting their teachers with the aids and tools they need to help students successfully reach the standards.

Link: Teachers can refer this Standards in Your State section for a map linking to the state-specific implementation page.

Teachers should note that these standards are not curriculum-defining and they do not carry mandates for use of any particular curriculum and hence, teachers have ample room for development of their own lesson plans, tactics and materials.

Finally, a quick round-up of what core standards are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0rRk9sER0

So go ahead and use these standards as an invaluable beacon and sail through your teaching careers with a flourish. Have fun opening minds. And ya do share if you learnt anything through this or you found it fun!