This important new book identifies the skills and qualities students need, based on the Common Core State Standards, to be really ready for college and careers. Go beyond content knowledge...the deep thinking and learning skills detailed in this book will equip students for success! Prepare your students for their futures by helping them become... Analytic thinkers Critical thinkers Problem solvers Inquisitive Opportunistic Flexible Open minded Teachable Risk takers Expressive Skilled at information gathering Skilled at drawing inferences and reaching conclusions Skilled at using technology as a tool, not a crutch For each skill, you'll learn why it matters, and get a whole host of practical strategies and techniques for bringing the skill to life in the classroom—across the curriculum and for different grade levels. BONUS! You'll get useful, much-needed information on planning high-quality assessments.

"Common Core Math in Action, Grades 3 5 Making the Standards Manageable, Meaningful & Fun Catherine Jones Kuhns & Marrie Lasater Jam packed with concrete, pictorial, and abstract activities to address all of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (grades 3 5), Common Core Math in Action features highly engaging, child-friendly activities, all designed to get your students reasoning like mathematicians and loving mathematics. You'll find exciting ways to introduce mathematical concepts through children's literature and to focus on conceptual understanding.

The Standards for Mathematical Practice promise to elevate students' learning of math from knowledge to application and bring rigor to math classrooms. Here, the authors unpack each of the eight Practices and provide a wealth of practical ideas and activities to help teachers quickly integrate them into their existing math program.

Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at the Reading and Writing Project have helped thousands of educators design their own pathways to the Common Core. Now, with Pathways to the Common Core, they are ready to help you find your way. Designed for teachers, school leaders, and professional learning communities looking to navigate the gap between their current literacy practices and the ideals of the Common Core, Pathways to the Common Core will help you: understand what the standards say, suggest, and what they don't say; recognize the guiding principles that underpin the reading and writing standards; identify how the Common Core's infrastructure supports a spiraling K-12 literacy curriculum; and scrutinize the context in which the CCSS were written and are being unrolled. In addition to offering an analytical study of the standards, this guide will also help you and your colleagues implement the standards in ways that lift the level of teaching and learning throughout your school.--

This book addresses Common Core State Standard curriculum resources to assist the school librarian in collaborating with classroom teachers. Librarians are being asked to understand the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and their implications to programming and instruction, as well as to collection development planning. Using lesson plans originally published in School Library Monthly, this title builds upon them, adding many additional plans that address CCSS issues. The plans will help you implement the standards and can also be used as stepping stones to facilitate planning conversations and collaboration with teachers to co-teach lessons correlated with the standards. The book begins with an overview of the CCSS—what they are, how are they different from the content standards, and what the implications are for schools where the state has adopted them, including what the CCSS mean for collection development. It then goes on to explore the opportunities the CCSS present for the school librarian, looking at how you can become a leader in employing the process. The majority of the book is devoted to reproducible lesson plans, organized by curricular area or topic and grade level for ease of use.

How the Common Core standardizes our kids’ education—and how it threatens our democracy. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is one of the most controversial pieces of education policy to emerge in decades. Detailing what and when K–12 students should be taught, it has led to expensive reforms and displaced other valuable ways to educate children. In this nuanced and provocative book, Nicholas Tampio argues that, though national standards can raise the education bar for some students, the democratic costs outweigh the benefits. To make his case, Tampio describes the history, philosophy, content, and controversy surrounding the Common Core standards for English language arts and math. He also explains and critiques the Next Generation Science Standards, the Advanced Placement US History curriculum framework, and the National Sexuality Education Standards. Though each set of standards has admirable elements, Tampio asserts that democracies should disperse education authority rather than entrust one political or pedagogical faction to decide the country’s entire philosophy of education. Ultimately, this lively and accessible book presents a compelling case that the greater threat to democratic education comes from centralized government control rather than from local education authorities.

Tools and Insights for Meeting and Exceeding the Common Core Standards Literacy and the Common Core offers K–12 teachers clear guidance on how to design units, lessons, and objectives to meet the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts; it’s filled with practical strategies that teachers can use immediately to target key standards; and it describes how to analyze the standards to support instructional planning and curriculum development. This book aims to make life a little easier for everyone—teachers, school leaders, parents, and students—as we all strive to prepare students for college and the careers they most desire. The book includes practical tools, templates, and rubrics ready to be downloaded and customized to meet your needs. Additional resources may be found on the companion site, www.literacycookbook.com. Here are just a few of the essential topics addressed: Which standards to start with and how to tackle them How to bridge the gap when students are not on grade level How to engage and support parents How to teach students to write effectively How to translate the standards for actual use Take the recipes in this book, make them your own, and enjoy your new “Common Core Master Chef” status!