Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Preparing Students for Common Core ELA

It should be fairly straightforward, really (says the ex-teacher).

Increase the complexity and volume of reading as much as you can. Unfortunately there are no new tricks for making this happen.

Don't let anyone say or write anything without citing evidence from the text, ever.

Focus on structural analysis of logical arguments and authoritative-looking supporting evidence.

Probably do more writing than you were, but not more than you should have been doing anyhow.

Look closely at exactly what special analytical tasks students are supposed to be performing at their grade level; hope that the tests stick to those.

Continue ignoring the kind of standards you always did (media, speaking & listening, etc.) until you actually get bad test scores because of it (if you do).

Do a condensed mini-research project every quarter as close to the ultimate form in the tests as you can.

Note: if your school does not have enough computers to give the test online, you may be able to skip the research part.

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