The Core Six

Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence With the Common

Core

Reading For MeaningPaula Davis

Introduction to Strategy

Strategy that exercise active reading: Before (previewing and predicting), During (actively searching for relevant

information), and After (reflecting and learning)

Connection to Common Core Text complexity – builds skills used by proficient

readers to extract meaning from even the most rigorous texts.

Relevant evidence – students cite specific evidence when writing and speaking from text; they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence

Core skills of reading – builds and assesses the skills Common Core identifies as crucial to students’ success

Steps to Reading for Meaning

Identify a short text that you want students to “read for meaning.” Any text will work – a poem, an article, a blog post, a primary document, a fable, a scene from a play, mathematical word problems, data chart, lab experiments, film clips, and visual sources like paintings and photographs.

Steps to Reading for Meaning

Generate a list of statements about the texts that require students to search the text for evidence that supports or refutes each statement.

Introduce the topic of the text; have students preview the statements before they begin reading.

Steps to Reading for Meaning

Students record evidence for and against each statement while (or after) they read.

Students discuss their evidence in pairs or small groups. Encourage groups to reach consensus about which statements are supported and which are refuted by the text.

Steps to Reading for Meaning Conduct a whole-class discussion in which

students share and justify positions. Students may need guidance toward evidence they may have missed or misinterpreted.

Use students’ responses to evaluate their understanding of the reading and their ability to support a position with evidence.

Compare and ContrastJill Fishburn

Connection to Common Core

Comparative thinking Comparative reading A best bet for raising student achievement.

Four Phases Students describe each item using criteria. They use a top hat organizer to record key

similarities and differences. They discuss their findings and draw

conclusions. They synthesize their learning by

completing an application task.

Criteria

Tell about the characters in the fables. Why do they decide to race? How does the tortoise win the race? What lesson do you think the fable is

trying teach us?

Discussion

Are the fables more alike or more different?

Why do you think that? Give examples from the text to support

your thinking.

Synthesis Task

Think of the value that you discussed when you were the successful underdog. If you were to write this as a story, how would the underdog character win the race?

Inductive LearningBrenda Dean

Inductive Learning Deepens content understanding Develops inference and evidence gathering

skills Begins with categorization Forms hypotheses based on categorization Gathers evidence to verify or refine

hypotheses

Connection to Common Core

Inference Higher order thinking and 21st century skills Reading Anchor Standard 1…make logical

inferences Sub-processes of reading closely, looking for

hidden relationships, generating tentative hypotheses, and drawing conclusions

Connection to Common Core

Evidence Math Practice 3, Reading Anchor Standard 1,

Writing Anchor Standard 1 and 9, and other grade level specific standards

Students collect and consider evidence to support their hypothesis and to refine it.

Connection to Common Core

Academic Vocabulary Language Anchor Standard 6…academic and

domain specific words and phrases. Forces students to search key attributes and

relationships among the words…Language Anchor Standard 5.

An Example

Writing Extension

Inductive Writing Each group is the basis for a paragraph Sequence logically First draft…revision…reflection

Writing Extension Multiple Document Learning (Reading Anchor

Standard 9) Read a diary entry from a Chinese student about her first

experience in US schools, a description of a classroom during an air-raid drill, and a poem on teachers Indentify embedded topic (how teachers help students learn) Read to find information related to

topic…underline/highlight/notes Patterns, group, label Logical sequence Draft, revise, reflect

Circle of KnowledgeDavid Freeman

Circle of Knowledge

Circle of Knowledge provides teachers with a strategic framework for planning and conducting discussions that foster student participation and critical thinking.

Connection to Common Core

Effective communication is a crucial 21st century skill.

Speaking and listening require thinking. Discussions build collaborative and

interpersonal skills.

Three Essential Criteria

A high degree of student participation A strong focus on essential content High levels of thinking

CoK in the Classroom Spark discussion by posing an open-ended

question that hooks students into the material. Give students time to stop and think about the

question. Sharpen the focus of the discussion by posing

a focusing question that highlights the central topic or theme of the discussion.

CoK in the Classroom Have students “kindle” their responses by

jotting down their initial responses and then sharing and comparing their responses in small groups.

Engage the whole class in discussion. During the discussion, use a variety of

recognition techniques to maximize participation.

CoK in the Classroom Record students’ responses and

summarize key content with students. Allow students to reflect on the discussion

and their own participation. Synthesize student learning with a task

that asks them to apply what they learned during the discussion.

CoK Examples

High School Geometry English Language Arts and Social Studies Middle School Science

Write to LearnJaime Greene

Three Types of Classroom Writing

Provisional Writing-or brief, daily writing that supports learning.

Readable writing-which requires students to clarify and organize their thinking to develop on-demand essays or responses.

Polished writing-which engages students in the full writing and revision.

Connection to Common Core Writing develops higher-order thinking.

Maximizing the benefits of writing as a “thinking builder”

Writing on-demand and in extended settings

Addresses arguments, informative/explanatory, and narrative

Provisional Writing Provisional writing is quick writing that, like

brainstorming, slows down and opens up the thinking process.

Students write spontaneously for 2-5 minutes to generate, clarify, or extend ideas or to react to important content.

Examples: Learning Logs, 4-2-1 Freewrite

Readable Writing Like a classroom essay test or

assignments, requiring students to clarify their thoughts and develop an organizational structure for their ideas.

Should be assigned regularly You do not have to grade all of them for

summative purposes!

Readable Writing Focus less on mechanics like grammar

and spelling and more on accuracy and organization of main ideas and supporting details.

Called readable writing for a reason: it should make sense and be easy to understand.

Example: 3 X 3 Writing Frame

Polished Writing Engages students in the full writing

process from coming up with initial ideas to writing a final draft.

Examples- Writing Folder, Writers’ Club

Vocabulary’s CodeTony Dalton

Vocabulary’s CODE in a Nutshell

Vocabulary’s CODE is a strategic approach to direct vocabulary instruction that help students master crucial concepts and retain new vocabulary terms.

CODE Connecting with new words.

Organizing new words into meaningful categories.

Deep-processing the most important concepts and terms.

Exercising the mind through strategic review and practice.

Connection to Common Core

Vocabulary is a foundation for improved literacy. (L.CCCR.4, L.CCR.5, and L.CCR.6)

Academic vocabulary is at the core of the Core. “general academic” and “domain-specific”

Connection to Common Core

Vocabulary fuels learning. Direct vocabulary instruction not only increases students’ ability to comprehend and retain what we are teaching today but also prepares students to be better learners in the future.

Steps for Vocabulary’s CODE Connect – this first phase helps students

form a strong initial connection with these terms (texts, words walls, vocabulary notebooks/glossaries)

Organize – this second phase ensures that students understand how the terms relate to one another (graphic organizers, categorizing, Three-Way Tie)

Steps for Vocabulary’s CODE

• Deep-Process – in this third phase, students use thinking strategies and multiple forms of representation to develop a deep, conceptual understanding (visualization, compare/contrast, metaphors, cinquains)

Steps for Vocabulary’s CODE

• Exercise – the fourth phase engages students in meaningful review and practice activities that help them commit new terms to long-term memory (para-writing, comic strips, vocabulary games, three’s a crowd)

Hamblen County Department of Instruction

Paula Davis, Instructional Coach Grades 4-5

Jill Fishburn, Instructional Coach Grades 2-3

Brenda Dean, Assistant Director of Schools

David Freeman, Technology Instructional Coach

Jaime Greene, Instructional Coach Grades 6-12

Tony Dalton, Instructional Coach Grades PreK-1