Inside the Common Core Classroom

Description

I would strongly recommend this book for beginning teachers who are doing their practicum or student teaching as well as for administrators, resource teachers, and department chairs. The information provided here could be used to generate professional development activities and collaborative planning sessions that would help practicing teachers think deeply about what students will be accountable for at the end of their current grade level.

This text takes the time to unpack the new standards and clearly explain in detail what they mean for third, fourth, and fifth grade students and teachers.  Certain chapters provide examples of strategies and activities that can be applied in the classroom immediately, and teachers can be confident that the information provided is evidence-based and classroom-tested. — Janine Jackson, Lafayette Elementary School (DC)

Inside the Common Core Classroom: Practical ELA Strategies for Grades 3-5 puts a fresh coat of paint on standard language arts teaching. The material is very up-to-date, and it is filled with plenty of modern teaching strategies that go beyond traditional teaching and help students “own their learning.” This book is clear and readable, comprehensive, and appealing to both new teachers and seasoned ones.

Overturf clearly knows what good language arts instruction looks like in an elementary classroom. — Ryan Murray, Greenbrier Elementary (IL)

• A wealth of information to that clarifies the standards—plus suggestions for instruction and assessment. Each chapter:
• Explains a topic related to the English language arts standards that is important for effective implementation.
• Includes research-based ideas for instruction in and assessment of proficiency in each topic.
• A look at the standards in action in actual classrooms:
• Authentic, real-life scenarios from grade 3-5 classrooms describe the text used during instruction, the standards addressed, the lesson itself, student reactions, examples of student work, and the performance assessment. (Chs. 2-6)
• Photos of actual students from CCSS classrooms engaged in ELA practices help teacher visualize the strategies at work.
• Practical, ready-to-use guidance for making the standards an everyday part of teaching and learning:
• Suggestions for establishing a standards-based classroom and planning lessons and units that enable students to meet the standards are included in Chapter 7: Implications for Curriculum.
• Tips for the Teacher include quotations from classroom teachers about what they’ve learned in implementing the ELA standards.
• A detailed discussion of comprehension and the Common Core Standards, including reading in literature, informational texts, and foundational skills, that are especially applicable to the specific literacy needs of grades 3-5 students. (Ch. 2)
• An integrated thematic unit focused on mythology integrates concepts from science and social studies. Included are:
• An extensive bibliography of resources.
• An illustration of how ELA standards can be integrated with content area instruction.

Brief Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Common Core in Grades 3-5

Chapter 2 Comprehension

Chapter 3 Vocabulary

Chapter 4 Text Complexity

Chapter 5 Writing

Chapter 6 Speaking and Listening

Chapter 7 Curriculum Implications

Chapter 8 Thematic Unit: Rock Stars of the Sky!

An indispensable guide for all who teach in grades three through five, as well as curriculum directors, reading specialists, literacy coaches, and school administrators, Inside the Common Core Classroom: Practical ELA Strategies for Grades 3-5 presents research-based teaching ideas that integrate the Common Core Standards with the best teaching practices in the critical English language arts areas. Designed specifically for teachers of the pivotal third, fourth, and fifth grades, it includes suggestions for instruction and assessment, scenarios from real classrooms where the standards are being implemented every day, examples of authentic student work, and tips from expert teachers that bring the standards to life.

Brenda J. Overturf, Ed.D. is a former member of the International Reading Association Board of Directors and current co-chair of the IRA Common Core Standards Committee. She was a classroom teacher for 18 years before serving as coordinator of Reading Curriculum and Assessment for Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, KY. Brenda also taught literacy courses and chaired the M.Ed. in Reading program at the University of Louisville. While at U of L, she directed the K-5 Kentucky Reading Project, the Adolescent Literacy Coaching Project, and was a partner in the Kentucky Striving Readers grant. Brenda’s most recent publications are The Common Core: Teaching K–5 Students to Meet the Reading Standards (IRA, 2013), The Common Core: Teaching Students in Grades 6–12 to Meet the Reading Standards (IRA, 2013), The Common Core: Graphic Organizers for Teaching K–12 Students to Meet the Reading Standards (IRA, 2013), and Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (Stenhouse, 2013).

An invaluable tool for understanding and implementing the English language arts standards at the intermediate level

The Series:

This book is part of the Pearson Education series: Inside the Common Core Classroom: Practical ELA Strategies. This series has been written for in-service teachers to support their implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts in K – 12 classrooms. 

The authors have organized the four books (K-2; Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12) so they can be used together —encouraging focused discussion and analysis.  The purpose of the series is to help teachers create connections between the Standards and their school curriculums. Each book begins with an overview by the series editor, Donna Ogle, and includes chapters on comprehension, writing, research and language. Examples are provided of instructional strategies and tools that help address the standards. Teachers at different grade levels can read about the particular expectations for their level with appropriate examples and instructional suggestions.  Then, in discussions together, each can learn from teachers at other levels and think through how to create the most supportive instructional sequence and organization by themes and content units. This authoritative new series focuses on the most important aspects of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A testament to the series’ reliability, most of the strategies and tools have been tested by teachers and research studies, while others are variations on well-established instructional practices that reflect the new requirements of the CCSS.  

The Book:

The grades 3-5 volume of this series presents common sense explanations and research-based teaching ideas that integrate the Common Core Standards with the best teaching practices in the critical English language arts areas of comprehension and close reading of literature and informational texts, foundational skills, vocabulary, text complexity, writing, and speaking and listening. Designed specifically for teachers of the pivotal third, fourth, and fifth grades, it includes suggestions for instruction and assessment, scenarios from real classrooms where the standards are being implemented every day, examples of authentic student work, and tips from expert teachers that bring the standards to life. In addition, the text helps readers to understand the implications for curriculum planning, learn practical ways to integrate the standards into content area instruction, and gain access to key resources for easing the transition to current ELA instruction.

This text presents a valuable resource for understanding and implementing the English language arts standards at the intermediate level through:

• A wealth of information that clarifies the standards–plus suggestions for instruction and assessment,
• A look at the standards in action in real classrooms, and
• Practical, ready-to-use guidance in making the standards an everyday part of teaching and learning.

Pearson’s definitive new series on the Common Core State Standards has been written to support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts in K–12 classrooms. Volumes in the series address the Common Core in grades K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. The purpose of the series is to help teachers create connections between the Standards and their school curriculums. Each book includes in-depth information about the Common Core at a particular grade level band and examples of a variety of teaching ideas to support students’ meeting the expectations of the ELA Standards.

Inside the Common Core Classroom: Practical ELA Strategies for Grades 3-5 presents common sense explanations and research-based teaching ideas that integrate the Common Core Standards with the best teaching practices in the critical English language arts areas of comprehension and close reading of literature and informational texts, foundational skills, vocabulary, text complexity, writing, and speaking and listening. Designed specifically for teachers of the pivotal third, fourth, and fifth grades, it includes suggestions for instruction and assessment, scenarios from real classrooms where the standards are being implemented every day, examples of authentic student work, and tips from expert teachers that bring the standards to life. In addition, the text helps readers to understand the standards’ implications for curriculum planning, learn practical ways to integrate them into content area instruction, and gain access to key resources for easing the transition to current ELA instruction.

An indispensable resource for all who teach in grades three through five, as well as curriculum directors, reading specialists, literacy coaches, and school administrators, this ready-to-use, easy-to-understand resource:

Brenda J. Overturf, Ed.D. is a former member of the International Reading Association Board of Directors and current co-chair of the IRA Common Core Standards Committee. She was a classroom teacher for 18 years before serving as coordinator of Reading Curriculum and Assessment for Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, KY. Brenda also taught literacy courses and chaired the M.Ed. in Reading program at the University of Louisville. While at U of L, she directed the K-5 Kentucky Reading Project, the Adolescent Literacy Coaching Project, and was a partner in the Kentucky Striving Readers grant.